By Liam Mannix and Kishor Napier-Raman
Unlike Kevin Rudd, who, as CBD reported, landed in Washington, DC, last year ready to get loose, his fellow Labor comrade Stephen Smith, our high commissioner to the United Kingdom, has a complicated relationship with parties.
This column revealed last year that Smith’s decision to scrap the much-loved London pride party caused a minor diplomatic incident, such was the event’s reputation as the place to be seen during George Brandis’ stint in Australia House.
The price tag for the Australian high commission’s Australia Day function in London has been revealed.Credit: X
To be fair, Smith had already held an event earlier that year to coincide with Sydney World Pride, hosting a special screening of Priscilla in March, with drag entertainers, all costing about £5000.
Later last year, Smith set off a fairly avoidable culture war by announcing a plan to cancel the annual Australia Day gala dinner, citing “sensitivities” about the day.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles had to step in and rebuke the high commissioner, insisting there would be an Australia Day event in London.
And indeed there was, costing the taxpayer about £14,000 ($27,200). That spending included £1680 on hiring 10 eucalyptus trees just to bring an Aussie touch to the London winter gloom.
Gum trees were hired for the Australia Day bash.Credit: X
Despite Smith’s apparent reluctance to hold an event on a now deeply controversial national day, which many First Nations Australians see as a celebration of genocide, the high commission managed to put together quite the exclusive invite list, even if not everyone showed up.
The then British PM, Rishi Sunak, and Labour leader Keir Starmer (obviously, now in No. 10) were on the guest list but ended up snubbing the event. Even the Brits are cooling on Australia Day, it seems.
“The Australian high commission in London has, under all high commissioners, used public diplomacy events to promote and build a better understanding of Australia and Australian government policies in the United Kingdom,” a DFAT spokesman told us.
Selling Australia: Stephen Smith.Credit: Jozsef Benke
“Hosting events that draw attendance from diverse, influential stakeholders is a core part of diplomacy and advancing Australia’s policies, priorities and interests internationally.”
You can’t write that!
Body+Soul is CBD’s favourite destination for coverage of the full moon’s effect on our sex life, and what we should expect during a sound bath session. All good fun of course, and no one is making serious medical decisions based on the phase of the moon (we hope).
But there’s wellness and there’s wellness, and now health regulators are alleging Body+Soul has crossed the line.
Last month the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australia’s drugs watchdog, issued three infringement notices worth $56,340 to News Life Media over an article in Body+Soul that allegedly unlawfully advertised medical cannabis.
“It is alleged that an article published on Body+Soul promoted the use or supply of medicinal cannabis to treat serious diseases or conditions, such as anxiety and chronic pain, in contravention of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989,” a statement from the watchdog reads.
It’s pretty rare for a media organisation to come a cropper under the TGA Act; more often it’s a company trying to shill penis enlargers or fake cures for cancer.
“Media platforms are responsible for ensuring their content does not directly or indirectly promote the use or supply of therapeutic goods to the public in a way that contravenes advertising requirements,” Nick Henderson, acting deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Aged Care said in a statement.
It’s not clear from the TGA’s statement which article it is concerned about, and News did not return requests for comment.
CBD has some sympathy for Body+Soul – it is far from the first mainstream publication to breathlessly report on the medical benefits of pot. With the amount of “incredible” and “miraculous” results people seem to be getting, the general public could be forgiven for really thinking it is a wonder drug. No wonder prescriptions are skyrocketing.
But before you inhale, remember: despite years of study, there’s still no evidence it helps with chronic pain – and it shouldn’t be given to people with anxiety disorders at all.
An FYI on the ABC
The ABC’s decision to sack fill-in presenter Antoinette Lattouf last year for sharing social media content from a human rights organisation, following a lobbying campaign by a group called Lawyers for Israel, hasn’t aged well for the national broadcaster.
The sacking brought a steady drip of negative headlines for Aunty, and further antagonised long-suffering ABC staff who took a vote of no confidence in managing director David Anderson in January.
Then there’s the small matter of Lattouf’s unfair dismissal case against the ABC, which is headed to trial in the Federal Court after mediation failed in June. For the ABC, and by extension, the Australian taxpayer, defending that case hasn’t come cheap.
Antoinette Lattouf (centre) at the Fair Work Commission for her hearing against the ABC in March.Credit: Kate Geraghty
According to responses to questions on notice from a recent Senate estimates session, the ABC has retained two barristers, plus one partner and two senior associates from law firm Seyfarth Shaw.
As for just how much that cost, this was the ABC’s answer to Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi: “Disclosure of information about the amount of legal costs in ongoing litigated matters can prejudice the ABC’s position in those legal proceedings.”
But given the going rate for barristers – particularly those with the experience of employment law silk Ian Neil, SC, who led the ABC’s case – it can’t have been cheap.
The ABC declined to comment.
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