By Stephen Brook and Kishor Napier-Raman
And so to Brighton, the bayside suburb that operates its own hermetically sealed socio-emotional environment, where a thousand residents’ WhatsApp groups bloom. And the rumour mill churns overtime.
Including one rumour that has been so remarkably persistent it has run for weeks on the basis of absolutely no evidence, even reaching the ears of Zoe Daniel, federal MP for Goldstein. Namely, that legendary human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson, KC, was buying Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and wife Stella a mansion in the suburb to live in. Only in Brighton, folks.
An Instagram photo posted on Monday shows Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, wife Stella and children relaxing on an unidentified beach. Credit: Stella Assange
Assange spent years in exile in London facing extradition to the US over conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents. But late last month he returned to Australia for the first time in 15 years after he attended court in the Northern Mariana Islands and pleaded guilty to a felony count of disseminating classified information
Bayside lawyers told CBD it was all happening and a suitably grand house had been located with trampolines in the backyard for the couple’s two children.
After Assange triumphantly flew in to Canberra, he and his family vanished from public view, leading to much speculation about where they might ultimately settle. Queensland, where Assange was born, is one theory, but he also spent time living in Melbourne.
Credit: John Shakespeare
On Monday up popped a social media post of the family enjoying a windswept beach. It didn’t look very FNQ to us.
But equally it looked a long way from Brighton, so CBD reached out all the way to London’s Doughty Street Chambers (Winner UK Bar Awards 2023) to Robertson, the founding head of chambers, who told us: “No comment.” Bayside real estate agents also laughed at us.
Luckily, an Inns of Court source was on hand to tell us the rumour was “utterly and demonstrably false”. Turns out Robertson, despite being a stout campaigner for Assange’s freedom, had not been in touch with Assange or his family for several years.
“It would be wrong and silly to suggest that he is helping to find him a house in Melbourne or anywhere else,” the source said.
So if we see J.A. and family dropping into the Pantry in Brighton’s Church Street for brunch any time soon, we will eat our hat.
WALL TREATMENT
The CFMEU boasted about the John Setka wall art in a social media post in May.Credit: Instagram/@cfmeuvic
The Victorian government is making a very big deal of its “world class” $1.1 billion Frankston Hospital redevelopment. On Monday Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Health Infrastructure Mary-Anne Thomas dropped in to highlight the fact that the new clinical services tower had “topped out” – in other words reached structural completion.
After construction is finished, the hospital will be able to treat an extra 35,000 patients a year. It will have 12 levels of clinical services, 130 extra beds, a bigger emergency department, 15 new operating theatres and even a rooftop helipad.
But one thing absent from the press release was a mural for former CFMEU boss John Setka, who resigned this month after The Age put to him explosive allegations of corruption, criminal infiltration and kickback offers.
Back in May, the CFMEU boasted of its “awesome new wall art” in a social media post praising the progress of the construction project. We asked the government what the plans were for the mural but didn’t hear back.
Folks, the world has turned.
AMAZING HUMAN
In the annals of “well he/she/they didn’t last that long in Canberra, did they?” we can add Nick Hayden, former ABC golden boy turned senior adviser, strategic communications and media for Treasurer Jim Chalmers, the government’s very own golden boy. But what’s not to like about that gig, we wonder?
Regular readers will recall that last year we reported that Hayden was joining Team Chalmers as a speechwriter (our bad) having left the ABC last July after a stint as head of entertainment, a role in which he had a hand in programs such as Spicks and Specks and Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery. What’s not to like about that gig, we wonder?
But now comes the announcement that Hayden is off to join digital-first media content company Totem. Totem, founded by documentary maker, author, entrepreneur and keynote speaker Steve Crombie, has already made the move LinkedIn official, announcing Hayden as the new head of content. Plenty to like about that gig.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Totem, to help grow their already exciting business,” Hayden said in a statement. “Totem are world leaders in social video and digital first media with an audience focus unlike any other company.”
We were keen to find out just why he had departed Canberra, but didn’t hear back.
Totem has an open invitation to “work and collaborate with amazing humans”. Looks like they found their guy.
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