Damien Hardwick has cleared the air with Health Minister Martin Foley after Covid iso crack
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has smoothed things over with the state government on Covid iso rules after an impromptu cafe encounter.
Victoria
Don't miss out on the headlines from Victoria. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Baz was pleased to hear that ruffled-up Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has sidelined his anger towards the government’s Covid policies.
The Tigers’ leading lad bumped into none other than Health Minister Martin Foley at an Elwood cafe, where he attempted to “smooth things over” following his well-publicised outburst on isolation orders.
Hardwick appears to have calmed down after his team’s embarrassing loss to St Kilda by shouting Foley – who happens to be a St Kilda superfan – a coffee.
“We did have a chuckle about (the close contact comments). Good fella actually, so I bought him a cup of coffee,” Hardwick proudly stated.
But Baz is convinced he’ll need to do a hell of a lot more than a cup of coffee to win over the Premier, who was less than impressed with the dig.
Go Tiges!
Not in synch on credit
Taking credit for good ideas is all in a day’s work for a politician, but Tim Pallas set a new standard this week by laying claim to a plan above two former premiers.
During a speech this week, the Treasurer cheerfully revealed there has been a long-running dispute between himself, John Brumby and Steve Bracks about who dreamt up the decision to go it alone on the Australian Synchrotron.
Pallas was Premier Bracks’ chief of staff at the time and Victoria was facing competition from other eastern seats to score federal funding for the project.
It was during a lengthy meeting between the three that the DIY option emerged.
But recollections of who came up with the idea are foggy at best.
“In the telling of this story, every time Brumby, Bracks and myself get together, each of us claim authorship,” Pallas revealed.
“But neither of them are here today so clearly it was my idea.”
The story drew a big laugh from those in the crowd, although Baz suspects Bracks and Brumby will be having a word to their former staffer when they next meet!
Farewell friend
Baz farewells Liberal Democrat David Limbrick this week as he sets sail for Canberra to cause havoc up there.
Prior to his election in 2018, Limbrick spent most of his career working in the field of Business Analytics and Data Warehousing in a variety of industries.
But he’s settled comfortably into political life. So comfortable that he’s ready to turn his back on Spring St for the big lights of, ah, Canberra.
He’s got views that get many Victorians off-side, and views that have brought him a decent following – particularly as he raged against the Covid restrictions machine throughout much of 2020 and 2021.
Whatever you think of Limbrick and his party, Baz has always found him to be polite and courteous if nothing else.
All the best, Dave.
DJ hits the wrong beat
Baz loves Twitter and Twitter loves Baz.
Unfortunately, not so much Dave “DJ” Southwick, who was acting Liberal Party leader while Matthew Guy was stuck in isolation.
Disco Dave made two major errors hardly befitting of a party leader in one fatal tweet, adding to weeks of Liberal Party social media blunders.
Firstly, he posted a post-Budget breakfast pic of himself with a bunch of schoolkids without seeking the school’s permission.
He ended up deleting the offending post, but screenshots have been seen and verified by Baz. Worse, he said the studious pupils were from the King David School when, in fact, they were from Mt Scopus.
Quite the faux pas given Southwick himself went to Mt Scopus as a young aspiring DJ. Ouch!
Calling for a martyr
As far as jobs go, you’d think it would take a brave soul to apply for the role of Manager of Corporate Affairs at the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority.
John DuBois left the role several weeks ago and an ad popped up this week for his replacement.
Baz can’t imagine who would dare take the gig, trying to spin good news out of the crisis-riddled service responsible for the state’s triple-0 system.
It’s been problem after problem for the plagued authority and, with two key reports due to lob shortly, this won’t be an easy gig.
They say things can only get better but just how long it will take is another story.
The emergence of the ad enraged the state opposition through the week, with almost all of them taking issue with the priorities of the troubled service.
“So that makes sense,” one said sarcastically, “a person to protect the reputation of ESTA, someone who is good in the media, building the brand and improving the reputation of the organisation. Maybe have calls answered and your reputation will improve.” Touche.
We can all agree on something
As they say, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. And while Shadow Treasurer David Davis hasn’t gone quite that far, he has been caught uncharacteristically on side with Labor for the first time in Baz’s memory.
Speaking on the Pollie Bites podcast, the Liberal MP revealed he agreed with the other side’s accusations about our home state being dudded.
“There are many things I disagree with the current state government, and current Treasurer, on but one thing that we are in full agreement on is that Victoria hasn’t had a fair deal on many of these national programs,” he said.
“That’s not pointing at the current federal government, that’s a much longer-term issue.”
He went on to say: “Victorians have got to keep talking about this, and we’ve got to keep putting our view. Because the only way Commonwealth authorities and other states will be moved is by jawboning them”.
The comments are politically awkward because the opposition spent a lot of time slamming Labor over the taxpayer funded “Our Fair Share” campaign.
The advertisements addressed the same very topic but were criticised by the Auditor-General for being political and attacking the federal government.
Baz: The original and the best
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!
And so it is that Baz is starting to get annoyed.
They might say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and Baz was left tickled pink with the emergence of an impersonation Backroom Baz Twitter account last year.
But a second account that has popped up this week is too much. Baz has been making waves on the platform of late, and obviously inspired others to do the same.
But rest assured Spring St is only big enough for one Baz.
For all the latest political scuttlebutt during the week, make sure to follow @BackroomBaz on Twitter — the original, and the best.
Guess who
Which high profile MP is blaming “jolly” colleagues for a recent media hit against him?
Pesutto a dignified Liberal leader, not unlike John Howard
Moira Deeming, who launched defamation action against Liberal Party leader John Pesutto, is a Trojan horse for politicians who have forgotten what they were elected to do, writes Jeff Kennett.
Doubt over Melbourne FC’s ambitious $100m Caulfield plan
Questions have been raised about Melbourne Football Club’s plans to move to Caulfield racecourse, with the racing club looking to protect the “interests of racing”.