By Kishor Napier-Raman and Noel Towell
CBD is heartened to see a change in monarch hasn’t stopped the time-honoured tradition of bestowing annual gongs on Australia’s washed-up politicians to mark the sovereign’s birthday.
This year’s King’s Birthday Honours, the first time they’ve been called that in more than half a century, provided plenty of nearly forgotten ex-politicians a shiny new suffix.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore has been named in the King’s Birthday Honours.Credit: Wolter Peeters
Leading the pack is former Liberal West Australian premier Colin Barnett, and ex-Labor minister Jenny Macklin, both made Companions of the Order of Australia.
Journalist turned John Howard-slaying former Labor MP Maxine McKew was another political headliner, appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore is now an AO – and given her endless reign, we’re surprised it’s taken this long.
We also noticed a few lesser lights among this year’s throng of ACs, OAMs, and AMs. There was former Labor senator for the Northern Territory Trish Crossin and a couple of former ALP state ministers, Kevin Greene from NSW, Ken Hayward from Queensland and Judy Jackson from Tasmania.
Across the aisle the Nationals are curiously well-represented this year with the party’s former Victorian leader and deputy premier Pat McNamara making the list along with ex-NSW senator David Brownhill, and former NSW minister Duncan Gay.
The King’s Birthday Honours has a new name for the first time in decades.Credit: AP
Former Queensland Liberal senator Ian MacDonald also made the AM list, for services to the people and Parliament of Australia.
MacDonald’s parliamentary career was best known for comparing activist group GetUp! to the Hitler Youth (he apologised), Labor minister Stephen Conroy to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels (he later withdrew) and telling Scottish-born ALP senator Doug Cameron to “learn to speak Australian”.
UNDER THE SEA
Fans of HBO juggernaut The White Lotus would know that its star Jennifer Coolidge (spoiler alert) doesn’t have the happiest relationship with the ocean.
So it was ironic that one of Coolidge’s first outings in Sydney, before she drew thousands to a Vivid event on Saturday, was a gala dinner for ocean conservation society the Sapphire Project, with an “underwater world” theme.
Coolidge, who to be fair did recently say her dream role was to play a dolphin, was spotted posing with former foreign minister Julie Bishop during the event celebrating World Ocean Day at Carriageworks last Thursday.
Perhaps she could take swimming tips from Ian Thorpe, who is on the Sapphire Project’s committee and had MC duties on the night.
CBD’s spies also spotted former Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Paul Howes, now a KPMG consulting rainmaker, accompanied by his partner, high-flying Qantas executive Olivia Wirth.
White Lotus star Jennifer Coolidge visited Australia for the Vivid festival.Credit: Dion Georgopolous
Other Sapphire Project committee members working the crowds included Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s daughter Sophia Forrest, Woollahra Mayor Susan Wynne and socialite Ellie Aitken, who’s recently been spotted stepping out with Bahamas-based fundie Mark Holowesko.
Wynne’s fellow Liberal, Manly MP and former NSW environment minister James Griffin was also in attendance, at the Tiffany & Co-sponsored event, which brought in hundreds of thousands in donations for marine charities.
ZOO’S COMPANY
While nobody should feel too sorry for the partners remaining at PwC, the embattled consulting giant’s acting boss Kristin Stubbins really can’t catch a break right now.
Stubbins, who’s in the top job after former chief executive Tom Seymour took the fall over the neverending tax leak saga, is also on the board of the Taronga Conservation Society, which runs the famous zoos. And on Friday, the zoo announced it had managed to underpay casual workers to the tune of a whopping $2.6 million – all thanks to a “payroll systems” error.
That big error was identified by an audit undertaken by one of PwC’s main rivals KPMG, who are no doubt relishing this whole tax scandal debacle.
The use of KPMG, brought in to examine the books after workers at Western Plains Zoo held a snap strike last year might have been awkward at the time for Stubbins, given she chairs Taronga’s performance, audit risk and safety committee.
But in retrospect, had the Zoo retained PwC, the whole underpayment might have gotten a whole lot more attention, given even the most tangential mention of the firm invites a plethora of rage-clicks.
Stubbins was appointed to the board in 2021 by NSW treasurer Matt Kean, himself a PwC alumnus who regarded the acting boss as a mentor during his pre-parliamentary days.
A recent report in The Australian suggested she was getting $125,000 per year for the privilege – which prompted a hasty statement from the Society clarifying that Stubbins’ work was done in a voluntary capacity.
GUEST WHO
We brought word on Thursday of the 18-strong entourage Prime Minister Anthony Albanese brought to King Charles’ coronation and their lavish digs at London’s $740-a-night Great Scotland Yard Hotel.
But it turns out that Albanese and partner Jodie Haydon were not among the Australian contingent bunking in the swanky digs.
Instead, the first couple crashed over the other side of the palace at High Commissioner and former Labor cabinet colleague Stephen Smith’s official residence Stokes House in the swish diplomatic quarter of Kensington, just around the corner from the Royal Albert Hall.
The residence is valued at about $45 million, owned by the people of Australia and by all accounts very nice inside.
Another Australian tradition – lobbing up in London and crashing at your mate’s house – observed.
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