The Sauce: Labor Party’s secret weapon in The Bachelor mansion
THE political adviser hoping not only to score with The Bachelor, Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins, but also get Bill Shorten elected into power — and what outgoing foreign minister Julie Bishop gifted her staff.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THE Sauce is a new weekly column covering the top end of town — all levels of politics, business and the law.
The Sunday Telegraph senior reporters Linda Silmalis, Miranda Wood and Annika Smethurst go behind the headlines.
A POLITICAL REALITY
SHE is the vivacious “political adviser” on The Bachelor who has become known for her no-holds-barred commentary of the shenanigans in the bachelorette mansion.
Such is the forthrightness of Alisha Aitken-Radburn that viewers have dubbed the 25-year-old and her sharp-tongued operatives Romy Poulier and Cat Henesey-Smith as “The Mean Girls”.
While The Sauce would argue the latter two more “mean”, it is clear Aitken-Radburn is unafraid to speak her mind.
A few previous incidents — nor dating a Liberal before joining the Ten reality show (Aitken-Radburn took a chance on love after breaking up with junior adviser Dean Shachar) — have failed to hurt her soaring political career, with Aitken-Radburn last week being snapped up by the NSW Labor headquarters office to head-up fundraising activities for the election of Labor leader Bill Shorten.
“We are thrilled to have her on board,” said NSW ALP general secretary Kaila Murnain.
As for whether Aitken-Radburn snags Nick ‘The Honey Badger’ Cummins, The Sauce doesn’t kiss and tell. But we do know the mean girls are in for a rude rose ceremony shock.
SANTA BISHOP’S DEPARTING GIFTS
FORMER foreign minister Julie Bishop made no secret of her love for designer labels, glittering brooches, and expensive earrings.
But last week she revealed her generous side handing out thousands of dollars worth of luxurious gifts to her ministerial staff, which she accumulated from around the world during her time as foreign minister.
As her teary team began packing up their desks following Ms Bishop’s unsuccessful bid for the leadership, the former deputy leader cracked open the cupboards in her ministerial office and handed out accessories, jewels and trinkets from her travels across the world.
“She certainly lifted the mood, giving us all these amazing things which she had collected from around the globe,” one staffer said.
The Sauce understands one of Ms Bishop’s loyal employees received a luxury-brand hat from a trip to North America, while another member of her ministerial team was given a gift from The White House.
Under Parliamentary rules all MPs must declare “gifts valued at more than $300”.
Ms Bishop’s register reveals a long list of gifts but sadly her staff missed out on four live pigs gifted from the Papua New Guinean government in 2015 which she immediately re-gifted to local hospitals which sold the animals to raise funds for medical equipment.
FLIGHT AND FANCY
You might have had enough of Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion (surely not!) but just in case, more details of their working time together has seeped out.
It appears taxpayers forked out more than $20,000 to fly the dumped Nationals leader and his then-pregnant mistress from Rockhampton to Tamworth and Canberra on a VIP plane.
The latest Schedule of Special Purpose Flights for the second half of last year reveals Mr Joyce, three Nationals MPs and three staff chartered a flight to Rockhampton in August 2017 for a National Party’s strategic planning meeting.
Mr Joyce’s now partner Campion was one of three staff on the taxpayer-funded private plane, even though she was not employed by Mr Joyce at the time and was instead working for then-whip Damian Drum. Mr Drum was not on the VIP flight to Rockhampton with Mr Joyce and Ms Campion.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Mr Joyce did not respond to our requests for comment.
IT’S A CHEATING DISGRACE!
FORMER Labor senator Sam Dastyari’s much-anticipated show Disgrace! may still be with Ten in pilot-mode, but the author-come-TV host is still working on content.
Turning to what he knows best, the former party official has commissioned a poll on whether Australian cricketers should “go back to cheating” given their dire performance of late.
Conducted by REACHTEL, 3000 were asked the question with The Sauce exclusively revealing that one in 10 said “yes”.
Interestingly, twice as many men than women agreed with the sentiment.
As for party membership, the biggest group advocating cheating were National Party voters, followed by One Nation and The Greens.
The most honest of the bunch appeared to be the Liberals with 81 per cent of voters saying “no”, and Labor with 77.8 per cent.
FOR QUEEN AND STATE
It’s not just royal mania at the Invictus Games — one NSW minister has taken to declaring “God Save the Queen” repeatedly in state parliament.
Planning Minister Anthony Roberts has increasingly declared his allegiance to the monarch around Question Time.
The Sauce understands it riles up Premier Gladys Berejiklian who doesn’t share his unbridled enthusiasm for Queenie. Between Mr Roberts, Corrective Services Minister David Elliott and Government Whip Chris Patterson, NSW very much remains her majesty’s loyal Parliament.
A REAL HAM-FISTED CAMPAIGN
Why hasn’t anyone ever heard of the Liberal candidate in the Wagga Wagga by-election, who is fighting to hold on to disgraced MP Daryl Maguire’s long-held seat?
At prepoll on Monday, Julia Ham politely introduced herself to one of Wagga’s most well-known political figures and her potential future stablemate, Nationals upper house MP Wes Fang.
After perennial Greens candidate Ray Goodlass stepped in to the embarrassing encounter by introducing Mr Fang as a sitting parliamentarian, Ms Ham asked Mr Fang what party he belonged to.
She’s been putting Nationals noses out of joint by introducing herself to voters as a “Liberal National” candidate, even though Premier Gladys Berejiklian blocked the Nationals from running in the rural by-election.