By Noel Towell and Kishor Napier-Raman
Victorian Liberal senator Sarah Henderson was in her customary full-frontal attack mode on Tuesday as she took to the socials to lash out at the government’s new online safety initiatives, with the former ABC journalist taking Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to task for his “embarrassing” effort.
“This is embarrassing @albo,” Henderson harrumphed.
Senator Sarah Henderson failed to get a handle on the prime minister with her tweet.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“#saferinternetday highlights that your govt has done virtually nothing to invest in online let alone critical issues such as scams and extra funding for @esafety office.”
Trouble was, it wasn’t the PM’s twitter handle that Henderson tagged, but an account on the site belonging to Italian smut artist Albo called Albo Draws Lewds, where the senator’s 10,000-plus followers would have found lots of material that is, how you say, not safe for work, and couldn’t possibly be reproduced in a column as wholesome and family friendly as CBD.
This should no longer be a trap for young players. The ABC’s Michael Rowland, former independent MP-turned angry dude Tony Windsor, along with fellow online ragers ex-Labor senator Doug Cameron and right-wing rent-a-quote Prue McSween are all among those who have inadvertently invoked the Lewd Lombard over the years.
Henderson has made the mistake once before, in July last year.
The offending tweet.
It was all enough to prompt a plea from the, ahem, artist for Australia’s chattering classes to leave him alone to go about his – barely – legal business
Somebody linking to the pornographic account while trying to act as a champion of internet safety is a first, as far as we’re aware, but they say the Coalition needs new ideas, so maybe it’s worth a try.
Looks like great minds think alike.
“I might tag @Albo in my tweets more often if it will help highlight the Albanese government’s failures to invest in the online safety of all Australians,” Henderson told CBD.
PAPER CUTS
Times are tough at News Corp, with the US-based behemoth looking to slash $20 million in costs over the next two years.
That belt-tightening has meant a crackdown on employee expenses. On Tuesday, News Corp Australia’s chief financial officer Michael Murphy sent around an all-staff email reminding employees of the company’s “refreshed” discretionary expenses policy.
Noting that the company had seen a “steady increase in discretionary expenses” since COVID, Murphy warned staff they may have to restrict travel, and make “difficult choices”.
Frequent flyer: No “difficult choices” for Lachlan Murdoch.Credit: Shakespeare
For the minions of Holt Street, the policy looks like Google Meet or Zoom for internal meetings, phone plans capped at $21.50 a month, all overseas trips having to be signed off by Murphy, and gifts for life events – such as retirements, weddings and deaths – can’t be more than $100.
And while that all seems relatively reasonable, we somehow doubt any of this penny-pinching extends to executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch’s well-documented penchant for private jet travel.
GOOD SPORTS
The travel crackdown clearly didn’t stop a posse of Fox Sports stars trekking from around the country to Parliament House last night. In a rare downside to the lucrative commentary gigs handed to sports stars after glittering careers, the channel’s talent was forced to endure an evening of speeches from politicians.
By talent, we’re talking the likes of cricket legend Adam Gilchrist, big AFL names such as Eddie Betts, Jonathan Brown and Jack Riewoldt, retired netballers Catherine Cox and Bianca Chatfield, along with Fox Sports presenters Sarah Jones, Jess Yates and Isa Guha.
Anika Wells addressed the glittering array of talent at the Fox Sports bash.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
There were rugby league types there too: Matty Johns, Damien Cook and Josh Papalii, plus league boss Andrew Abdo, who was probably there to ensure the boys were behaving, with NRL players in Canberra a danger combination these days.
Sports Minister Anika Wells, and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, as well as their respective Coalition shadows, Anne Ruston and Sarah Henderson, addressed the crowd, each dropping in a few cosy anecdotes to highlight their love of sport.
And that was before the speeches from the channel’s personalities and administrators. Yawn. We hope the nibbles and drinks were at least worth it.
HAPPY UNION
Readers might recall Premier Daniel Andrews copping a moderately hard time – by silly season standards – last month over a barbeque he attended at the palatial Portsea pad of trucking squillionaire Lindsay Fox, where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also rocked up and where – and we want to be absolutely clear on this – the Fox family’s business interests were not discussed.
Luba Grigorovitch and Ben Gray on their wedding day on the Mornington Peninsula.Credit: APL Photography
But another couple of attendees flew under the radar. Former hardline Rail, Tram and Bus Union leader and now state Labor MP Luba Grigorovitch and finance millionaire partner Ben Gray, the son of a former Tasmanian Liberal premier, were also there on the day, although they didn’t stay for lunch, the member for Kororoit assures us.
Grigorovitch has had a huge few months – selected to state parliament as part of Labor’s landslide win in November, and then marrying Gray a few days after the politically star-studded get-together at the Fox residence.
For years, people have been tipping a big political future for Grigorovitch, even when she was making common cause with colourful characters such as CFMEU tough guy John Setka and Labor’s disgraced faction man Adem Somyurek.
But now that she’s moving in the right circles again, things might happen fast.