By Kishor Napier-Raman and Stephen Brook
For the good people over at Greyhound Racing NSW, Christmas couldn’t come soon enough.
The July release of a bombshell report by the sport’s former chief vet alleging horrific treatment of racing dogs and a “morass of exploitation and suffering” put an industry that was nearly banned seven years ago back in the spotlight.
Within hours, GRNSW chief Rob Macaulay had resigned. Or been forced out – CBD reported he subsequently launched unfair dismissal action against his former employer.
And while the board, which includes high-profile defamation lawyer Rebekah Giles, narrowly avoided being sacked by Racing Minister David Harris, the MP ordered a government inquiry, which is ongoing. Meanwhile, according to GRNSW’s annual report, the organisation recorded a $16.75 million loss last financial year.
With all that noise, acting chief and industry veteran Wayne Billett fronted the inquiry last week, where over two days he offered dozens of variations of “I can’t recall”.
Perhaps Billett’s memory has been dulled by the strain of the festive season. On the Wednesday evening, between his two appearances, he’d boogied the night away at GRNSW’s Christmas party, held at The Island, a floating beach club on Sydney Harbour.
“The Island fuses European beach club culture with the iconic Sydney Harbour. Enjoy 5-star service and picturesque views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House,” is the rather lush description. Sounds fancy. And expensive for an organisation millions in the red.
GRNSW, who didn’t respond to our questions, this year shut down a rehoming facility in Wyee, leaving 20 staff out of work. The same day, then-CEO Macaulay announced plans to cut the organisation’s costs by 30 per cent.
But it seems like there was some cash left for the ritzy Christmas party. After the year it had, maybe the crew just needed to blow off some steam.
Williams v Rogan
In a development sure to prompt 50,000 comment pieces about out-of-touch, inner-city elites, ABC chair Kim Williams’ least favourite podcaster Joe Rogan has been crowned Australia’s favourite.
The Joe Rogan Experience was the No.1 podcast for Australian listeners of streaming app Spotify, which just happens to have an exclusive mega-bucks deal with him.
Rogan, for the uninitiated, shoots the breeze over several hours with a variety of guests including Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Bernie Sanders, Edward Snowden and Elon Musk, not to mention former ABC presenter Josh Szeps.
Williams said his inbox was flooded with hate messages last week after he criticised Rogan at the National Press Club, likening him – mistakenly in our view – to other right-wing commentators in modern media.
“They prey on fear, they prey on anxiety, they prey on all of the elements that contribute to uncertainty in society. They entrepreneur fantasy outcomes and conspiracy outcomes as being a normal part of social narrative,” Williams said.
Rogan’s two-“word” response on social media, “LOL WUT” took the interaction global, revitalising the conversation about new media versus legacy media and the influence “manosphere” figures including Rogan have on culture and politics.
CBD has a respectful solution. Given The Joe Rogan Experience is just about the only platform Williams is yet to grace with this thoughts on the ABC and the future of public broadcasting, we humbly submit that he should be booked as a guest. Both men and the audience might be pleasantly surprised.
Albo unwrapped
Speaking of the music streaming giant, Thursday being Spotify wrapped day gave Prime Minister Anthony Albanese another chance to flex his “Aussie music guy” bona fides. At least he wasn’t listening to endless Taylor Swift like seemingly everyone posting their top their 2024 soundtracks online.
Instead, the PM’s top five was an all-local affair – No.1 was quite literally Australia by G-flip.
But CBD couldn’t look past track five on Albo’s playlist – Get Me Out by Yolngu rockers King Stingray. A cry for help after a rough few months? Or like the $4 million clifftop home the PM recently bought, another aspirational wink at a quieter, post-political future? We’ll leave you, dear readers, to be the judge of that.
Guardianistas unite
Guardian Australia staff have never met a strike that they didn’t like, except, seemingly, the action their British colleagues took this week.
The leftie rag’s UK journalists went out on a 48-hour strike to protest the proposed sale of its 233-year-old Sunday paper The Observer to upstart Tortoise Media.
But their Australian and American comrades will be working through it. Of course, Australia’s industrial relations laws, introduced by those pro-business union haters in Kevin Rudd’s government, would make it unlawful for any Guardian staff to put down their pens.
So the best they could offer was a brief statement, from Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance members at the publication, noting they “stand in solidarity” with their British colleagues.
Comment is free, as the Guardian’s slogan goes. So too is solidarity.
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