By Kishor Napier-Raman and Stephen Brook
Actor Craig McLachlan, last in this column in April when he settled his legal bill with the publisher of this newspaper with a paper cheque (how quaint!) for $1.2 million in costs, is in career recovery mode thanks to Swedish pop superstars ABBA and celebrity agent Max Markson.
Regular readers will recall the former Neighbours star was 10 days into his defamation trial when he dropped his lawsuit against this masthead, the ABC and former co-star Christie Whelan Browne over allegations he sexually harassed performers during a production of The Rocky Horror Show. He was acquitted of criminal charges related to his conduct in 2020.
Craig McLachlan is on a rehabilitation tour after dropping his defamation case.Credit: Nick Moir
Now patrons are invited to join McLachlan and “unleash their inner Dancing Queen” with the actor, who is described as coming out of his ABBA closet, in live interactive concert experience ABBA CHOIR, dubbed the “ultimate celebration where you’re not just a spectator – YOU are part of the show!”
When Markson signed up McLachlan in April he stated: “You can’t quell talent of that magnitude; whether it be at London’s West End, or starring on stage or screen here in Australia, Craig will be back, and sooner rather than later.”
Even though the gig at Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane is a fair clip from London’s West End and not until October 27, almost 3000 tickets have sold, nearly a sellout. Expect a tour.
PUNTING PROHIBITED
Never mix business with pleasure, as the saying goes.
And it’s a saying that has particular relevance to Gillon McLachlan, the South Australian aristocrat and former AFL head boy who exited that role and became managing director and chief executive of Tabcorp, the largest provider of gaming services in Australia.
As anyone will tell you, horses and betting are two of McLachlan’s most favourite things ever. And if those two things don’t align, as they didn’t during last year’s Spring Racing carnival, well, a bum run of racing tips leads to a glum Gill.
Tabcorp boss Gillon McLachlan on a cheeky break.Credit: John Shakespeare
It’s not our style at CBD to be party poopers, but we were wondering if there were any corporate governance parameters for lofty dabbling in racehorses (he part-owns A Samurai Mind and Into The Light) and betting using the company services.
A Tabcorp insider told us all fine – except for one little detail. McLachlan is free to indulge his passion to own, breed and race horses with family and friends.
But during working hours, all bets are off. Yes, it is standard Tabcorp policy that staff can only bet outside working hours.
So the question would be – when McLachlan appears at the Melbourne Cup, or at the Tabcorp marquee during Spring Racing, is that work or pleasure? When is a chief executive ever off the clock?
Maybe if McLachlan is spotted exiting the Tabcorp for a cheeky durry behind the dunnies on his lunch break that’s a window to whip out the Tab app, which is now nine seconds faster to place a win and place bet, a press release cheerily informs us.
Unless the board decides a chief executive’s job is never done.
MAYOR MOVED ON
In a parallel universe, Carmelo Pesce would be the federal member for Cook right now. Instead, the Sutherland Shire mayor once widely tipped to succeed former prime minister Scott Morrison in his old seat has been dumped from the Liberal Party’s ticket ahead of September’s local government elections.
Pesce’s humbling loss to Simon Kennedy in a March preselection contest was followed by the standard weeks of intra-party factional warring. That tension, coupled with a few headlines about Pesce’s relations with prominent local hoteliers, led to him being left off a draft ticket on Wednesday.
Despite receiving backing from state opposition leader and local MP Mark Speakman, Pesce lacked support from state president Don Harwin, and on Wednesday night, the Liberal Party’s state executive voted 12 votes to nine to boot the mayor from the ticket.
That whole fiasco has pitted two of the party’s most senior figures against each other, and led to a few more rumblings about Speakman’s strength as leader, given his inability to impose his will over a local preselection contest in his own backyard.
Pesce, meanwhile, responded by tearing up his Liberal membership on Thursday, paving the way for a possible run as an independent.
FRIENDLY FUNDS
We reckon Brittany Higgins has probably been through enough.
Instead, the former Liberal staffer is being sued for defamation in the Supreme Court of Western Australia by her old boss, Liberal senator Linda Reynolds, over a series of social media posts.
Certainly Higgins’ closest friends and supporters think she’s been through enough, and this week put together an online fundraiser to support her medical, counselling and legal costs, with survivors’ advocate Saxon Mullins making the page.
That fundraiser enraged Reynolds’ legal team, who successfully subpoenaed to give the court access to any communications between Higgins and Mullins, arguing that it could be used to mislead the public about the case.
Regardless of those objections, the page had raised over $42,000 by Thursday afternoon, with donors including arts executive Jo Dyer, writer and Weekend Australian columnist Nikki Gemmell, and a token $1 from someone calling themselves “lying cow”. We’ll leave you to figure out that last one.
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