George Pell hosts power dinner for Alan Jones and Tony Abbott
Some speculated that pate and fish were not the only things on the menu when the trio sat down at the august Australia Club
National
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THERE were plenty of heads turned — and much dropping by to pass on earnest best wishes we hear — when SKY News presenter Alan Jones caught up with friends Tony Abbott and Cardinal George Pell for dinner at the Australian Club on Wednesday night.
The august (and sexist) club, which was founded in 1838 as a gentlemen’s club and remains accessible to women only if they attend in the company of a male member — although not the first floor where women remained banned — has been a favourite of prime ministers including John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull, businessmen Kerry Packer and David Gonski, and apparently also the clergy, with Pell a paid-up member.
Pell appears to have been host of Wednesday night’s gathering which, witnesses report, saw him heartily enjoy a fine pate (unlikely to have been on the menu at Melbourne Gaol or Barwon Prison) and fish from a menu so exclusive only members can access it online.
Sources for Jones yesterday denied the gathering follows attempts by
the broadcaster to have the two men join him, as regulars, on his Sky News program.
“No. No agendas,” the Sky source said of conversation. “Just friends catching up and discussing the state of the world.”
Which presumably must have been easy for anyone walking past to overhear, one imagines, with the men hopefully following COVID-19 social distancing rules and sitting a good
1.5m apart at what must have been a sizeable table.
Currently the men-only first floor of the Australian Club is closed because of COVID-19.
A small consolation.
Originally published as George Pell hosts power dinner for Alan Jones and Tony Abbott