Cattle baron Brendan Menegazzo just can’t seem to stay away from the ponies

Cattle baron Brendan Menegazzo just can’t stay away from the ponies. The Brisbane-based rich lister is getting his helmet and mallet ready for another tilt at urban polo.

Brendan Menegazzo will take part in Polo By The Sea on the Gold Coast. Illustration: Brett Lethbridge

URBAN POLO

Cattle baron Brendan Menegazzo just can’t stay away from the ponies.

The Brisbane-based rich lister is getting his helmet and mallet ready for another tilt at urban polo.

The Stanbroke Pastoral Group boss will be among those hardy souls taking to the field at Polo By The Sea on the Gold Coast on June 2.

He last swatted balls and stomped on divots in November at the related Polo In The City event in Ashgrove.

The upcoming event at Main Beach is expected to entice quite a crowd of bizoids, including Mantra boss-turned-Tourism Australia chair Bob East, Southern Cross Austereo chief Tim Davenport and auto dealers Brett Frizelle and Geoff Tink.

Lots of pollies are the guest list too, among them Steve Ciobo, Tom Tate and John-Paul Langbroek.

There’s even talk that Jennifer Hawkins will rock up to her $228 per head marquee to flog her

Sesion tequila brand.

 

ALL GONE QUIET

Something odd is going on inside BHP’s Brisbane bunker.

A well-briefed analysis of a looming fight between the mining giant and Aurizon over the rail giant’s decision to scale back maintenance on its central Queensland coal network appeared in a media outlet at the weekend.

It forecast BHP would initiate retaliatory action against Aurizon by clawing back up to 10 million tonnes of its exports and possibly handing the haulage work to archrival Pacific National.

That would be a big deal for Aurizon, which already stands to lose about $1 billion because of the maintenance cutback forced on it by a Queensland Competition Authority draft decision.

But suddenly things have gone eerily quiet at BHP, with a no comment the only response yesterday.

CLIVE’S BOOK

It’s a two-volume work, weighing in at 4.5kg and titled The Last Sentry at the Gate.

Yes, Clive Palmer has spent many thousands of dollars printing this hefty collection of speeches, questions without notice and other commentary from his brief but chaotic tenure in Parliament.

The mercurial mining magnate has forked out even more to have hundreds of copies of the books mailed to just about every member of the Canberra press gallery.

Plenty of the hacks were both amused and disgusted yesterday to receive the unsolicited package, which claims to “highlight many of the great policy achievements this party made in its service to the Australian people’’.

 

DANCING CEOS

The gang at Women’s Legal Service Queensland are still pumped up about their latest fundraising effort.

They pulled in a whopping $265,000 from last week’s Dancing CEOs bash at Brisbane City Hall, which drew a capacity black-tie crowd of 900.

The haul exceeded their $250,000 target and will be used to provide legal advice and other support for vulnerable women and kids coping with domestic violence across the state.

First launched in 2014, the annual event has managed to increase its financial windfall in each subsequent year.

This year’s spectacle saw the judges award top honours to hospitality identity Adam Barton, who runs Brooklyn Standard, Chingon and River Quay Fish.

Student Flights boss Sean Martin walked away with a “people’s choice’’ gong, while Cooper Grace Ward legal gun Genevieve Dee earned top honours for her skill at rounding up more than $27,000 in pledges.

 

MADAME BUTTERFLY

Speaking of gongs, Madame Butterfly picked up another one in Brisbane yesterday.

Yes, swimming legend Susie O’Neill received an Order of Australia medal at Government House.

She was one of 97 recipients recognised by the Governor of Queensland, Paul de Jersey.