Abbott's campaign boss says 'nothing went wrong' in fight for Warringah

Roger Corbett says "nothing went wrong" in Tony Abbott's failed Warringah campaign. Illustration: John ShakespeareCredit:

It's a case of denial worthy of Baghdad Bob, the Iraqi Information Minister who famously insisted there were no American tanks in Baghdad - even as they rolled in behind him.

Likewise, Roger Corbett, former Woolworths chief and now president of the Liberal Party's Warringah branch, is a touch sensitive about the campaign he ran for ousted ex-PM Tony Abbott.

When CBD inquired as to the progress of an internal review into "what went wrong" in the campaign, Corbett emphatically declared that "nothing went wrong".

Except, of course, that Abbott copped an 18 per cent swing and lost to Zali Steggall.

That was all a result of "an unprecedented GetUp campaign against Tony", says Corbett, "exactly the same as they did to John Howard".

Meanwhile, Corbett reckons he's got his finger on the pulse of progress when it comes to the future of Mosman.

The ex-Fairfax Media chairman, who ran Woolies very successfully from 1999 to 2006, lives a stone's throw from where the supermarket giant wants to set up a residential and shopping precinct that has divided locals more than Tony v. Zali.

As CBD reported yesterday, the new member for Warringah is firmly on the fence.

Corbett has no such qualms.

"I don't think it’ll be intrusive at all," he says. "It will allow Mosman customers to have the Woolworths range of merchandise without having to travel to Neutral Bay or Warringah Mall.

"You take any notable development - whether it's a tunnel or a dam - and there's always a body of people that will be opposed to it. That's the nature of progress."

CHANGING ROOMS

If you want to gauge how delicate things are in the NSW Liberal Party over the abortion bill now before the upper house, look no further than the Manly division.

This morning, local MP James Griffin will host a briefing for concerned party members, and he'll be joined by Health Minister Brad Hazzard. Both backed the bill in the lower house.

But there's been a last-minute venue change - from Royal Far West children's healthcare to a neighbouring community centre.

After complaints from branch members, organisers conceded it might not have been the best look to hold the abortion briefing at a kids' health charity.

In an email to members, Manly electorate president Paul Billingham claimed the change was made because "our first choice venue has now become available".

DUST-UP

2GB shock jock Ray Hadley has been unusually quiet after being skewered in a report by barrister Richard Beasley SC.

Beasley was commissioned by the state government to examine serious allegations of asbestos mismanagement against Blue Mountains City Council.

Hadley has been thundering about the case for more than a year and, true to form, wasted no time accusing council staff - - including general manager Rosemary Dillon- of lying to Beasley's investigation.

Beasley reopened the inquiry to deal with Hadley's on-air claims. In a supplementary report now tabled in Parliament, the barrister says Hadley's assertions are "factually inaccurate".

Meanwhile, Dillon's lawyers have sent Hadley a concerns notice - a precursor to defamation proceedings. And her case may have just received a vital boost from Beasley's new report.

Hadley hasn't responded to those findings on his radio show. CBD contacted Hadley for comment but it cannot be published for legal reasons.

Whether Hadley keeps pursuing the "disgraced" council remains to be seen. Not only is it a thorny legal issue but, by all accounts, the story isn't exactly lighting up 2GB's airwaves. And no one wants to wind up in court over a ratings loser.

AUSSIE BOBS

Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Court Will Alstergren sent Israel Folau's legal team and Raelene Castle's Rugby Australia back to the mediation table this week.

It's not Alstergren's first brush with elite sport. Nor is it his first encounter with the obstacles that occasionally separate athletes and the sport they love.

It turns out Alstergren captained Australia's bobsled team, the "Aussie Bobs", in the early 2000s.

Inspired by the 1998 Nagano Olympics and 1990s comedy Cool Runnings (Alstergren calls it a "pretty motivational film"), the team started out in November 1998, travelling to Canada with a coach to ride in a sled for the first time.

The team, which included Paul Hayes QC, continued the campaign back in Melbourne, training on a makeshift 90-metre push track inside an empty warehouse loaned to the team by property developer Andrew Buxton.

And by 2002's Salt Lake City games, the team had racked up enough points through the World Cup and a European campaign to meet the International Olympic Committee's requirements.

But it still wasn’t enough to get the tick from the Australian Olympic Committee and so, deflated, the team watched the event from the sidelines.

Izzy will hope his fight has a different ending.