By Kishor Napier-Raman and Sherryn Groch
Less than a week after some 74 million Americans decided, in their infinite wisdom, to return Donald Trump to the White House, billionaire cardboard box baron Anthony Pratt announced on LinkedIn he had secured a US green card.
The formality means Pratt, who has been spending a lot of time tending to his business (and political) interests in the US, can stay on in the country.
But what intrigued us most about the announcement was the name on the social media account: Colonel Anthony Pratt. How did Pratt land that stripe? Turns out he was made an honorary Kentucky Colonel by the Bluegrass State’s Democratic governor Andy Beshear last year, a token of gratitude for Pratt’s $700 million investment in a paper mill. This makes Pratt the second most influential Kentucky Colonel after one Harland David Sanders.
Despite the success of KFC, Colonel Sanders probably never had the rapport with a commander-in-chief that Pratt enjoys. Last year, this masthead revealed secret recordings of Pratt bragging about his access to Trump, which followed reports in the US media alleging the former president had revealed confidential secrets about their submarine fleet to his Antipodean friend.
Trump responded to the stories by calling Pratt “a red-haired weirdo from Australia”. This will probably be no barrier to the two resuming pleasantries once Trump returns to the Oval Office.
A1 is coming
Two weeks ago, the Tech Council of Australia was fending off awkward questions about why it took so long for WiseTech founder (and former chief executive) Richard White to resign from its board after a salacious court case over a soured affair and a series of icky scandals revealed by this masthead.
A “billionaire’s lunch club” was how one anonymous Tech Council member derisively termed the organisation. At the council’s national summit in Melbourne this week, the billionaires were indeed out in force, with the likes of Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar and Canva’s Cliff Obrecht rubbing shoulders with famously tech-savvy politicians such as, uh, Bill Shorten.
Speaking to the gathered tech heads, council chair Robyn Denholm kinda sorta addressed the White-sized elephant in the room.
“In the face of challenges, and we’ve had a few of those lately – whether they involve governance changes or public scrutiny – we’ve sought to navigate these moments with care, fairness and accountability,” Denholm said. “Every decision we make is anchored in the best interests of our members, the tech community and the industry’s future.”
There was more fluff about “diversity and inclusion” being the “foundation of innovation”, none of it particularly illuminating.
If you think that was a bit vague, wait until you hear what Tesla chair Denholm had to say about her chief executive Elon Musk’s increasingly deranged online ramblings. Spoiler alert: not much. Denholm did recently tell the Financial Times the Tesla board has had “tough conversations” about tweets. If they’re as tough as her speech, Musk is in trouble.
Things took a stranger turn on day two, during a stirring address by Victoria’s parliamentary secretary for jobs Bronwyn Halfpenny, who, in reading from her speech, repeatedly referred to the sweeping changes “A1” was wreaking on society.
Of course, more than a few puzzled guests listening to how A1 was transforming the economy, and how A1 would underpin our future society, wondered if AI was really the driving force deserving of the credit.
We asked Halfpenny’s office to clarify the exact transformative power we should prepare for, but didn’t hear back.
Speaking of claiming credit, welcome drinks at the summit must have been a roaring good time, featuring new Liberal backbencher Simon Kennedy and sponsored by the Bitcoin bros at Stand With Crypto, a lobby group who have just declared that cryptocurrency won the US election. And here we were thinking it was Donald Trump.
Feeding frenzy
To the Good Food Guide Awards at the Sydney Opera House on Monday night to celebrate Sydney’s hottest restaurants. Neil Perry, Peter Gilmore, Josh and Julie Niland, Matt Moran, Kylie Kwong and Adam Liaw headed an all-foodie guest list. Perry’s Song Bird was the ponytailed prince of gastronomy’s latest Double Bay opening in 2024 and won a coveted hat, while the Nilands’ Saint Peter seafood noshery in Paddington was named restaurant of the year.
Monday being Friday in hospitality, the 500 thirsty guests wasted no time getting stuck into Vittoria Coffee espresso martinis.
The industry paid tribute to the late Bill Granger, who made avocado on toast our national dish, with a new legend award, won by the crew at Baba’s Place in Marrickville. Granger’s daughter, Edie, who travelled from London with mum Natalie for the awards, was given a standing ovation as she took the stage.
CBD bumped into former champion sprinter and Sunrise host Matt Shirvington, pushing well past his 7.30pm bedtime to support wife Jessica, whose Bathers Pavilion at Balmoral notched up two hats.
The best sledge belonged to Adam Liaw, who ran the ruler over the presenting abilities of Good Food’s beloved reviewer Callan Boys. “That was shambolic,” Liaw said. “Fourteen out of 20.”
There were also solemn reminders the industry is facing a cultural crisis after this masthead exposed vile workplace practices at some of the city’s most famous eateries. Good Food chief Sarah Norris addressed the scandal in her opening remarks, and the message to the industry from award recipients was clear – do better.