Last week, CBD reported that the NSW Liberal Party had turned to ancient Athens as inspiration for the party’s new finishing school for aspiring politicians.
Turns out the party of opposition wasn’t finished demonstrating how firmly it has its finger on the pulse.
On Friday, members of the Young Liberals received an email from the party’s head of generosity Wendy Farrow (yes, that’s a real position), alerting them to a new partnership with online will-writing platform Safewill.
Those game enough to click through to Safewill’s website were greeted with a stock photo of an old guy with a long grey beard.
“Young Liberals are the future of the party so I’m sharing a special free offer to help get your affairs in order,” the email read.
Who said the Liberal Party didn’t get the concerns of young Australians!
For one whole week, lasting until September 10, Young Liberals can write their wills online free of charge. Members were also encouraged to leave a gift to the party behind in their will. Those coffers aren’t going to fill up by themselves.
MAKING HIS MARK
Australia’s most divorced dad Mark Latham wants everyone to know he’s doing fine after his acrimonious and utterly unsurprising recent political separation with Pauline Hanson.
On Friday, Latham was all scrubbed up alongside Sydney’s D-grade celebrities at the Everest Carnival Long Lunch at Royal Randwick on Friday. The former Labor leader was so excited about posing next to has-been television personality Kerrie-Anne Kennerley, that he posted the same photo of them three times across his two Instagram accounts.
“I’m a well known celebrity A-lister,” Latham enthused.
We’re sure the pair had plenty in common.
Later in the day, Mark was in a more reflective mood, with a poetic caption accompanying a picture of an espresso martini.
“Expresso [sic] Martini
Royal Randwick Stables
Talking track and other random s---.
Does life get any better?”
For Latham, whose political career continues to take strange twists and turns, we’re not sure if it does.
CALMES YOUR FARM
New boss of fashion e-tailer The Iconic Jere Calmes has only been in the top job two months but he has reportedly already been making his presence well and truly felt.
According to our spies, on Thursday morning, ahead of announcing 72 redundancies at the company, Calmes told a staff all-hands that the restructure, the second since February, was in part due to “historical mismanagement”. Ouch.
As we know, The Iconic’s former boss, Erica Berchtold, parted ways with the company earlier this year to take the top job at discount chain Best & Less, only to be told “thanks but no thanks” when the company was sold in an off-market deal to retail moguls Brett “Mr Sanity” Blundy and Ray Itaoui.
Berchtold is, CBD understands, still in the hunt for a new role, so were Calmes’ comments a case of kicking someone while they’re down? Maybe he needs to Calmes his farm when there are Gen Z staff with iPhones in the room.
SIDE QUESTER
CBD can report there’s a rising star on the consulting scene. Swinburne University vice-chancellor Pascale Quester has been engaged on the side by the government’s medicines regulator.
We sighted a $22,000 contract for “legal services” from the TGA to private marketing firm Hexagon, where Quester is listed as the sole director and shareholder.
The TGA tells CBD that the VC, a marketing expert, was engaged “as an expert witness in the field of consumer behaviour” in its recent tribunal battle with a weight loss drugmaker, Cat Media. You might remember that the TGA banned Cat’s popular pill Fatblaster Max last year after it was revealed the drug didn’t “blast” fat at all. Apparently, a peek through its paperwork revealed it wasn’t even designed for weight loss.
“Hexagon was contracted through a limited tender process, consistent with the rules,” the TGA assured CBD. The VC gave evidence before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in March, where Cat is challenging the ban, and a judgment is expected shortly.
Quester herself is a “no comment”. But CBD notes that while she ranked among the country’s highest-paid VCs last year, bagging a salary of more than $1 million, she did take a gracious $20,000 pay cut compared to the year before.
That $22,000 TGA contract should fill the void nicely.
VR HEADS
Canberra’s lanyard-toting public servants have a particularly dorky idea of fun. At the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, they’ve splurged $25,000 on virtual reality headsets.
The department would not say what the goggles were being used for, or if minister Murray Watt had his own set.
But the company’s website boasts that they cater to all three styles of learning, so that’s a relief.
Still, CBD hopes those public servants be careful out there – a 2020 government review of the tech espoused its virtues for agriculture training, including an up-close-and-personal run through of a cow “teat examination”, while also warning of hygiene concerns and debilitating “VR sickness”. Oh my.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.