By Noel Towell and Kishor Napier-Raman
Jim Penman’s April Fools stunts are getting better. Last year the mowing franchise tycoon declared his intention to secede from Victoria and declare himself king of the resulting micro-nation.
This year, Penman went public on April 1 with the launch of a new political entity called – you’ve guessed it – Jim’s Party to “contest and win the next Victorian state election”.
The announcement claimed that “principled and competent people from business, politics, and the community” had been lined-up in every electorate in the state and there was even a picture – which carried the strong whiff of a touch-up job – of a campaign bus parked outside the state government buildings on Treasury Place in the city.
A YouTube video was produced for the occasion, featuring a “press conference” at the Jim’s Group lecture theatre in Mooroolbark with what looked suspiciously like employees or franchisees asking questions of the mower man himself.
Now, all this is necessary, Penman explained, because the “the Labor Party has shown itself to be both incompetent and unprincipled” and “the Liberal opposition is feeble and incompetent”.
Harsh. Policy-wise, Jim wants to abolish Melbourne’s councils – maybe to be replaced by a franchise model called Jim’s Local Government – and revolutionise the housing market with planning permits issued in days, the abolition of stamp duty and a “progressive land tax” for under-used properties.
But we can’t shake the feeling that Monday’s announcement missed an opportunity to showcase Jim’s views on eugenics and celibacy and how they might feature in a framework for government. Oh, well. Maybe next year.
We “reached out” – sorry – to Penman on Tuesday because you never know, he might be serious.
But no, he confirmed, the announcement was a “bit of a lark” although there was nothing funny about the need to tackle the housing crisis. “I’m deadly serious about the issue,” he told us. “It’s outrageous.”
COAST HOST
Alan Jones swiftly disappeared from public view last year after this masthead published historic allegations of indecent assault, which the veteran shock jock firmly denies.
Alan Jones at home late last year.Credit: Nine
After a sojourn in London, Jones returned to Australia last month, and insists he’s not selling his famous apartment in Sydney’s landmark toaster building, despite some reporting to the contrary.
And there’s certainly no sign that Jones might part with his swank $12 million Gold Coaster in Southport. As a matter of fact, the broadcaster was entertaining some pals – the Bastiaan family – who are now Gold Coast-based.
It seems like only yesterday, but it was actually back in Malcolm Turnbull’s day, that Marcus Bastiaan was a young conservative disruptor giving the Liberal Party – particularly in Bastiaan’s native Victoria – the kick in the bum that many on the right of the party thought it badly needed.
Politics appears to have taken a back seat for Marcus, and its Stephanie who’s more likely to be seen in the public glare. She’s active in the gender-critical movement and is often to be seen on Sky News after dark; kicked in a few quid to the legal fighting fund of Moira Deeming, the exiled Victorian Liberal state MP; and is working as a research fellow at the conservative Australian Women’s Forum.
The Bastiaans have relocated to the Goldie where Marcus is expanding his doors business. Stephanie told us that the family were old and dear friends of Jones. “He has only ever been a gentleman and friend to us,” she said.
GREEN BACKED
Former Dow Chemical boss and one-time Donald Trump and Barack Obama adviser Andrew Liveris’ golden touch with US presidents has delivered again.
Australian businessman Andrew Liveris.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Andrew last crossed CBD’s desk back in February when former Australian Council of Trade Unions president Sharan Burrow was appointed to the board of global battery technology company Novonix, which is closely linked to Liveris and his family; chair Anthony Bellas is Liveris’ brother-in-law.
Liveris’ son Nick Liveris is chief financial officer while Liveris snr keeps an eye on things from his seat at the board table.
Novonix announced on Tuesday that it had been given the green light by the US Department of Energy to get a US$103 million ($159 million) tax break “to support production of critical battery materials from its Riverside facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee”.
The “48C tax credit” scheme – if you want to get technical – was initially part of an Obama-era GFC recovery package, but it’s had new life breathed into it through US$10 billion from Joe Biden’s mammoth-spending, climate change-fighting Inflation Reduction Act, with Novonix among the first companies to qualify to benefit.
The tax credit can either be redeemed against Novonix’s tax bill within a couple of years or – get this – sold! For cash! America, land of opportunity.
The tax break comes on top of another US$100 million the US Department of Energy poured into the Chattanooga plant from a different funding pot, something called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, but that’s not all folks.
Novonix chief executive Chris Burns said on Tuesday that the company was after loan funding for its Tennessee operation from the department under its “Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing” program.
And you wouldn’t bet against them getting it.
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