By Kishor Napier-Raman and Stephen Brook
Having friends (or rather bosses) in high places has never been more helpful for well-connected PR and government relations guy James Radford, who was stuck in Israel over the weekend as Iranian missiles rained down. But not stuck for long.
Radford, who runs his own Radford Consulting and is external affairs manager for Hancock Prospecting, was able to call upon his boss, mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, to get him out of Israel pronto. Others, who were part of an official delegation, were not so lucky.
James Radford, Hancock Prospecting external affairs manager, and media personality Erin Molan in Israel this month.
It seems when Rinehart isn’t keeping the Australian swim team afloat and giving out $100,000 cheques to her staff, she is saving them from war zones. Benevolent capitalism at work. And obviously, billionaire-tier travel insurance is many rungs above Budget Direct.
One estimate put the cost of the extraction at $60,000, but Radford said it could be even higher.
Hancock Prospecting executive chairwoman Gina Rinehart.Credit: Bloomberg
“Gina Rinehart was incredible – she worked day and night to try and get us out of there by whatever means possible and safe,” Radford told CBD from Melbourne.
“We definitely tried to get the entire group out, multiple Australians out – however there was no capacity in the system as this was the first day,” he said.
“My first evacuation was cancelled.”
Radford spent part of his time in the country on an official Israeli government-organised Australian Pride Mission to Israel, a two-week culture tour which was to culminate in Tel Aviv Pride. He also caught up the Australian-Israel Chamber of Commerce group, visited a kibbutz that was a site of an October 7 massacre and spent time with former Labor senator Nova Peris and media personality Erin Molan.
We last encountered Radford spinning for the Liberals’ failed candidate Ro Knox in the hard-fought battle for Wentworth at the last election. And before that, he popped up at Mar-a-Lago in November as Donald Trump celebrated his return with a lavish event. Clearly a man with a knack of being at the centre of the news cycle.
While in Israel as stress levels rose, Radford was critical of the Australian government at one point, posting “Thank God for the private sector!” on Instagram after attacking the Australian government for having “ZERO plan on how to get Aussies out”.
It is fair to say this attitude and Radford’s speedy evacuation rankled with some other Australians who were stuck in Tel Aviv while he made it out against Australian and Israeli government advice, which in the early stages was to stay close to bomb shelters. But Radford said he was given advice from another source to evacuate.
“I think the Australian government could have been more prepared and acted faster,” he told CBD.
Radford made his way in a convoy of black luxury minivans to the Jordanian border and then to Amman and a flight back to Melbourne when airspace was open. And judging by his Instagram post featuring a breakfast tray of a silver basket containing heated croissants, a patty of butter and a jam pot, he wasn’t flying economy.
Quantum mechanics
Last year, the Albanese government suddenly got very excited about quantum computers – so excited that it invested $470 million in Silicon Valley-based start-up PsiQuantum, which is planning to build a supercomputer in Brisbane. The investment was matched by Queensland’s then-Labor government.
But the Coalition has continued to cry foul about the deal, pointing to links between then-industry and science minister Ed Husic’s staff and one of the company’s investors. The auditor-general is investigating.
Last year, the newly elected Liberal National government in Queensland promised to review its predecessors’ investment, claiming PsiQuantum was “dripping with Labor lobbyists”. Naturally, the company had hired Labor-aligned lobbyists, as most ambitious corporates in Canberra have.
And now, they’ve picked up another Labor connection straight out of the Prime Minister’s Office, with Stela Todorovic, one of Anthony Albanese’s 10 media advisers (none of whom answer CBD’s calls), joining the company in a senior media role. And then there were nine.
Todorovic, formerly a press gallery rising star, joined the PMO two years ago when she resigned from Channel Ten after being passed over to replace Peter van Onselen (remember that guy?) as the network’s political editor. Now, she joins the classic post-election reshuffle as staffers come and go from the ministerial wing.
Celebrity magnet
Potts Point Vietnamese joint Lady Chu has become an unlikely magnet for the Sydney’s good and great since CBD revealed its outspoken owner Nahji Chu’s profane but righteous rant at a bunch of hapless council workers.
The latest diners – South Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young with her date, Sydney independent MP Alex Greenwich. Gotta take the out-of-towners to the best spots.
Sarah Hanson-Young and Alex Greenwich feature on Lady Chu’s Instagram.Credit: Instagram
“Leave the plants alone,” the restaurant posted, a reference to Chu’s greenery, which has been the source of her stoush with the City of Sydney Council.
As CBD has reported previously, Greenwich, a protegee of Sydney’s forever Lord Mayor Clover Moore, took up the role of unlikely peacemaker in Chu’s war with the council. Helps to have friends on both sides.
The restaurant’s success – Nigella Lawson dined there last week – represents quite the comeback for Chu. A decade ago, her Vietnamese tuckshop empire Misschu collapsed with millions owed to creditors, including unpaid staff entitlements.
Now she’s the talk of the town.
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