By Kishor Napier-Raman and Noel Towell
Indonesia’s presumptive next president Prabowo Subianto doesn’t have the cleanest human rights record. As a former general, he was accused of heading a unit allegedly involved in torture and abductions during the final days of dictator Suharto’s regime in the 1990s.
But Prabowo, currently the country’s defence minister, has been successfully rebranded as a cute daggy grandpa with a Pixar-style animated likeness going viral on TikTok, and won a likely landslide at the February 14 presidential elections, according to preliminary results.
Credit: John Shakespeare
Last weekend, at a meeting with his Australian counterpart, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles in Jakarta, Prabowo promised Canberra need not fear “too many surprises” from his presidency.
But Marles had already been given a surprise of sorts that very day, when Prabowo eagerly presented him with a rifle as an official gift.
It’s pretty customary for visiting dignitaries to exchange all manner of tacky knick-knacks. But coming from a military strongman who was banned from entering the United States for decades over alleged human rights abuses, it’s quite a choice.
Marles doesn’t have a gun licence, and even deputy prime ministers struggle to import firearms into Australia, so Prabowo’s rifle remains in Jakarta. We reckon he should stick with the fail-safe option of golf clubs next time the two meet.
KATIE V GOLIATH
For a faded pop star, Katy Perry has received quite the royal treatment in Australia, flown Down Under for around $1.5 million to entertain the court of the cardboard king Anthony Pratt at his Melbourne mansion, Raheen, on Saturday.
Perry’s private gig was attended by a select group of the billionaire nepo baby’s “friends” – including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, senior ministers Mark Dreyfus and Chris Bowen and former Victorian premier Dan Andrews.
On Friday, Perry was just another excited punter making the dystopian trek to Accor Stadium for the Taylor Swift religious experience, proving that the blood between the two is clearly no longer bad.
But as she prepared for Tay Tay, Perry’s lawyers were in the Federal Court, fighting to overturn a trademark ruling in favour of another Katie Perry. Last year, the Federal Court found that Perry (the singer) had breached the copyright of Sydney-based fashion designer Katie Perry (who now goes by Katie Taylor), the latest turn in a 15-year legal saga.
It was “a tale of two women, two teenage dreams and one name,” Justice Bridgitte Markovic wrote in the opening of her mammoth judgment.
But Perry’s legal team swiftly lodged an appeal, which was heard before a full bench of the Federal Court last Thursday and Friday. Despite being in the country, Perry never showed up. She never came to any of the first instance trial either.
“It’s incredibly disappointing given she’s the applicant,” Taylor said of Perry’s no-show.
She vowed to continue her David v Goliath legal battle with Perry for the good of all small business.
SAYONARA SCOMO
Once the Messiah from the Shire, former prime minister Scott Morrison’s reputation among Liberal ranks was shredded by the 2022 electoral evisceration and news of that weird decision to appoint himself to multiple ministries during the pandemic.
But for the few Liberals still willing to cough up $200 for a night with Morrison, invitations are circulating for an event titled Scomo’s Farewell Dinner in the Shire, to be held at Doltone House in Sylvania Waters next month.
Guest MC duties will fall to a true blue loyalist – Sky News host Paul Murray, no doubt hoping to reprise his embarrassingly sycophantic 2019 interview with former US president Donald Trump.
There’s even a special email to collect RSVPs, with the suffix “@Scomo30.com.” Good to know the man hasn’t lost his taste for utter cringe.
CBD can’t wait to see whether any of Morrison’s former colleagues show up. We’re doubtful many will.
CRIME PAYS
We brought word a few weeks back of a remarkable auction – the sale of nearly 400 items of high-end fashion, artwork and some other bits and bobs that belonged to the late conwoman extraordinaire Melissa Caddick.
The stuff included dresses by Dior, Chanel, Gucci, Diane von Furstenberg, Herve Leger, Oscar de la Renta and other high-end labels as well as handbags by Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Loro Piana and sneakers by Chanel and Hermes.
The upmarket clobber was being flogged off by Sydney auction house Shapiro’s, acting on behalf of Caddick estate receivers Jones Partners, who continue their work trying to recover as much as possible of the $30 million Caddick is thought to have fleeced from clients of her dodgy investment schemes before her mysterious disappearance in 2020.
It turns out that the promised bargains were too good to resist, with Shapiro’s selling the lot and raising about $70,000, leaving Jones Partners Bruce Gleeson very happy with the result.
“Both clothing and artwork categories fetched amounts well in excess of the reserves and have netted an amount of circa $70,000,” Gleeson said.
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