By Stephen Brook and Kishor Napier-Raman
Here at CBD, we are fans of resurrection stories.
And so to car-crash former state MP for Kew, Tim Smith, who revisited Victoria in the opinion pages of The Age this week.
Former state Liberal MP Tim Smith pictured in 2022.Credit: Justin McManus
Smith, who quit politics after crashing his Jaguar into a house fence while drunk in 2021, inserted himself into the Liberal Party’s woes in the wake of leader John Pesutto and ousted MP Moira Deeming’s defamation case / leadership instability / political car crash.
As CBD reported at the time, he was issued with an infringement notice. But no arrest, court case, prosecution, conviction or criminal record – just 12 months off the road and no legal impediment to returning to parliament.
Instead, Smith took off to London, where he now works for upstart British conservative TV outlet GB News, run by former Sky News Australia boss Angelos Frangopoulos.
Smith has reported from Ukraine for the libertarian news outlet and now has a berth on a show fronted by Camilla Tominey, a no-nonsense Meghan Markle attack merchant/royal correspondent for The Daily Telegraph. “She’s like their Peta Credlin,” CBD was told.
Broadcaster Camilla Tominey pictured in 2019.Credit: Getty
Smith wasn’t responding to CBD, but happily, his boss was. “Yes, he is [working on the Camilla Tominey Show] as a producer,” Frangopoulos – who was unaware but unconcerned about the Age column – told CBD.
“He’s doing well.”
JAYNE, SET, MATCH?
The Australian Open launch on Thursday in front of hundreds of tennis fans included grand slam winners Lleyton Hewitt, Casey Dellacqua and Todd Woodbridge, as well as Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley – but not Tennis Australia chair Jayne Hrdlicka.
Craig Tiley, CEO of Tennis Australia, at the launch for the Australian Open 2025 with ball kids (L-R) Lucy, William, Daniel and Hannah.Credit: Eddie Jim
AO 2025 looks like it will be the swansong for Hrdlicka, who has run Virgin Airlines since it was bought out of administration by Bain Capital in November 2020.
In February, she announced she would leave the airline without giving a reason or a timeline for her exit. At the time, Tennis Australia said that she would remain chair. But the organisation confirmed that her third term expires towards the end of next year.
The launch moved across town from Melbourne Park to The Lume, the cavernous hi-tech art projection hall, to announce that what seemed like half of Melbourne’s name restaurants would operate pop-ups next year in between sets.
One of the tournament’s most controversial elements, the “party court” – a courtside bar with viewing platforms – will be expanded.
“There was a lot of talk about that,” Tiley told the crowd on Thursday
“We were 100 per cent sure it was going to work,” he said, before pausing and dropping a truth bomb. “Not really – but it did. This year it’s going to be bigger.”
Yet to be announced: tie-ups with a global food brand and a bespoke cocktail.
But the Open did launch “Topcourt”, a global-first immersive entertainment zone, combining tennis and gaming with more food and live music – including Kesha. Clearly the tennis gaming experience has gotten considerably more sophisticated than the days when we would watch Mats Wilander and Martina Navratilova triumph at Kooyong before firing up the Atari 2600 and thrashing our siblings at Pong.
THE FIGHT GOES ON
It’s day interminable of the John Pesutto – Moira Deeming defamation case / leadership instability / political car crash, and it’s not just the politicians who are desperate and despairing.
The lawyers are as well.
How else to explain the missive from Deeming’s lawyer Patrick George to his opposite number Peter Bartlett at MinterEllison.
George took umbrage at the state opposition leader’s repeated claims that he had “exhausted every effort” to settle with Deeming, writing that the claim was “false and deliberately misleading”.
Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto.Credit: Darrian Traynor
George demanded a withdrawal and apology, and said it could become an issue relevant to “the question of costs”.
At a press conference on Thursday, Pesutto said he stood by his comments. Which surprised no one.
HE’S THE MAN
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese jetted off to Laos on Wednesday, but the man with the job John Howard once called the most important in Australia was in Parliament House.
Cricket lovers David Pocock, Pat Cummins and Meg Lanning at the Parliamentary Friends of Cricket event at Parliament House on Wednesday night.Credit: Instagram
While some of Australia’s men’s cricket test stars were warming up for this summer’s blockbuster India series by representing their states in the Sheffield Shield opener, captain Pat Cummins was working the corridors of power, appearing at an event organised by the Parliamentary Friends of Cricket.
The skipper was spotted posing for a pic with former Wallaby turned Senator David Pocock and former women’s captain Meg Lanning. Pocock and Cummins have worked together on climate change initiatives in the past and are both noted for bringing a more socially conscious vibe to the once staunchly apolitical world of national captaincy.
While still a Wallaby, Pocock was known for his outspoken advocacy on environmental issues and same-sex marriage, retiring to focus on conservation work before his successful 2022 Senate run.
Cummins’ concerns over Cricket Australia’s (now defunct) sponsorship deal with Alinta Energy led to much grumbling among the conservative commentariat that the test captain had “gone woke”. He responded by retaining the Ashes in England, winning the World Cup and being named the ICC’s men’s cricketer of the year.
On Wednesday night – party night during a sitting week – Cummins further proved he belongs to a new generation of captain when he was spotted dining at Onzieme in Kingston, a small plates and natural wine sort of place for the chic Millennial set.
Once upon a time, an Aussie captain would be more at home at the Kingston Hotel (aka “The Kingo”), a watering hole of choice for the inmates of Parliament House where, until recently, you could cook your own steak on the communal barbecue.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.