Thirteen faces of 2023: Victorians who made headlines
From a Premier who quit to dust-ups between sporting identities and WAG influencers who whinged about being papped and trolled – these are some of the people we’ll remember into the New Year.
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As 2023 draws to a close we look back at some of the people who made headlines throughout the year, and revisit what they made them for.
From a Premier who abruptly quit his job and dust ups between sporting identities, to attention-seeking WAG influencers who complained they were “papped” and “trolled” too much and a billionaire Block buyer who became known as “Lambo Guy” – these are some of the names and stories we’ll remember into the New Year.
POLITICS
Dan Andrews
After promising Victorians he was committed to the top job and would see out his full term as Premier, Dan Andrews abruptly quit the week before the AFL grand final, resulting in Jacinta Allan stepping up to fill his shoes.
Leaving a legacy of ‘Big Build’ related state debt and businesses sent to the wall by his harsh Covid restrictions, Mr Andrews said one of the reasons he left was to be able to play more golf. But even that simple aim hasn’t kept him out of the news, with reports he sought to become a member at the exclusive Portsea Golf Club, but they didn’t want him.
In early December he opened up on his political term and life after politics in a podcast, lashing Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdogs for being money and power hungry and saying that in Victoria the “haters hate”, and the rest voted Labor.
Mr Andrews also said he never cared about the “vitriol“ and “after-dark bullshit” he copped while Premier, and he’d been a “big person”, brave enough to make the tough calls the state needed during Covid and push an agenda of huge public transport reforms and projects.
He said he had faced “some nasty stuff, some ugly stuff”, and had not been concerned about being called a dictator.
“People will describe you as they see fit. You can’t change it, you can’t shape that. All you can do is just be focused on the facts and the facts are we got a lot of stuff done. We made a lot of difficult decisions. We weren’t about being popular,” he said.
Jacinta Allan
Mr Andrews’ successor as Victorian Premier may have been primed for a leadership role from soon after being elected the Member for Bendigo East the day before her 26th birthday in 1999, but she has her work cut out for her now.
At 50 and as a mum of two, Ms Allan has been dubbed the accidental Premier after Mr Andrews’ shock resignation saw her rise to the state’s top job overnight.
Indeed, she claims she was only told of Mr Andrews’ resignation hours before he made the shock public announcement – taking her completely by surprise.
A few months into the job, Ms Allan has been forced to grapple with the state’s massive debt.
In mid-December it was revealed Victoria’s net debt would soar to almost $178bn by 2027, an increase of $6.4bn more than predicted six months ago. The 2023-24 budget update revealed the state’s debt bill would reach a whopping $135.5bn by June next year, with net debt then forecast to increase to $152.9bn by 2024/25 before reaching $177.8bn by June 2027.
The $6.4bn increase on what had been projected in the May Budget leaves the new Premier with a tough remit – especially as she has made it clear the state’s major transport projects won’t be cut to claw back money.
John Pesutto
The man who would be Premier, leader of the Victorian Liberals John Pesutto, knows he has much work to do if his party is to have even half a chance of winning at the next election.
In the year he has been leader, Mr Pesutto has taken every opportunity to slam Labor’s Big Build projects and what he says is a lack of attention to health, and won some public favour by doing so.
But he has also had to deal with renegade MP Moira Deeming, defend claims of a bullying culture within his party and contemplate what Liberal candidate Roshena Campbell’s bruising Aston by-election defeat earlier this year said about his party’s popularity at the polls.
That was followed by a brutal assessment by Liberal Party president Greg Mirabella that the party had a major brand problem on its hands, that had made it unelectable.
“In the last 12 months the people of Victoria have made it perfectly clear that we are not electable,” he said. “I think the major problem remains: us. Brand Liberal.”
Hardly words Mr Pesutto would have enjoyed hearing.
SPORT
Eddie McGuire
In March former Pies president Eddie McGuire received the ultimate honour in AFL for his decades-long service to the game – Life Membership
Then in August the question started to be asked if the boy from Broady who rose to become “Eddie everywhere” was slowly becoming Eddie nowhere.
The former long-serving Collingwood president, ex The Footy Show and Triple M radio host – and most recently Millionaire Hot Seat frontman – Eddie McGuire’s era in the sun looked to be over, when he lost his beloved Hot Seat gig.
McGuire told the Herald Sun he was sad his Hot Seat role was over but added that like most of the shows he’d been involved with over the years, he’d had a good run.
“I’ve been so lucky, The Footy Show went for 25 years, I was at Fox Footy for many years, Triple M 11 years, these are long term, full-on things I do,” he said.
“It’s the next part of my life, next part of my career … once one door shuts another one opens.”
Certainly McGuire had a big moment not long after that, when it was revealed he was among the first to know – and was the first to announce – news of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ resignation, at a Crown Grand Final luncheon.
McGuire broke the news at The Carbine Club function about 10 minutes before Mr Andrews’ snap press conference started, proving he is still one of the most well-connected men in Melbourne.
Sam Newman
The former Geelong star and ex-The Footy Show panellist is never far away from controversy with his outspoken views, and 2023 was no different.
In the lead-up to the AFL Grand Final Newman called on fans to boo or do a slow clap when the Welcome to Country ceremony was taking place.
His comments on Indigenous recognition became explosive leading into the Voice to parliament referendum on October 14, and were condemned by then AFL boss Gillon McLachlan.
Also in October, Hawthorn legend Don Scott quit the controversial You Cannot Be Serious podcast after his co-host Newman exploded at him for eating while on air and fiddling with a microphone. Scott had walked out of the show after Newman told him to “f**k off.”
Then in November, Newman became in embroiled in a dust-up with trouble-plagued former AFL agent Ricky Nixon at a Somerville function.
Newman admitted to slapping Nixon across the face and shoving him after Nixon reportedly made a headbutting motion in his direction during a spat over speaker fees. Following Newman’s presentation at the Somerville Cricket Clubrooms event, the pair ended up out the back of the building, with Newman confirming he had given Nixon a whack.
Jamie Kah
In August 2021 she was banned from racing for hosting an illegal Airbnb party in breach of Covid restrictions but in 2023 the drama didn’t end for top Victorian jockey Jamie Kah.
On March 11 she had a horror track fall at Flemington and was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and put into an induced coma. She was later transferred to the Epworth. Kah battled to get herself back in the saddle after that, with her memory of the accident completely gone.
Fast forward to June, when video of Kah cutting up white powder circulated online, resulting in her being hauled before the Victorian Racing Tribunal for allegedly damaging the image of racing.
Kah didn’t front the tribunal alone, also facing the music for the white powder video was stablehand Ruby McIntyre – who did the filming.
In December, Kah welcomed the tribunal’s decision to dismiss the charge of ‘conduct prejudicial to the image, interests, integrity or welfare of racing’, which drew to a close a six-month legal argument and vowed to “focus on racing and being happy”.
After being cleared of any wrongdoing in the white powder controversy Kah said: “It’s been the most challenging and testing year but I’m so relieved that I can put it behind me now”.
Gill McLachlan
Ex-AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan had a big last year in the game’s top job – not the least contending with the explosive Hawthorn racism scandal.
In March he came out swinging against criticism that the AFL had become too concerned with social issues, to the detriment of the game, declaring: “We lead the community on social issues, and those who yell at us to stick to football don’t understand who we are and what we mean in the community – we don’t lecture or tell others what to do. We simply say to everyone in this country that we represent you, or we aspire to. We make it known what we stand for, the AFL and our clubs.”
In June, McLachlan revealed he planned to pick up the coaching clipboard in 2024, after he moved on from CEO in October.
“I want to coach a football team,” McLachlan said.
“Not just be runner or a fill-in coach but be a proper coach of a junior team.”
He was reportedly serious about that aim, but as the year wore on he cracked an increasing number of gags, including as he launched the AFL finals series for his last time as CEO, taking a humorous swipe at Qantas and the Pies’ membership base.
McLachlan put his pricey Prahran mansion on the market for $11m, and then in October took it off again, after reportedly making a decision to rent it instead.
CELEBS AND INFLUENCERS
John Farnham
After his devastating mouth cancer diagnosis in 2022, beloved Australian singer John Farnham made headlines in 2023 as news spread his surgery and treatment appeared to have been successful and he was on the road to recovery.
A doco on his life screened in July smashed TV ratings.
Bianca Censori (and Kanye West)
Bianca Censori, the Australian wife of rapper Kanye West made a discreet return to her home in Melbourne in November — the first time she’d been home since the couple’s secret wedding late last year.
The 28-year-old Yeezy architectural designer’s arrival, notably without her 46-year-old rapper husband, not only turned heads but also raised alarms within her inner circle.
During her stay, Censori was seen reconnecting with her family, including her parents Leo and Alexandra, and her sister Angeline. She was spotted – sporting metallic-coloured leather pants and a revealing top – at the trendy Marquis of Lorne bar in Fitzroy.
Censori’s relationship with West has attracted headlines around the world over the past few months – including the couple’s controversial trip to Italy – and friends close to her have reportedly expressed serious concerns about her whirlwind union.
Sources claimed Censori’s inner circle have staged a dramatic intervention during her trip back home, urging her to “wake the f*** up” to the realities and alleged manipulative nature of her marriage.
This intervention reflects deep-seated worries about West’s influence on Censori, who has reportedly become more isolated from her friends since the couple wed in December 2022.
In October it was reported West was forcing his wife to “never speak” and only wear certain clothes. Claims were made he had indoctrinated her into following specific directives.
Nadia Bartel
2023 was the year the former WAG and Melbourne influencer truly moved on from her Kmart plate white powder scandal of 2021, finally opening up on the incident and its fallout.
The 37-year-old said she took “full responsibility” for her actions at the time – admitting she was “embarrassed and remorseful” – but conceding the backlash was brutal.
In April it was revealed she was taking her fashion label Henne global.
A few months later in July, Nadia slammed people who questioned why she has kept her famous surname despite her marriage to AFL legend Jimmy Bartel ending years ago.
“It’s been happening everyday since my marriage ended and I don’t have to answer this question obviously but I am so sick of the question being thrown at me, I’m trolled with it all the time,” she said.
“The fact of the matter is, I want the same surname as my two small boys, I’m very traditional like that.”
Bec Judd
The year started with the influencer wife of former Carlton star Chris Judd once again taking aim at the crime rate in Brighton after a dog was allegedly stolen in the leafy suburb.
2023 was also the year the Judd family welcomed their own dog into their home, a Rhodesian ridgeback puppy called Snoop.
Ridgebacks are a famously protective breed that make excellent guard dogs when mature, having been historically used to hunt lions in Africa.
It’s a pity she didn’t have her lion hunter with her in Europe in the middle of the year, when she hit out at paparazzi following a six-week hiatus from social media.
When asked by a fan why she had gone silent on socials, Judd said it was due to “privacy and security” reasons.
“A mix of secret work stuff and also for privacy and security reasons,” she said.
“I hate papps. I hate being followed … I hate reading clickbait and fake news about me and so I just wanted to chill and enjoy myself and not deal with all the intrusive crap for a few weeks.”
The state’s queen WAG influencer didn’t only head to Europe, she was also a contestant on The Amazing Race, where she suffered a meltdown while watching “big, black hairy tarantulas” being deep fried in a Cambodian hut.
Bec, who has previously said she needed professional help to overcome her spider phobia, was forced to face huge tarantulas, being cooked up for a meal.
“It was awful, one of the most awful moments of my life. I’ve never been so close in my life to a spider that big,” she said to the camera and her sister, Kate Twigley.
NOTABLE MENTIONS
Brett Sutton
The former Victorian chief health officer who became a familiar face and household name throughout the worst of the state’s Covid pandemic – and was variously loved and loathed – announced he was stepping down as CHO in June 2023, to join the CSIRO.
That same month he was named Victorian of the Year.
Adrian Portelli
Better known as ‘Lambo Guy’ or ‘Mr Lambo’, Adrian Portelli shot to fame through his aggressive bidding on hit series The Block.
In May he craned a $3m McLaren sports car into a $39m “weekender” penthouse on the 57th floor of a new apartment tower in Melbourne that he claimed to have bought.
Believed to be a billionaire, Portelli in August reportedly went on a European luxury car buying spree.
He travelled to Europe — dropping in at Monte Carlo of course — to add to his car collection and has hinted there may be more flash car purchases to come.
Before he went overseas he also bought a new Maybach, and has added a yellow HSV GTS Coupe to his collection. In June he bought a Lamborghini Huracan STO.
Portelli — who owns more than 20 properties across Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia and is entering into developments in New South Wales — owns 40-plus cars and enjoys splashing around and sharing his wealth.
He has given away millions of dollars and cars to members of his LMCT+ tech business.
But Portelli has also made headlines this year he may have enjoyed less, when the Herald Sun in October revealed a lottery business run by Portelli was under investigation by authorities in two states for allegedly breaking gambling laws.
LMCT+ operates legally using a loophole in the law, but gambling regulators in Victoria and South Australia have launched investigations into the business. Anti-gambling activists have also called for the loophole to be closed.
In December it was reported Portelli and his mates threw a wild penthouse party for more than 200 of Australia’s most famous and wealthiest influencers, which resulted in a noise complaint to police.
The bash was to celebrate the launch of a new flavour of Gee Up, an alcoholic based drink which contains electrolytes.
The company is primarily owned by Portelli’s business partner and friend, Troy ‘Candy’ Williams. Portelli also invested in the business earlier this year.
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