SydCon Unleashed: Ibrahim’s Last new venture; Fashion Week’s cringe content

Whispers are swirling that the final series of Last King of the Cross – basically the life and times of Sydney nightclub owner John Ibrahim – is well underway.

John Ibrahim on set during the filming of Last King of the Cross. Picture: Daniel Asher Smith.

Gai Waterhouse and husband Robbie auctioned their Randwick Art Deco commercial property investment on Thursday with hopes for $13.5m.

The auction ended on a $13m vendor bid being placed by auctioneer Damien Cooley, who’d earlier taken a $12.5m offer from one of the three interested bidding parties.

There had been 2250 page views on realestate.com.au over its extended marketing by N G Farah Real Estate Kingsford agents Peter Goulding and Theo Karangis.

There was a no-show from Gai, who has been in the United States attending historic horse studs and race meetings including the Kentucky Derby, and Robbie.

The three-storey Belmore Rd offering cost the Waterhouses $10.75m in 2015, when secured with no registered mortgage.

It had been listed for April auction, but withdrawn due to an absence of bidders amid tariff and stockmarket volatility.

The building currently returns $688,000 per annum, up from its purchase when marketed as having a gross annual rental of $575,000. Land tax and council rates now add up to around $110,000 per annum.

There are 12 residential apartments above three retail shops on the 905 sqm holding on the eastern side of Belmont Rd, directly in front of a pedestrian crossing opposite Silver St.

The apartments are a mix of one, two and three-bedroom offerings.

— Jonathan Chancellor

Ibrahim’s TV series has the write stuff

Whispers are swirling that the final series of Last King of the Cross, which is basically the life and times of Sydney nightclub owner John Ibrahim, is well underway.

Confidential can reveal Ibrahim is bunkered down with a team of writers after he co-produced the first two series with Mark Fennessy, who has set up his own production company Helium Pictures.

Star of the show, Lincoln Younes, will continue in the role as Ibrahim, who is faced with the attempted murder of his brother, Fahdi, as he transitions from nightclub tsar to millionaire businessman.

Lincoln Younes as John Ibrahim. Picture: Daniel Asher Smith.

Lincoln Younes as John Ibrahim in Last King of the Cross. Picture: Daniel Asher Smith.

What will be of particular interest is who will be cast in the role of Ibrahim’s partner model Sarah Budge, who famously beat a gun possession charge in a trial that gripped Sydney.

Neither Ibrahim nor Fennessy would confirm they have already started writing.

Confidential has also heard that the first series is set to air on free to air Channel 10, which will make for some interesting viewing for the state’s inmates who until now have not been able to access the show.

— Mark Morri

More to come on tech guru’s jaunt

The Tech Council of Australia, chaired by Atlassian billionaire Scott Farquhar, was thrust into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons this week when we revealed its head of policy and strategy, Harry Godber, had been granted bail on domestic violence offences – only to promptly jet off to Japan for a trade show.

Thirty-year-old Godber, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, said he ultimately did not take part in the delegation to Expo 2025 in Osaka given he had stepped aside from his TCA role.

Head of policy and strategy at the Tech Council of Australia Harry Godber, who

But key questions remain over the affair, including who knew about Godber’s criminal charges and also who footed the bill for the Japan jaunt.

Unfortunately, everyone has gone to ground after our inquiries.

A TCA spokesman said the organisation was “not aware” of the DV allegations. Our story went live on Monday – a few days after Godber was released on bail on Friday.

The spokesman also would not answer who funded the Japan trip, but did point out “no government funds have been used”.

It’s not suggested Mr Farquhar or any other board member knew about the charges before the lid was blown off.

Austrade, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources all ruled out funding Godber’s trip.

So who did pay for it? Watch this space.

Godber was arrested on May 8, spent a night in custody, before then released on bail.

After being released, he travelled to Japan.

The charges relate to Godber’s former partner allegedly being left with bruises after incidents earlier this month.

— Derrick Krusche

Spanish vote has Boele-d over Teal

Teal MP-wannabe Nicolette Boele may once again fall short of winning the north shore seat of Bradfield but she has made plenty of diehard fans along the way.

Many readers may remember Boele as the failed Climate 200 candidate at the 2022 election who launched a made-up “shadow electorate office” and called herself “Shadow representative” for the past three years.

Independent Nicolette Boele. Picture: Rohan Kelly

And that sort of commitment deserves to be rewarded — at least Jenny from Bradfield thinks so.

Boele posted to Facebook about a local named Jenny who carried her postal vote in a backpack for 40km through Northern Spain, starting at the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.

“From there, it travelled through Madrid, Hong Kong, and finally arrived at the Bradfield AEC office in Sydney,” Boele wrote.

“This journey is more than just kilometres covered – it’s a powerful reminder of how far people will go to have their say and shape the future of their community. No matter the outcome, this is democracy in action.”

— Angira Bharadwaj

RonTok keeps up with the kids

A senior minister has taken a swing at his social media critics and defended his eyebrow raising use of sexually suggestive songs on TikTok, claiming he is one of the few politicians keeping up the kids.

Speaking to the young people of NSW in a recent TikTok video, Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig said “all these Liberals and conservative folks are losing their mind over me talking to you here”.

“Some people think it’s inappropriate for me to use TikTok the way young people use it – music, trends, expressions and all … but if you want to be heard, you speak the language of the room.”

Hoenig has drawn controversy of late for his “RonTok” or “Rontent,” after inserting songs with blatantly sexual lyrics over videos showing teenage school students and a visit to a school construction site.

But the minister doubled down on his “weird” posts by finishing the video with him strutting the halls of NSW parliament to the tune of another suggestive hit, Mariah Carey’s hit single “Obsessed”.

Hoenig used the lyric, “why you so obsessed with me, boy I wanna know,” to play up to attention.

— Elizabeth Pike

Katerina’s unending mission

Katerina Grant has cemented herself as the new era Sydney event queen.

Her late husband, the colourful and much-loved David Grant, was a fixture on the event scene before his untimely passing in 2015.

Sydney event queen Katerina Grant. Pic Supplied.

And she has carried on his legacy through her own work as a leading figure in the industry.

While they let their clients shine and most of us wouldn’t have heard of them, her events company The World Of is responsible for some of the biggest parties and events Sydney has ever seen.

Think Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Apple, Hermes and more.

She has also worked with the world’s biggest name celebrities, from Kendall Jenner to British royal Zara Phillips with her work at the annual Magic Millions extravaganza on the Gold Coast.

Confidential can reveal Grant has now launched a new arm of her business, an advisory titled UNEND with the goal of helping Australia’s $36 billion events industry reduce its environmental impact and shift towards a more sustainable, circular practice.

“During my two decades of producing events globally, I have been on a journey to increase sustainability practices in the work that I do and am compelled to do even more to transform the future of the industry,” Grant told Confidential.

“So many want to do better, but don’t know where to start. It’s about making real progress not just possible but inevitable.We look to support the entire life cycle of an event — from early planning to final wrap-up — embedding circular design, carbon reduction, and social impact at every stage. It’s about reimagining what events can achieve, from the inside out.”

— Jonathon Moran

Fender set to crank it up Down Under

With more than 6.2 million monthly listeners, English singer Sam Fender is set to return to Australia this November, following his sold-out headline shows in 2022 and 2023.

Riding high on the success of his third studio album People Watching, which debuted at number one in the UK and became the fastest selling UK album of the year, Fender has established himself as a “powerhouse” in modern rock.

The album earned him his third BRIT Award for Best Rock/Alternative Act and was named triple j’s Feature Album.

Fresh off a standout set at Coachella and a string of sold-out arena shows across the UK, Ireland, Europe, and North America, The Seventeen Going Under singer is bringing his biggest-ever outdoor headline shows to Australia.

— Zara Powell

Influencers trend towards try-hard

Fashion is fun. It can also be a little pretentious.

Confidential has been more than amused by several trends emerging at Fashion Week, the first of which is the strange popularity of ‘influencers’ wearing sunglasses inside and at night.

And with influencers desperate to stand out in a flooded market, it seemed the latest is to travel with your own camera crew to capture your every move from all angles.

Inevitably you end up just looking like a try-hard.

Now we know this is popular for many but Confidential simply does not understand the idea of hanging your jacket over your shoulders. Sleeves are there for your arms, people.

— Jonathon Moran