Backroom Baz: Upper House MP Lee Tarlamis dresses to impress
Upper House MP Lee Tarlamis has wowed his parliamentary colleagues with some fancy threads.
Victoria
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Backroom Baz has had much to say about the dress standards at parliament of late.
Safe to say he was blown away by the sartorial splendour of upper house MP Lee Tarlamis this week.
There’s embracing Harmony Day, then there’s embracing Harmony Day.
Bravo Lee. Though handing out sunglasses to those opposite next year would be a welcome move.
There was speculation Tarlamis was pushing for a go in the President’s chair in the ministerial shake-up that followed the election.
Dressed like that, Baz reckons he’d have done the job proud.
Danny Pearson flesh wound
The game is well and truly afoot in the cutthroat world of factional Labor politics after a long hiatus during which the party restricted voting rights for members.
Now that internal elections have returned, the knives are out and even factional friends have turned into foes.
One event that got tongues wagging this week was that Government Services Minister Danny Pearson appeared to lose the numbers for control of his Essendon branch to the Socialist Left.
It’s hard to know what this means going forward but Pearson must surely be hoping his luck turns around after also spending weeks questioned about his share portfolio.
Not to be outdone, the SL are also increasingly tense among themselves amid ongoing conflicts between its North West and South East subdivisions.
Control of the Federal Electorate Area of Lalor has become a flashpoint in this conflict and Baz is told frustrations began to spill out at recent SL knees up.
However Baz is sure SL members are taking some comfort in the fact the faction is expecting to secure control of up to 60 per cent of the party following the elections.
Victoria’s next governor
Word reaching Baz that the shortlist for Victoria’s next governor is down to just a handful of names, with speculation an announcement is imminent.
There is some suggestion the next person to occupy Government House when Linda Dessau’s term ends in June could be announced by Easter.
But the list of names is being tightly held.
Baz has heard all manner of names from Sally Capp — depending who you ask she’s either definitely out, or definitely in — to Indigenous academic Marcia Langton.
Former Attorney General Jill Hennessy’s name has come up more than once, though Baz suspects such a blatantly political appointment would be unlikely, even by Andrews government standards.
Looking to the other end of the city, both Chief Justice Anne Ferguson and Chief Magistrate Lisa Hannan are widely rumoured to be in the mix.
Even Julia Gillard’s name has popped up.
Based on this rumoured list, one thing is certain: men need not apply.
Aston by-election revolving door
There has been a revolving door of federal MPs from both sides making an appearance in Aston over the past week ahead of the April Fools’ Day by-election.
With the federal parliament sitting three out of four weeks in March, Labor ministers and Liberal frontbenchers had to make the most of the only week they were not in Canberra by visiting the mortgage-belt seat in a furry.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton is tied with Anthony Albanese 4-4 on the visits to the eastern suburbs electorate.
Senior Labor figures to join candidate Mary Doyle on the hustings include NDIS Minister Bill Shorten, Multicultural Minister Andrew Giles, Health Minister Mark Butler, Energy Minister Chris Bowen, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth and Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly.
Liberal frontbenchers have also been out to help their candidate Roshena Campbell hold on to the seat for the party, with the tough contest marking the first real test for Dutton’s leadership.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley, Opposition treasury spokesman Angus Taylor, foreign affairs spokesman Dan Tehan, communication spokeswoman Sarah Henderson as well as Victorian Senators Jane Hume and James Paterson.
Although the NSW state election has stolen some attention, that’s now out the way clearing the way for another flurry of appearances this week as the candidates sprint to the finish line.
Is Ken Block coming back?
Fire Rescue Victoria chief Ken Block has headed back to his native Canada, to again take care of some personal matters.
But his leave has prompted some speculation about whether or not he’ll return.
To be fair, whenever he heads overseas rumours abound that he’s booked a one-way ticket, in part because he’s made no secret of his dissatisfaction with aspects of his organisation.
Block told colleagues his return date was “uncertain” which further fuelled speculation.
But FRV tells us: “The Commissioner is expected to be on leave until the end of March 2023.
Deputy Commissioner, Gavin Freeman was appointed Acting Fire Rescue Commissioner from Monday 6 March.”
Gladys doco
Out of politics, and into Hollywood. Sort of.
Former Liberal Chisolm MP Gladys Liu, who was ousted at last year’s federal election and failed to win a seat at the state election, was spotted this week filming a documentary about herself on the steps of parliament.
Details are being tightly held but Liberal sources say Liu is starting to re-emerge with some force.
She wrote a piece for the Institute of Public Affairs recently attacking the Chinese Communist Party, and appears unwilling to leave her political career behind.
Guess who?
Which former Minister was overheard discussing IBAC related matters on a very public Sandringham line train last week?
Overheard
“Honestly, you’d sooner vote for Molly Meldrum as your MP over most of our guys,” an aggrieved rank and file Liberal party member lashes out over the party’s latest shenanigans involving moves to expel Moira Deeming.
Originally published as Backroom Baz: Upper House MP Lee Tarlamis dresses to impress
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