The Sauce: Taylor Swift tickets the hottest gift in town for NSW politicians, latest registry reveals
Which pollies are diehard Swifties? The latest gift register reveals all. Plus police no longer pursuing a complaint about alleged abusive behaviour by Upper House politician Taylor Martin; and why did the Nats dump their state director? It’s all in The Sauce.
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Taylor Swift tickets were the hottest item in town earlier this year when it came to wooing pollies with gifts.
The latest gift register shows Housing Minister Rose Jackson accepted three Swift tickets worth $900 from Venues NSW chairman David Gallop and chief executive officer Kerrie Mather, while Treasurer Daniel Mookhey disclosed two.
Not realising that it’s now OK to be a Swift fan, Mookhey included a note saying that he had “attended the above event in his capacity as the Treasury for NSW”.
Venues NSW also handed Environment Minister Penny Sharpe two Swift tickets, while Education Minister Prue Car received three tickets to a suite as well as two tickets worth a total $800 to the New Year’s Test Match.
Attorney-General Michael Daley got three Swift tickets from Tabcorp, which also handed him tickets to the Caulfield and Randwick races.
Daley also disclosed racing tickets from the Melbourne Racing Club and the Australian Turf Club.
Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong disclosed two tickets worth $1895 each to SXSW, while Mookhey accepted one – both attending in the capacity of minister.
Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty bypassed Swift but accepted two tickets worth $876 in total to Motley Crue and Def Leppard, while Arts Minister John Graham went to Pink.
Sport Minister Steve Kamper had the most expensive haul, disclosing four tickets worth $3713 to the UFC293 and three tickets worth $1230 to last year’s NRL Grand Final, all from Destination NSW.
Kamper also disclosed two tickets worth $1000 to the Supercar Championships, a $600 dinner with Alan Jones and tickets to Swift, a UFC Fight Night and the NRL Las Vegas double header.
Premier Chris Minns gave Swift a miss, instead accepting four tickets to Paul McCartney, six basketball tickets from the Sydney Kings and three tickets to the NRL Grand Final.
Transport Minister Jo Haylen received 10 tickets to the cricket from Venues NSW and Cricket NSW.
Pollies can surrender gifts they don’t want to the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet.
Among those that ended up in the reject pile was a paperweight Minns received from Princess Astrid of Belgium.
Pollie’s abuse complaint to cops against ex-lover ceases
Police will no longer investigate a complaint made by former federal MP Lucy Wicks about alleged abusive behaviour by her former staffer and ex-lover, NSW Upper House MLC Taylor Martin.
It was reported last month that Wicks’ original complaint about Martin — which included his text messages — had been given to police.
The move followed the completion of an independent investigation by the NSW Liberal Party appointed senior counsel Trish McDonald into the complaint.
The McDonald report – which the party has not released – led to officials expelling Martin after ruling he had engaged in “abusive conduct” towards the former Central Coast MP.
Wicks’ complaint comprised multiple allegations of abusive behaviour by Martin towards her, including messages that he had sent her calling her a “f--king idiot” and a “dumb slut”.
Details of Martin’s response to the party have also not been made public.
A police spokesman confirmed to The Sauce the investigation had ceased, with no charges or action to be taken.
“On Monday 22 April 2024, officers from Brisbane Water Police District commenced an investigation following a complaint by a 51-year-old woman,” a police spokesman said.
“On Wednesday 24 April 2024, police advised the woman there would be no further investigation.”
The Sauce has also been told that the NSW Police Media Unit has stated that "after a review of the matter, the decision was made that there was insufficient evidence to commence court proceedings".
The Sauce understands Wicks is keen to put her hand up for preselection in her old seat of Robertson.
GONE GIRL
Four weeks after being appointed to the role, green energy advocate turned NSW Nationals state director Namoi Dougall has been replaced after a membership revolt.
As The Sauce revealed last month, Dougall was selected by a panel of five to replace the outgoing state director Joe Lundy, who had filled the role for five years.
However, shocked Nats members immediately began questioning the appointment, given Dougall’s strong ties to the Liberals.
Not only had the former lawyer been a Liberal Party candidate for the federal seat of Bradfield, she had also recently put her hand up to become the NSW Liberal Party state director following the departure of Chris Stone.
More conservative members also pointed to her previous job as senior counsel for a firm called Business Green Energy, of which Kristina Photios — the third wife of left-wing Liberal Party powerbroker Michael Photios — is a director.
Business Green Energy lists its address as Level 61 of the MLC Centre at 25 Martin Place in Sydney — the same address as PremierNational and PremierState firms run by the powerful lobbyist.
Two weeks after Dougall had formally started the new job, the Nationals’ central executive members held a crisis meeting to discuss her ongoing tenure.
On Friday, NSW Nationals Chairman Andrew Fraser confirmed that she had gone, with the role having been offered to — and accepted by — the party’s deputy, Victoria Mencshelyi.
“Victoria Mencshelyi will replace Namoi Dougall as State Director of the NSW Nationals, effective immediately,” he said.
“The Party wishes Ms Dougall all the best in the future.”
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