Backroom Baz: Libs ‘dodgy politics’ tweet; Dan Andrews loses key media adviser

A timing blunder saw the state Liberals vowing to crack down on corruption while their own integrity was being called into question.

They say timing is everything.

Former opposition leader Michael O’Brien would have thought he was on solid ground when his team crafted a tweet asking if his constituents were sick of “dodgy politics”.

Unfortunately for old MOB it went live at nearly exactly the same time it was being revealed Matthew Guy’s chief of staff had asked for monthly payments to be made from a wealthy donor to his private business, on top of his annual salary.

Sick of dodgy politics? So am I.

It’s why I’ll fight for more power and more funding for our anti-corruption watchdogs.#springstpic.twitter.com/gOWs06msDX

— Michael O'Brien (@michaelobrienmp) August 2, 2022

While Guy was busy announcing Catlin had tendered his resignation, the social media pile-on of retweets and comments began about O’Brien’s ironic timing.

It’s the latest social faux pas for the Libs, whose TikTok attempts to turn Guy into a sex symbol have already raised eyebrows.

We still aren’t convinced Guy will turn up shirtless on the cover of Men’s Health magazine but we give MOB points for chutzpah for refusing to delete the tweet, which still sits proudly on his page.

Dan’s spin army loses a vital general

One of the Andrews government’s longest-serving and pugnacious media advisers is calling it quits.

Hayley Bester, who has worked for Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan for four years, told colleagues she has quietly been juggling health issues with the rigours of the job for some time.

Having recently been given a role that combines the demands of the deputy premier and premier’s office (what’s that about a transition plan, Dan?) Baz can’t imagine there has been a lot of time to put one’s feet up.

Bester is known for giving lip to uppity journalists (and MPs, at times), working long hours, and her penchant for chicken nuggets, which earned her the nickname “Nuggs”.

A proud Taswegian (or is that a contradiction in terms?), there were also unconfirmed rumours in 2016 that Bester attended Melbourne’s inaugural Ginger Pride Rally.

Working for Dan plus …

Jacinta makes their spinner ‘Dacinta’.

She will hand over the role as “Dacinta’s” spinner in chief to her colleague — who Baz thinks may have been named after a 9th century French poet — Matilda Edwards-Jezequel, in September.

Losing an experienced adviser shortly before an election is not ideal for Labor, but given Dan is never short an adviser in his office, Baz is sure the Premier will soldier on.

Danny’s totally lit

Danny Pearson is viewed by some in the Spring St media huddle as one of the government’s more entertaining media performers.

And he certainly delivered at his first press conference as Housing Minister.

While spruiking a milestone in the government’s social housing building program, Pearson — who is known to slip in the occasional reference or one-liner from a famous song or band — surprised journalists when he described the program as “totally lit”, a phrase normally used by people half his age to express excitement.

“This is just going to be awesome. Can I just say, it’s totally lit, like, that’s how good it’s going to be. It’s going to be amazing,” he said in response to questions about social housing. “This is changing people’s lives and we are shifting the dial. We are changing the conversation.”

Danny Pearson’s dress code might have been the first sign he was ‘totally lit’. Picture: Daniel Pockett

I’m a Deputy but not a Mr

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor seemed to be living in a parallel universe in the past week — a universe in which the coalition won the federal election and a man remained in the Speaker’s chair in federal parliament.

Interviewed by Sky News about climate and energy midweek, Taylor was steadfast that the coalition wasn’t budging on certain matters.

“We went to an election. These are our policies,” he said.

Bemused host Laura Jayes made the somewhat relevant point: “But you didn’t win the election”.

Angus Taylor stumbles through his Mr Speaker references with Sharon Claydon.

Later in the week, Taylor was in full flight at the dispatch box when Deputy Speaker Sharon Claydon interrupted him to point out that “you have called me Mr Speaker on at least a dozen occasions”.

Clearly not wanting to be drawn into a debate on gender and language that some federal MPs obsess about, Claydon said the title “Deputy Speaker” would suffice.

“I don’t need a Mr, a Mrs, a Madam, it’s just Deputy.”

Quite right, Taylor replied, before rattling off “Mr Speaker” four more times during his speech — to the groans of women across the parliament.

Monique’s magic touch

After causing such a stir during the federal campaign and becoming one of the most talked about candidates, it’s no surprise that Monique Ryan wanted to enter federal politics with a bang.

But many could be forgiven if they thought the new Member for Kooyong had mistaken the house of representatives for Hogwarts.

In her nearly three-page speech, the former neurosurgeon-turned-climate warrior channelled her inner wizard.

“I’m a child of the 1980s,” she said in her speech.

“During that time Steven Morrissey told us that there is a light that never goes out, but perhaps Albus Dumbledore put it better when he said, ‘Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light’.”

Did Monique Ryan cast a spell to has defeated Josh Frydenbergs seat in Kooyong. Photograph by Arsineh Houspian

Rachel says so

There’s nothing quite like the excitement of a big report dropping.

If they’re lucky, media organisations are given a heads-up – and often – this means getting an advanced copy of the highly awaited document, allowing news websites to have their yarn ready to go on the buzzer.

Every journalist is all too familiar with the fear of hitting pub too early, with many going to extraordinary lengths to combat that very risk.

It appeared The Age’s digital desk got a little too excited when they hit go on Rachel Eddie’s report on the Ombudsman’s fresh probe into the “red shirts” scandal.

While the embargo most certainly wasn’t broken, the fast-moving folk hit publish without removing a very important internal memo.

The note for back-end staff, which read “THIS CANNOT BE PUBLISHED UNTIL RACHEL EDDIE SAYS SO. IT’S BEING TABLED IN PARLIAMENT ON THURSDAY” was front and centre in the article to greet readers.

The warning that greeted readers of the Ombudsman story.

Adem Somyurek has challenged Deborah Glass and the IBAC Commissioner to a public debate on red shirts. Picture: Ian Currie

Join us, Adem

A decision by Ombudsman Deborah Glass to close the book on Labor’s red shirts rort probes last week wasn’t welcomed by everyone.

One of the most strident critics was the man who referred the scandal back to the Ombudsman (she already looked into it between 2016 and 2018) via parliament, Adem Somyurek.

The fallen Labor powerbroker has intimate knowledge of the scandal, because he was one of the MPs who provided taxpayer-funded staff to the ALP’s “red shirts” political campaign in 2014.

According to Somyurek, the scheme was “the biggest political scandal in Victoria’s history”. When Glass didn’t quite agree, Somyurek took to Twitter to challenge her and IBAC Commissioner Robert Redlich to a public debate “on all matters Operation Watts, red shirts and the imperative for greater oversight of the integrity bodies”.

This was enough for United Australia Party candidate Andrew Cuthbertson to declare Somyurek should join the UAP.

“Come on, Adem, you’re sounding more like one of us every day,” he said.

Guess who

Which former state MP recently vowed to cut back on the number of dim sims he consumes due to a health scare?