The Sauce: Conservative Liberals unhappy at Alex Hawke’s dinner invite
Not everyone is happy Special Minister of State Alex Hawke was invited to a traditional gathering of the Right faction in Canberra — a semi-secretive gathering called the “It’s All Right On The Night” dinner, The Sauce can reveal.
NSW
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He may regard himself a close ally of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, but not everyone is happy with Special Minister of State Alex Hawke being invited to dinner.
The Sauce understands noses were out of joint among some Liberal members after Hawke was invited to a traditional gathering of the Right faction in Canberra last night.
The semi-secretive gathering — called the “It’s All Right On The Night” dinner — is held every two years after the Federal Council meeting and gala ball.
The Left faction also have a traditional meet-up, called the “Black Hand”, which made headlines two years ago when then-defence minister Christopher Pyne was secretly recorded boasting about the influence of his faction in government — described as “the winner’s circle” — while also promising to deliver on same-sex marriage.
As Hawke hails from the Centre-Right faction — he broke away from the Right a decade ago — dinner invites to either function are hard to come by.
That was until Finance Minister Mathias Cormann came along and allowed Hawke to the Hotel Realm bash, to be hosted this year by Sky News broadcaster Paul Murray.
The invitation caused an immediate stir, with several NSW Right-faction Liberals declaring they would be boycotting the event.
As one NSW Right-faction MP declared: “The river flows very deep with Hawke.”
As for the Left’s knees-up, sources at the QT Hotel said the gathering was without incident — or phone recordings.
STAR POWER
This was no ordinary garden party.
When the invites for the Tourism and Transport Forum’s annual event at NSW Parliament were delivered, politicians knew it was a spare-no-expense event.
So on Wednesday night they made their way out of the halls of power on Macquarie St to the Speakers Garden to find more than 1000 red roses and the head chefs of The Star’s top restaurants manning food stations.
The elaborate menu included braised Riverina lamb shoulder and eastern rock lobster, while Flying Fish executive chef Peter Robertson shucked oysters.
Ministers enjoying the lavish hospitality of the TTF and the event’s partner The Star included Stuart Ayres, Melinda Pavey, Dominic Perrottet, Andrew Constance and David Elliott.
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The Sauce was told Premier Gladys Berejiklian cruised past with the voting bells ringing and admired the chocolates. And with such an influential and captive audience, The Star chairman John O’Neill took the opportunity to spruik the ever-hopeful Ritz-Carlton hotel proposal.
With the project yet to be finalised, maybe the canapes will help his cause.
HEAD HUNT
With Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) national secretary Bob Nanva vacating the post to take on the role of NSW Labor assistant secretary and acting general secretary, the scramble is under way to fill the union vacancy.
The media-shy Nanva — who wants to be less front-and-centre than his predecessors — is being credited for stopping union members from fighting on the lawn. Not an easy feat given the union has members from both Left and Right factions.
“That’s been one of his strengths — corralling the union’s split factions,” a union source said.
As for who will take over the reins, the RTBU national executive meets tomorrow to discuss the candidates, understood to include NSW RTBU boss Alex Claassens.
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Originally published as The Sauce: Conservative Liberals unhappy at Alex Hawke’s dinner invite