When former prime minister Scott Morrison announced his retirement from politics last week, he’d just returned from overseas. The destination for Morrison’s likely final foreign trip as a member of parliament? Why, it just had to be Hawaii.
Of course, Morrison’s last summer trip to the islands was unforgettable for all the wrong reasons: an ill-fated family holiday taken at the height of the Black Summer bushfires, which the then-PM’s office tried to keep secret.
Scott Morrison can’t get enough of HawaiiCredit: John Shakespeare
This time Morrison was there for business at least, travelling to deliver a keynote address to the Pacific Forum, a Honolulu-based defence think tank, for its conference on “operationalising integration in the Indo-Pacific”. Sounds like a hoot.
The former PM was there as a “feature speaker” and attended a series of related events, his office confirmed. His wife Jenny Morrison also scored an invite, but no luck for the girls.
Morrison recently confirmed he’d be taking on two new roles in the defence space – as a non-executive vice chair of American Global Strategies and as an adviser to asset management firm Dyne Maritime. Mike Pompeo, who was US secretary of state under Donald Trump, has also been appointed a Dyne strategic adviser. He would’ve felt right at home at the Honolulu conference, sponsored by international arms manufacturers like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.
Still, business, pleasure or otherwise, the delicious irony of Morrison announcing his resignation so soon after returning from the very place that sunk his prime ministership wasn’t lost on CBD. We’ll miss him.
CAPTAIN COOK
Sticking briefly with Morrison, the phones of shire-based Liberal Party hacks have been ringing off the hook since last week because his blue-ribbon electorate of Cook is prime real estate.
Former PM Scott Morrison with Sutherland Mayor Carmelo Pesce.Credit:
It’s well-established that Bentley-driving Sutherland Shire Mayor Carmelo Pesce has been the frontrunner for months. So much so that CBD’s spies even photographed Pesce and Morrison having a drink together in Cronulla on Australia Day.
But Pesce’s support has already started to drop a little as former McKinsey partner Simon Kennedy and Veteran Family Advocate Commissioner Gwen Cherne put on a strong showing. Kennedy in particular, who narrowly lost the seat of Bennelong in 2022, has been working the phones hard. According to local Liberal insiders, he’s landed the support of close to 10 of the 14 local branches.
But these things are subject to change, and nominations haven’t even closed just yet. It all comes down to wooing the right local powerbrokers. So far Pesce’s numbers are being run by fellow Sutherland Councillor Haris Strangas, who moonlights as a nightclub promoter.
Kennedy, meanwhile, has the support of long-term Councillor Kent Johns. Marie Simone, described in these pages as an “unemployed, Maserati-driving former bankrupt” is also backing the McKinsey man.
Nominations close this week, so expect a few more names to join that list.
BIG MICK ENERGY
Say what you will about Mick Gatto, but the colourful Melbourne underworld identity’s rebrand as a philanthropist has been quite the success.
Few charities can boast the celebrity cache of Gatto’s Equal Access for Autism, which he founded in 2022. CBD regulars might recall embattled neurosurgeon Charlie Teo is a very generous donor, as is Australian media’s straight-A student Waleed Aly, who became an ambassador last year in a crossover episode we never saw coming.
But over the weekend Gatto’s charity unveiled a new posse of celebrity backers on Instagram, chief among them former Collingwood Football Club president and everywhere man Eddie McGuire, who gave a video endorsement.
So did the cauliflower-eared former Cronulla Sharks captain Paul Gallen, perennially unsavoury Aussie rules player turned pundit Sam Newman, actor Shane Jacobson of Kenny fame, and retired boxer Jeff Fenech. Another ex-boxer, Anthony Mundine, also popped up.
“My brother Mick Gatto, love you, bruh,” Mundine said.
We invited Mick to discuss this with us but he didn’t reply. Still, we can’t wait to see who he signs up next.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALLERY
The tradition of Guardian types jumping ship to the Albanese government continued yesterday after the online outlet’s political editor Katharine Murphy announced she’d be taking a job with the Prime Minister’s Office. Readers of some of the press gallery veteran’s more recent output might be surprised to learn she wasn’t working for the government already!
Murpharoo will serve as a senior press secretary, handling relations with journalists and working on media strategy, alongside former Kevin Rudd staffer Fiona Sugden.
It’s part of a broader shake-up to Anthony Albanese’s media team, triggered by the sudden departure of media director Liz Fitch last year, which will result in former SBS and Ten journalist Brett Mason getting the top job. As for us, we don’t expect Team Albo to get any better at responding to us – we hear there’s an unofficial policy at the Prime Minister’s Office of ignoring CBD’s inquiries. Not very friendly.
Meanwhile, one of Murpharoo’s fellow ex-Guardianistas Brigid Delaney, who left her much-loved hot mess column for the stable income of a ministerial speechwriter, is also on the move. She’s ditched Finance Minister Katy Gallagher’s office to work for Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, ostensibly so she can live in Sydney, rather than Canberra. We don’t blame her.