By Kishor Napier-Raman and Stephen Brook
Monday began with Alan Jones being arrested at his luxury Circular Quay apartment over allegations he had indecently assaulted several young men.
On Saturday night, Jones had been a star attraction at a gathering of Sydney’s upper crust, acting as MC and speech-maker at the 80th birthday of Maurice Neil, KC, a barrister and former soldier who served as a federal MP for the Liberals in the 1970s.
More recently, Neil represented Moses Obeid, son of disgraced former Labor MP Eddie Obeid, in a criminal case in which the pair was jailed over a rigged tender scheme.
Alan Jones is swamped by a media throng as he leaves Day Street police station.Credit: James Brickwood
Neil’s birthday do was held at the Darling Point mansion that the top silk bought from former University of Sydney chancellor Belinda Hutchinson in 2015, and the room was filled with fellow barristers, and a few Liberal Party types.
Former state Liberal leader Peter Collins, ex-attorney-general Gabrielle Upton and moderate party powerbroker Michael Photios were among the guests. Vaucluse MP Kellie Sloane, considered a future state party leader, scored an invitation, but stayed home sick.
On Thursday night, Jones shared a stage with former prime minister John Howard, ex-NSW police minister David Elliott and NSW Liberal MP Rachel Merton at an event put on by Australians for Constitutional Monarchy to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1999 Republic Referendum.
Jones’ arrest comes nearly 12 months after an investigation by this masthead first revealed multiple allegations of inappropriate behaviour made against him, spanning several decades. Jones denied all allegations.
Since the stories broke late last year, Jones has kept a relatively low profile, remaining off the screens at his online-only outrage streaming machine ADH TV, and spending months in London. CBD also spotted him spending Easter at the Gold Coast with former Victorian Liberal powerbroker Marcus Bastiaan and wife Stephanie Bastiaan.
Will Jones’ invites from the harbourside mansion set dry up after Monday’s arrest? We’ll be watching.
Fries with that
Most Australian progressives have reacted to Donald Trump’s election victory with a mix of dejection, fear and just the occasional hint of schadenfreude toward those silly seppos, but one Labor minister appears to have unwittingly embraced the memes.
Over the weekend, NSW Lands and Property Minister Steve Kamper dropped into McDonald’s Rockdale to help raise funds for the Ronald McDonald House charity’s McHappy Day 2024.
NSW Lands and Property Minister Steve Kamper serves fries at a McDonald’s in Rockdale.Credit: Facebook
But a picture posted to the minister’s socials, of Kamper working the drive-thru beneath the golden arches, instantly reminded us of a widely memed stunt where Trump served fries in Philadelphia.
Kamper’s team was quick to assure us they weren’t trying to emulate the president-elect, just helping out a local charity. Perhaps we’re just suffering from post-election brainworms.
Also appearing with Kamper at McHappy Day was new Bayside councillor Chris Saravinovski, who replaced his dad, former mayor Bill Saravinovski on the Labor ticket after his very abrupt departure from local government.
Saravinovski, who was decked out in a three-piece suit (although none of the pieces actually matched for some reason), has had a few eventful encounters at the fast food joint of late, recently convicted for causing a crash at a Maccas carpark in Taren Point. Happily for the rookie councillor, that conviction was overturned by the Sutherland Local Court last Thursday.
Go fish
CBD has been keeping an eye of late on the godawful stink wafting from the Sydney Fish Market, where the anticipated opening of a $836 million new site has been tainted by interminable legal battles and delays, cost blow outs and several grumpy tenants.
In other words, all the usual Sydney problems we know and love. No wonder they’re calling it the Sydney Opera House of fish.
Jokes aside, months after the very abrupt resignation of ex-Test wicketkeeper Greg Dyer as Sydney Fish Market executive, the board has appointed Daniel Jarosch, the former CEO and Investment Director at Aeria Management Group, to the top job.
Given the Fish Market still hasn’t posted its latest financial results (weeks after the mandatory deadline) and as some insiders brace for a $10 million loss, we reckon the new guy will have his work cut out.
Higgins’ heroes
The great and the good of the Liberal Party are set to gather on Tuesday night and party like it’s 1959. Party members will congregate to say sayonara to their former eastern Melbourne heartland seat of Higgins, which fell into Labor hands at the last election and will now be killed off by the Australian Electoral Commission.
Attending The Higgins 200 Club bash to sink the saveloys and ingest the riesling will be a trio of former local MPs: Peter Costello, Kelly O’Dwyer and Dr Katie Allen.
Where are they now? Costello, the former federal treasurer, was chairman of Nine Entertainment (owner of this column) until he resigned in June after a Canberra Airport scuffle with a reporter. But he popped up again in CBD after joining the Liberal-aligned secret squirrel fundraising body the Cormack Foundation.
O’Dwyer is non-executive director of listed companies Home Consortium and Equity Trustees as well as a non-executive director of upstart investment bank Barrenjoey.
Allen, a medical researcher, lost Higgins to Labor. But after the seat was abolished, she turned to the neighbouring seat of Chisholm and blasted out the preselected candidate local councillor Theo Zographos. We’ll have to wait until the next election to see if she gets to be a political comeback kid.
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correction
An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Daniel Jarosch was co-founder of meal kit service Marley Spoon and a former Boston Consulting Group managing director. The new Sydney Fish Market CEO is actually a former CEO and Investment Director at Aeria Management Group.