The Sauce: Liberals show the love for defected Nats MP Leslie Williams
Liberal pollies have shown the love to Leslie Williams this weekend, heading north to party with the defected Nationals MP at her local waterfront resort.
NSW
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Defected Nationals MP Leslie Williams has been shown the love by her new left-wing Liberal mates, who jetted up the coast this weekend to party with the Member for Port Macquarie at the local waterfront resort.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian was among the pollie posse to attend the Friday night fundraising event at Sails Port Macquarie hotel, with Arts Minister Don Harwin, Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello, Sports Minister Natalie Ward and Liberal lobbyist Michael Photios also among the 156 guests.
Williams sensationally defected to the Liberals last year, citing the “reckless and unreasonable behaviour” of Deputy Premier John Barilaro after he threatened to move the Nationals to the crossbench in protest at proposed koala planning laws.
Despite the defection, Williams invited a few of her old party colleagues, with former Nationals deputy leader Niall Blair turning up to celebrate her 10 years in state parliament.
But the ceremony was not without a dig at the Nationals leader, with Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock — who read out the apologies as MC — declaring that she had received a text from the Deputy Premier but that it was “too rude to read out” – a reference to the “deadset dick” SMS Bara had fired off to Dominello last month.
Other guests at the $245-a-ticket event included Deputy Government Whip Lee Evans, Assistant Speaker Mark Coure and former Liberal MP Scot MacDonald, who each paid their own way.
The Premier’s office was not keen on discussing Ms Berejiklian’s travel costs, although given media engagements she attended that day — among them the opening of Charles Sturt University Stage 2 and a visit to the new Port Macquarie Commercial Wharf and the previously flood-impacted Rivermark Cafe — we assume it was deemed a work trip.
Photios — who somehow manages to get an invite to everything — was charged with overseeing the auction and raffle draw.
Those who missed out did not go home empty-handed, with each guests handed a gift bag of mustard, jams, quince paste and chocolates.
Sweet.
BEGGING BEGA
Senior Liberals have not given up on luring NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance to Canberra, with yet another approach made last month to the Bega MP to make a run for the federal seat of Gilmore.
It can be revealed Constance, who has been tapped twice before — and declined — was again asked by senior Federal Liberals last month to consider making the switch.
A Liberal source told The Sauce that senior party officials felt Constance was the best candidate for the seat, given his high standing in the local community, especially with former Family, Community and Services Minister Gareth Ward out of contention as he faces sexual violence allegations — claims he denies.
The source said the hope that Constance would reconsider was one of the reasons the party was holding back on opening nominations for the seat.
“They want Bega and are still holding out hope for Mike (Baird for Warringah),” the source said.
While the party is moving forward in sorting out its candidates for the next federal election, the opposite is true when it comes to local government.
Despite NSW local government elections being held in September, not one Liberal candidate has yet been preselected.
One of the reasons the Liberals may be dragging the chain is the uncertainty surrounding the status of various NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption investigations which may or may not implicate certain councils.
The Premier herself tried to strip councils of the Liberal brand by not endorsing any council candidates, purportedly over concerns at the lack of oversight the party had in relation to direct donations to candidates.
However, the proposal was quickly blocked by angry Libs, who argued removing the “brand” would benefit Labor candidates.
We hear Liberal state director Chris Stone is just wishing the whole thing would go away.
LOBBYIST LINK
High-profile Liberal lobbyist Joe Tannous now has ex-staff in the offices of both new Labor leader Chris Minns and Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
Neil Harley, who works for the Premier, was a manager of government relations for First State Advisors & Consultants, a company Tannous was the executive director before eventually making his way over to Macquarie Street.
This week, Minns appointed James Cullen to the top job in his office, with the seasoned adviser leaving his role as a senior director at Cornerstone Group, a company also founded by Tannous.
While Tannous is an active Liberal — he sat on the NSW Liberal State Executive until former prime minister Tony Abbott ruled party officials would be banned from lobbying his government — Cornerstone Group prides itself of having a “bipartisan team”.
Cullen is a highly experience political adviser who worked in the office of federal Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen, prior to joining Cornerstone.
SPOOKY GHOST
Labor leader Chris Minns had second thoughts after taking on the top job.
The morning after his election, the Kogarah MP has revealed he was woken with a start at 4am by a loud noise in the house.
Minns, convinced someone had broken in, leapt out of bed before waking his wife Anna.
“I said ‘Anna, get ready, there is someone in the house’,” he said.
“We never hear noises in the house. I jumped up and run down the stairs.”
Minns soon discovered the “impostor” was his young son Nick, who had turned on the TV after not being able to sleep.
“I thought because we’d been on the news, doing press conferences … I thought, ‘I’ve made a huge mistake here. Someone’s broken in’,” Minns said.
CARDIGAN CAPERS
The much maligned “man cardie” had long been relegated to the suburban op shop hangers.
But the old fashion adage that “everything comes full circle” appears to be true, with the button-front garment made famous by 1970s TV talk show hosts making an appearance in the Coalition party room this week when Customer Services Minister Victor Dominello waltzed in wearing one.
Forget the brown, mohair, knitted varieties — the Ryde MP wore a “sporty” version complete with red, white and blue stripes.
After the audible gasps had subsided, Dominello immediately began copping a barrage of sledges from MPs at the back of the room.
“It is a fashion obscenity,” one senior Liberal said.
Dominello, who turns 54 this year, revealed the cardigan was given to him by a friend “as an early birthday present”.
As for his critics, it appears Dominello is at the fashion forefront, with the male cardigan dominating catwalks recently, featuring on models walking for high-end fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton and Saint Laurent.
KOALA WARS
It wasn’t that long ago that NSW Farmers was at war with the Liberals over the controversial “koala planning laws” that it claimed would impact “routine farming activities”.
So more than a few eyebrows were raised when NSW Farmers chief executive officer Pete Arkle turned up the recent 10-year anniversary bash of left-wing Energy and Environment Minister Matt Kean.
Arkle even tweeted from the event that he was “moderately excited” to “share in” the anniversary with Kean, who he declared was “working hard for the people of Hornsby and doing a solid job on energy and environment”.
“Here’s to the next 10!” he tweeted.
Truce, perhaps.
Got some Sauce? Contact linda.silmalis@news.com.au
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