By Kishor Napier-Raman and Stephen Brook
While Dominic Perrottet didn’t last all that long as premier, his role in turbocharging the state’s march out of lockdown and commitment to fighting Big Pokie won him a lot more goodwill among Liberal hacks, business figures and politicians from the other side of the aisle than other recent electoral losers.
So when Perrottet delivered his sayonara to the Macquarie Street bearpit after 13 years in parliament on Tuesday afternoon, complete with one final crack at the heinous Cahill Expressway, the public gallery was packed with Liberal Party grandees, corporate titans – and even a few Labor types.
Former prime minister Paul Keating showed up and received a glowing tribute from Perrottet, who described himself as the “political love child” of John Howard and Keating.
From Dom’s own side, former premier Mike Baird was spotted in the crowd, along with a few relics from the last Liberal government, Brad Hazzard and Stuart Ayres.
No sign of his predecessor Gladys Berejiklian, though, who keeps a low profile these days.
Perrottet arrives at the Ivy on Tuesday night with his wife Helen.Credit: Wolter Peeters
Some of the Morrison government staffers who landed with Dom after the 2022 election, including Yaron Finkelstein, Ben Wicks and Benn Ayre, were also in attendance. Former Labor leader turned spectre haunting the NSW Legislative Council Mark Latham showed his face.
Other Liberal types included Howard-era minister and recently ousted Hornsby mayor Philip Ruddock, one-term backbencher Nathaniel Smith, and Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney, a key party powerbroker and Perrottet backer.
Veteran Sydney business identity David Gonski made an appearance, as did anti-gambling crusader Tim Costello. Labor think tank dude and rumoured federal preselection aspirant Sam Crosby (now best known as Housing Minister Rose Jackson’s other half) was another guest from the red side of politics.
Former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet, his wife Helen and their brood are headed to the US.Credit: Wolter Peeters
With the former premier shipping the family of nine off to Washington DC to shill for BHP, a few celebrations were in order. And there’s nowhere more Sydney than the exclusive Ivy penthouse, the jewel in pub baron Justin Hemmes’ Merivale crown, where Perrottet’s entourage kicked on for last drinks.
GENEROUS GENERALS
Nobody joins the public service for the perks. Sure, if you rise high enough through the ranks you get access to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge, but the gifts and benefits registers of the country’s top mandarins show that senior bureaucrats are mostly just getting random trinkets from visiting dignitaries.
But it’s a different story in Defence. Last year, then-chief Angus Campbell received a $14,000 watch from the Sultan of Brunei. Turns out that’s pretty standard for military top brass, who are well-used to receiving rather elaborate prezzies.
In April, Campbell, who retired last month, got a $5000 wooden sword from the Tongan military. Lord knows what he’d do with that – the Department of Defence told us it was on display in their premises. Then-Royal Australian Air Force chief Robert Chipman got a $1479 wooden dagger from the Indonesian Air Force – a rather more peaceful gift than the shotgun president-elect Prabowo Subianto gave to deputy prime minister Richard Marles in March.
Lieutenant-General Simon Stuart, meanwhile, got a $500 Barbour jacket from the Brits – and a $349 bottle of Cognac from the French. Sounds like useful stuff to us.
COURT PRESS
CBD recently broke the news that Scots College’s extravagant Scottish baronial castle was being funded in part by donations from Zhaohua Ma, a businessman allegedly part of a $10 billion Chinese money laundering syndicate smashed by the AFP last year.
Scots, for their part, were unaware of the case against Ma until contacted by this column, and swiftly moved to quarantine the donations worth over $100,000 made to fund the school’s big infrastructure projects.
The case against Ma, meanwhile, who resided in a $10 million Bellevue Hill mansion just down the road from Scots until the feds came knocking last year, continues.
He’s fighting the charges, and in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday, Justice Richard Button refused him bail. He’s scheduled to appear before the Downing Centre Local Court for a further committal this month.
GONG SHOW
Back in June Victorian Nationals leader Peter Walsh cottoned on to what he thought was a surefire winner: an anti-Dan Andrews petition. But this one had a twist. It called on the governor-general to rescind the King’s Birthday honour for the Companion of the Order of Australia, the highest honour available, for the polarising former premier’s service to Victoria, public health, policy, and regulatory reform.
Some, including Walsh, were not impressed.
“For it to happen in less than 12 months [after leaving office] seemed to be indecent haste,” he told CBD.
The petition eventually attracted more than 40,000 signatures and was dispatched to Yarralumla about a month ago, where it was inherited by newly arrived Governor-General Sam Mostyn.
“I would hope that I get the decency of a response,” Walsh told CBD. He hasn’t thus far.
A spokesperson for the Honours and Awards Secretariat told us detailed processes must be followed for an award to be terminated, and that they didn’t comment on individual considerations.
Reading between the lines, it sounds like a no.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.