The Scoop: Bianca Stone sounded out for LNP media role
LNP candidate Bianca Stone has moved on from the disappointment of narrowly losing the seat of Gaven with a new job offer. WE’VE GOT THE SCOOP
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Beaten LNP candidate Bianca Stone is very short odds to pick up a senior media gig with the party after her narrow election loss to former Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon this week.
Stone conceded defeat on Wednesday after a neck-and-neck battle with Scanlon in the Gold Coast seat of Gaven.
Scanlon held on to the seat to remain Labor’s only Coast MP despite the LNP’s emphatic election victory, and an impressive campaign by political rookie Stone.
Stone is a veteran former TV reporter, including a lengthy stint with Channel 7’s Sunrise, and her media polish shone on the campaign trail.
Sunday Scoop hears she’s been sounded out for a role with the LNP media team headed by former Nine journo Rob Morrison.
CLIVE PALMER AND CONRAD SEWELL STEAL THE SHOW IN BRISBANE
Singer Conrad Sewell may have rocked St Ignatius Catholic primary school’s Goldicott event last weekend, but it was billionaire Clive Palmer who got everyone talking.
Sewell, who has relatives at the Toowong, Brisbane school, got everyone up and dancing with his hit Healing Hands and also belted out renditions of the Daryl Braithwaite classic Horses, Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey and Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror.
And Palmer – whose children attended the school – delivered a heartfelt speech at the event, which was held on the Susan Palmer oval – named in honour of the businessman’s late wife.
While he talked up the great sense of community at the school, the former politician couldn’t resist having a little dig at Canberra and the rampant “infidelity” in the country’s capital – something Palmer assured the crowd he never participated in.
EXTRA REASON TO CELEBRATE FOR LAURA GERBER
Newly-minted Crisafulli government minister Laura Gerber took to Facebook on Friday – the day she was sworn in – to announce it was “a very special day”.
But it had nothing to do with the feisty Gold Coast MP being appointed Minister for Youth Justice, Victim Support and Corrective Services in David Crisafulli’s first Cabinet.
Instead, she posted a pic of her marrying her partner Dan on the beach at Elephant Rock in her southernmost Goldy electorate of Currumbin.
“Nine years ago today, I married the love of my life,” she posted.
“Happy wedding anniversary, Dan. Here’s to so many more years of love and happiness together.”
No doubt the bubbly in the Gerber household on Friday night.
OLI FINES-FROST FACES LEGAL WOES AFTER LAVISH WEDDING
He married his influencer/podcaster girlfriend in a lavish wedding at Byron Bay last weekend, but Gold Coast hospitality industry identity Oli Fines-Frost is facing fresh business dramas.
Frost is the man behind failed music festival Grass is Greener as well as hip Burleigh Heads venues Maman and Naami, Tugun restaurant Lucia Tapas Garden and Surfers Paradise burger joint Milky Lane which continue to trade under new entities after original controlling companies collapsed last year.
Court documents reveal Adelaide YouTuber David Nicholas, aka The Captain Davo, has launched Supreme Court action against Fines-Frost and companies linked to his mother, Karen Fines, and business partner, Jonathan Eddings as well as Eddings personally.
Ms Fines is not being sued personally.
Nicholas – a self-styled entrepreneur from Adelaide who has almost 700,000 social media followers and is famed for live-streaming his high-stakes gambling exploits – loaned the Grass is Greener festival $1.25m weeks before it collapsed in December 2022 owing creditors more than $3m.
A liquidator’s report revealed festival company Hand Picked Events and Marketing had loaned the restaurant businesses more than $700,000.
Those caught up in the mess included Matt Poole, the former champion ironman and ex-partner of mega-influencer Tammy Hembrow, who ploughed about $30,000 into Maman.
Nicholas’ company DN Holdings launched legal action last month seeking “recovery of possession of land” against Frost, Eddings and five associated companies.
No defences to the claim have yet been filed.
Fines-Frost married long-time partner Nikki Westcott in the Byron hinterland last weekend.
Westcott runs fashion brand Jgr+Stone and popular podcast Happy Hour with Lucy & Nikki with best mate Lucy Jackson.
GAMBARO FAMILY BIDS FAREWELL TO ICONIC RESTAURANT
It was a bittersweet farewell for the Gambaro family on Thursday night as they officially bowed out of their legendary namesake seafood restaurant on Caxton Street.
The tight-knit clan hosted more than one hundred of their nearest and dearest, who supped on prawns, oysters and fish and chips, washed down with champagne and shots of grappa. Among those tearing up the dance floor were Australian Rugby League commissioner Kate Jones, businesswoman Cathie Reid, former premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and surgeon partner Reza Adib, and Vivien’s model agency boss Georgia Barclay. Also spotted in the crowd were former premier Steven Miles and wife Kim, member for McConnel Grace Grace, business tycoon Bevan Slattery and Suncorp Stadium head honcho Alan Graham.
The restaurant, started by the late Michael Gambaro decades ago, was sold earlier this year, along with the luxe Gambaro Hotel, to the ARL. Speaking on behalf of the family, John Gambaro said he was grateful for the memories and excited for the future. Black Hide Steak & Seafood at The Star, Brisbane, and Pippi’s and Awaken Café in Coolangatta are newly opened, joining Black Hide Steak & Seafood on Caxton Street and Persone Italian restaurant in Brisbane.
GOLD COAST BRAND SABBI FACES LEGAL CLASH WITH LEVI’S
A burgeoning Gold Coast fashion label gaining a global celeb following has attracted a rather unwanted form of attention – that of the lawyers of denim behemoth Levi’s.
Family-run Sabbi The Store, which has become a hit with famous folk including Celeste Barber, DJ Fisher and country singer Casey Barnes, was set to release its first denim collection when it was issued a legal letter from Levi’s.
The letter pertained to the fingernail-sized red tab the Queensland company had placed on the pockets of its new jean shorts, which bore a resemblance to that of the iconic Levi’s scarlett label that was patented in 1936 and is protected by trademark – preventing any other brand from using a red tab.
“That’s why all our denim jean has been removed because no one can put a red tag on their pocket,” co-owner Ash Tardrew revealed on social media.
Tardrew and business partner Jase McDonnell were quick to recall their product and remove all the red labels, but it wasn’t without a hefty price tag.
“That’s something as a beginner we didn’t have any idea of,” said McDonnell, with the brand having only launched just over 12 months ago.
The new, red tag-free denim range is set to launch on November 7.
QLD POLICE FAREWELLS BELOVED SENIOR SERGEANT
Prosecutors, magistrates, lawyers, friends and family have piped out a true gentleman of the Queensland Police Service in Senior Sergeant Mark Gorton who has officially retired.
The always affable and genuine Snr Sgt Gorton had been a fixture at the Brisbane Arrest Court for decades and will be sorely missed by the legal profession and, dare Scoop say, even a few defendants who were always treated fairly, although sometimes firmly, by the senior prosecutor.
For discombobulated journalists trying to navigate the busy arrest court on Roma Street, Snr Sgt Gorton was a friendly guide, always ready to point young scribes to the right place.
As one colleague said at his farewell ceremony at the QPS Tank Street office on Friday Snr Sgt Gorton’s departure had left a “gaping hole”.
Snr Sgt Gorton joined the police service in 1990 and after stints at Beenleigh Station and in the Mounted Unit he joined the Brisbane Police Prosecution Corp in 1994 where he remained and collected a swag of medals.
“What I really enjoyed was just going to court every day. Every day was different, no two cases were the same,” he told Scoop.
“The big cases were great, but so too were the little cases because they involved people and that was the most enjoyable part of it.”
Snr Sgt Gorton said he was looking forward to “enjoying life” with family and travel in retirement.
“I know a lot of people dread retirement. Not me, too much life to live.”
Acting Inspector Carrie Davidson said Snr Sgt Gorton had been an excellent boss over the years.
“His friendship and loyalty is unwavering and I am truly grateful to have had the privilege to work alongside Mark,” she said.
Wife Janine, son Matt, daughter Sarah and her husband Charlie and grandson Leo joined colleagues, members of the legal fraternity, Deputy Chief Magistrate Anthony Gett and Magistrates Linda Bradford-Morgan, Rosemary Gilbert, Lewis Shillito and Belinda Merrin in pipping out Snr Sgt Gorton along Tank St.
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