By Kishor Napier-Raman and Noel Towell
Facing a grilling about the government’s proposed stamp duty overhaul in question time on Wednesday, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet cited the support he was getting from Facebook.
He then read out a glowing tribute from “Matt”, who commented on one of the premier’s posts that it was “good to see some leadership and ideas being brought forward to help young people get a start without handout”.
The Matt in question? That would be Matthew Daniel, a former property developer described by this masthead as a “controversial Liberal mover and shaker” in reports, from 2013, that he’d lost a job on Liverpool Council for allegedly failing to declare he was an undischarged bankrupt. Daniel claimed the council was well aware, and sued for unfair dismissal leading to six years of litigation that was settled in 2020.
Before that, he’d helped solicit donations from the business community to the Liberal Party, and at the time of his bankrupting in 2011, was a Sutherland councillor who held a job at the Department of Planning.
When in Rome
<>Credit: John Shakespeare
La Trobe University’s podcast Emperors of Rome celebrated its 200th episode last week with a live recording in Melbourne’s Fed Square attended by education minister and self-proclaimed history geek Jason Clare, who credited the podcast with getting him up and down the Hume on the long drives to Canberra.
He also took the time to blame his high school history teacher for his love of the subject, and went as far as dubbing his boss Emperor Albo.
Given the topic of the podcast was Antony and Cleopatra, Clare (and Emperor Albo) may well hope Labor emulates the eventual Roman emperor of the time, Augustus, who ruled for 40 years.
But if Albo is emperor, let’s hope Clare fares better than either Antony or Cleopatra because (spoilers), after a split between Augustus and Antony, it didn’t end well for either the military leader or his lover.
Warded Off
Former NSW government minister Gareth Ward was committed to stand trial last month over historic sexual abuse charges.
Ward maintains his innocence, and despite moving to the crossbench and quitting the ministry after first being investigated last year, he refused to resign after the charges were brought against him in March, forcing the government to move a motion suspending him from parliament.
But, since then, Ward’s been busy performing his duties as the independent member for Kiama. He is all over social media and not shying away from local events. He’s also given no indication he won’t be contesting the seat at next year’s election.
So committed is Ward to those duties that he told a Wollongong radio station this week he was planning to vote for Premier Dominic Perrottet’s stamp duty overhaul, which the government is desperate to pass in the final 13 sitting days of the parliamentary year.
But that suspension means Ward can’t vote, and Perrottet can’t rely on his support in the lower house, although it’s the upper house that will prove most challenging for the government.
Independent NSW MP Gareth Ward is facing historic sex assault charges.Credit: Brook Mitchell
Meanwhile, months after the premier quickly pushed Ward out of parliament, he’s still listed as a life member of the NSW Young Liberals, an honour he received in 2019 before the allegations were made public.
But CBD hears the Young Libs are proceeding with caution, not making any decision about his life membership until the criminal case is finished.
Off to the races
It’s the race that stops less of the nation this Saturday, when the Everest goes ahead at Randwick. And if last year is anything to go by, it’ll be a weekend of pampering for Racing Minister Kevin Anderson, who gets plenty of love from the gambling and racing sectors.
According to registers of interests updated this week, Anderson received two tickets worth $1000 each from TAB to last year’s Everest director’s room. He also got $500 worth of tickets from Racing NSW, and nearly $1500 worth of annual memberships and VIP tickets from the Australian Turf Club. Greyhound Racing NSW were a bit stingier, coughing up $100 for a jacket and bottle of wine.
Nice for some!
But nobody can escape gambling money in NSW politics, not even one of parliament’s most vocal anti-pokie crusaders, Justin Field. The former Green-turned-independent MLC spoke at a Wakehurst Independents event last week about his work tackling gambling and improving integrity in politics.
The location? Manly Leagues Club, one of the biggest pokie dens north of the bridge.
Cheap Guardianistas
Guardian Australia likes to position itself as a refreshing, progressive antidote to a concentrated local media market.
But virtue ain’t cheap. Which is why the Guardian regularly bombards its readers with obnoxious pleas for more donations, which rarely seem to trickle down to the foreign trust-backed media organisation’s underpaid staff.
Now, things are looking so dire that the Guardian has been forced to run ads for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, with a full wraparound spruiking Kayo sports’ coverage of the Twenty20 cricket world cup adorning the home page.
We’re not sure how the graun’s lefty, Murdoch-hating readers would cope with that one.
Correction: an earlier version of this story referred to non-payment of freelancers at The Guardian. The Guardian has since responded to say every freelancer and contributor to Guardian Australia is paid for their work without exception.
correction
An earlier version of this column questioned whether The Guardian used unpaid freelancers. The Guardian has since responded to say that every freelancer and contributor to Guardian Australia is paid for their work, without exception.