By Kishor Napier-Raman and Stephen Brook
It’s been months of partying for the global right since Donald Trump’s election victory in November.
And the latest unmissable jamboree is Canadian psychologist and incel fave Jordan B. Peterson’s Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference, happening in London this week.
Jordan B. Peterson is a drawcard for Australia’s conservative intelligentsia.Credit: Getty
It’s drawn the leading lights of the Australian conservative intelligentsia over to Britain like moths to a flame. Tony Abbott was on stage yesterday breaking with the Trumpian orthodoxy and denouncing tariffs. His former chief of staff Peta Credlin was on stage, as was ex-deputy prime minister John Anderson.
Former treasurer Peter Costello is due to speak later in the week, while contributors include Scott Morrison, anti-Voice campaigner and serial preselection loser Nyunggai Warren Mundine, and former ABC political editor Chris Uhlmann, who metamorphosed into a columnist for The Australian. He never was much of a fit for Aunty.
But not everyone’s London jaunt went smoothly.
Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming, now happily returned to the party room after winning her defamation case against former leader John Pesutto, was set to skip a couple of sitting days to attend.
After a bit of grumbling from within Liberal ranks, Deeming promised to cut her trip short, but remains overseas because of an unforeseen medical situation.
Meanwhile, it is a different kettle of fish here in NSW, where CBD can reveal that two Liberal opposition assistant ministers, Tanya Davies and Susan Carter, have quietly headed off to London, despite parliament sitting this week.
Davies, like Deeming, has form causing a bit of division within the party, popping up at a few anti-vaccination rallies back in the COVID days.
But the duo skipping parliament this week doesn’t seem to have triggered as much internal grumbling among state Liberals, or any sign of a rebuke from Opposition Leader Mark Speakman, who doesn’t strike us as much of a disciplinarian.
High ratings
The pitchforks were out in North Sydney last week when the council voted to hike rates by an astronomical 87 per cent. The council has maintained this is the only way to pay for the utter farce that is the North Sydney Olympic Pool, which might open one day in 2026, although CBD reckons the area’s financial woes are far deeper than any single $122 million hole in the ground.
Meanwhile, in an utter masterclass of timing, just days after the rate rise, an advertisement for a “rates officer” at North Sydney Council went live on Seek.
The job is apparently ideal for someone with data entry and debt recovery skills. And presumably the stomach for dealing with plenty of enraged locals. Although there are a few perks, namely the “easy accessibility to work with spectacular harbour view work locations”.
Less thrilling is the salary range – at $73,088 to $87,273 per annum plus super, it isn’t nearly enough to afford to own a property north of the bridge. Let alone afford the council’s rate hikes.
Meanwhile, North Sydney councillor and tech dude James Spenceley took to the socials last week to debunk a pesky little rumour.
“Love it ! Clearly im ruffling some feathers on this rate rise, just received a call from the SMH they had an anonymous tip that I’m quitting council and moving to France ! Sorry to break it to you not true, to those ‘annonymous [sic] people’”.
Guilty as charged – we were the ones calling up Spenceley, and he was good enough to set us right, hypothesising that it was a nasty rumour cooked up by his political enemies.
That said, we can almost forgive him for wanting to head off to France (where he has a house) after a hectic few months.
The Kogan board member faced a massive investor backlash at the electronic goods retailer’s AGM last November, holding his seat by a 51-49 per cent vote, thanks largely to the shareholding muscle of founder Ruslan Kogan and chief financial officer David Shafer.
If only he’d had as much luck stopping the rate rise.
Fan boys
St Kilda footy great Nick Riewoldt was on Wednesday late to the showcase of Channel 7’s expanded AFL coverage, racing down the red carpet in his civvies, plastic-wrapped dry-cleaned suit flapping in his wake.
Inside, the Channel 7 commentary newbie was asked what storylines will be big in 2025.
“Is Caro ever going to be able to actually join us? I mean, they’re holding on for dear life, over at the other network, which I can understand because she’s a star.”
This in reference to star Herald and Age columnist Caroline Wilson, defecting from Nine to Seven, whom we predicted would not be seen or heard at Seven’s football showcase.
But the network was finally able to deliver good news.
“Legals have finally allowed us today to announce that Caroline Wilson will join,” said Seven head of AFL and sport innovation Gary O’Keeffe.
“We’re not allowed to have her here, but Caro will be there for the first show. So that’s awesome,” said Jones, announcing she will be a fixture of the network’s The Agenda Setters program on Mondays and Tuesdays.
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