CBD Sydney: the race is on to snare Arthur Sinodinos's Senate spot

So long is the wait until Arthur Sinodinos boards the flight to Washington DC that the plane in which he will travel probably hasn’t been built yet.

But this small detail has not prevented Liberal hopefuls from beginning the push to replace the long-time party operator when he departs the Senate later this year.

Arthur Sinodinos will head to Washington DC later this year.Credit: Janie Barrett

Jim Molan, who missed out on a return to the Senate after the Coalition placed him fourth on the Coalition ticket, is the first name mentioned by insiders.

It is usually followed by the phrase “over my dead body”.

Knowing he was unlikely to win re-election, Molan’s backers ran an unauthorised below-the-line campaign that offended the party's sensibilities and made him very unpopular among some.

But if defence and foreign policy expertise is needed, we hear former Lowy Institute fellow turned RSL NSW president James Brown has already expressed some interest in the gig.

Brown happens to be married to Daisy Turnbull Brown, the much more sensible of Malcolm Turnbull’s children who quietly campaigned and held fundraisers for party golden boy Dave Sharma.

Meanwhile, it also turns out that NSW Liberal treasurer Michael Hughes — brother of Lucy Turnbull and son of barrister Tom Hughes — may be interested in the spot.

He’s been a formidable fundraiser and, while notionally aligned with the party’s conservatives, is known to be close to moderates including factional heavyweight Michael Photios.

Other candidates already being canvassed include NSW Liberal vice-president Kent Johns, who had successfully been prevailed upon (by Turnbull in 2016 and Prime Minister Scott Morrison's apparatchiks more recently) not to challenge Hughes MP Craig Kelly for pre-selection.

The former Labor president turned Liberal Democrat turned Liberal candidate in Gilmore, Warren Mundine, would also be “taken seriously”, according to some factional powerbrokers.

His election would be a real sliding doors moment considering it was seven years ago that Mundine quit Labor in a huff after Mark Arbib’s Senate seat was given to Bob Carr over him.

Maybe he could give the Australian Conservatives a try if it doesn't work out this time.

Also considering a tilt: former deputy state director Richard Shields, now the chief lobbyist at the Insurance Council of Australia.

But replacing Sinodinos comes with a couple of catches.

First, there will only be two years left in the job by the time Sinodinos is out.

Second, they face demotion to a (likely unwinnable) spot on the Coalition ticket come the next election thanks to an agreement to elevate a Nationals candidate up the list.

Spinning out

Another departure from Morrison’s Cabinet will be Communications Minister Mitch Fifield, due to replace senior diplomat Gillian Bird as Ambassador to the United Nations.

His chief-of-staff, Luke Tobin, took over after his predecessor Luke Coleman departed the office late last year and turned up as head of government affairs at international telecommunications company Vocus in January.

We hear Tobin will not be sticking around for another government job. We sure he'll be snapped up quickly.

But Fifield’s senior media advisor Geraldine Mitchell, once a Herald Sun reporter, has already lined up a new position for herself — and she starts next week.

Mitchell is the new head of corporate media relations at Vodafone Australia.

On Macquarie Street

Parliament House may be back in session today, but it was deserted yesterday.

We did, however, see NSW Labor leadership hopeful Jodi McKay ducking into Labor MP Yasmin Catley's office — it's no secret who she's backing.

Meanwhile, former Liberal Upper House MP Peter Phelps also made an appearance.

He was in the foyer and, as we strode past, quipped: “I’m a lobbyist and this is the lobby.”

Flight of Folau

Israel Folau, currently in a stoush with Rugby Australia, was spotted heading to Los Angeles over the weekend. Illustration: Matt GoldingCredit:

Dedicated evangelist and controversial rugby star Israel Folau spent last week in talks with Melbourne silk Stuart Wood, QC, plotting next steps in his battle with Rugby Australia, which terminated his contract over a homophobic post he made on social media.

And now he’s off overseas, with spies aboard Qantas’ Saturday night Melbourne-to-San Francisco special spying Izzy boarding the plane a touch before it took off at 8:55pm.

The Wallabies and Waratahs back boarded the QF49 flanked by two mates, with the trio all taking their seats in premium economy, perhaps a novel experience given the luxe treatment afforded to the Qantas Wallabies.

Folau’s reps wouldn’t tell us if the trip was for work or pleasure.

Curtain raiser

Meanwhile, fashion designer Carla Zampatti threw open her Woollahra home on Saturday for a major fundraiser in aid of chamber opera outfit Pinchgut Opera.

Our correspondent spotted Federal Court Chief Justice James Allsop, former Commonwealth Bank executives Alden Toevs and former AMP chairman Peter Mason.

Pinchgut chief Sarah Gilchrist encouraged the crowd to dig deep — credit cards accepted.

Many of the guests were seen reaching for wallets and purses at the end of the evening.