By Stephen Brook and Samantha Hutchinson
Former chief justice of the High Court Robert French is about to reinvigorate the moribund republican debate.
Former chief justice of the High Court Robert French.Credit: John Shakespeare
The prominent legal sandgroper was a fervent republican before Kevin Rudd installed him as the nation’s top beak in 2008. But he has remained low profile on the issue since.
All that will change on August 19 when French leaps to the stage to deliver the 2021 John Toohey Oration, titled “A true Australian Republic: True to our history, fit for our future”.
It looks like the eminent jurist, whose current day job is Chancellor of the University of Western Australia, will push for another republic referendum.
“Mr French will be speaking in favour of progress to a republic as an aspect of the completion of Australian nationhood,” his spokeswoman tells CBD.
French also plans to speak about constitutional recognition of our First Peoples.
He plans to acknowledge that our British heritage was an important part of our constitutional development but that it “no longer defines us as a nation”.
Take that, Your Majesty!
A long time ago, French was once a member of the Liberal Party and stood unsuccessfully against Kim Beazley snr. He has long championed republicanism along with Indigenous rights.
Peter FitzSimons’ Australian Republican Movement, which is quietly consulting ahead of announcing its proposed republican model, is unlikely to be able to capitalise too closely on French’s headland speech. “Mr French is not a member of any republican organisation,” the Chancellor’s spokeswoman sniffed.
FUTURE GROWTH
It’s been a great couple of months for Future Women, the coaching and professional development network set up by former Australian Women’s Weekly editor-in-chief turned entrepreneur Helen McCabe.
As this column has noted previously, it’s a tough assignment trying to build a professional women’s network when a pandemic negates the opportunity to, well, network. And yet, McCabe continues to make a motza, with no small thanks to the bureaucratic crowd.
Government tender documents reveal FW, owned in equal share by McCabe and Nine Entertainment Co – owner of this publication – has raked in $317,340 from government departments since August last year. This includes $77,000 from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources in late June, $76,300 from the Department of Parliamentary Services earlier in the month and another $49,500 from the same department in March for education and training services. IP Australia spent $32,000 on courses in October and in August it was Home Affairs, the Department of Infrastructure and the burghers inside Social Services signing up their staff for FW’s training and coaching courses.
On Sunday, McCabe, a former political correspondent (once notably fired by Seven via fax. Classy, right?) who has held senior editing positions at The Australian, The Sunday Telegraph and served as Nine’s digital boss, said the pandemic had prompted the business to scale back on live events in favour of online training and coaching – and it’s been a boon. “It became clear to us that there were opportunities for training and solving problems for women on issues like future-proofing [their careers], so we focused on these online training courses … everything rose from there.”
This time last year, FW had brought in more than $420,000 in a 10-month period from government clients including Home Affairs, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Treasury and the Digital Transformation Agency. All in all, not a bad 24 months.
LOCATION LOCATION
Former Australia Post chief executive Ahmed Fahour finally got the happy ending he was hoping for last week when he offloaded his Hawthorn mansion, Invergowrie, for $40.5 million, after a marathon three years on the market. Never mind the wait, Fahour, now running Latitude Financial Group, made a strong return on the sprawling gothic estate and almost doubled his $22 million purchase price from 2013. Although it seems almost churlish to point out that the asking price was once $44 million.
Transfer documents attached to the home reveal science research firm Trajan Group co-founder Angela Tomisich to be the buyer together with husband – and Trajan chief executive – Stephen. The pair are looking forward to using the property as a family home. Tomisich has also said he hopes to preserve its “remarkable” history dating back to the 1800s though he doesn’t know “what that looks like yet”.
As it turned out, preserving its history and surrounds was an interest that Fahour also shared. CBD recalls the time in 2013 when neighbours noted that a standard post box on the corner of Isabella and Coppin Groves close to Invergowrie had been replaced with a freshened-up heritage box.
When pressed, Australia Post confirmed there had been some changes.
“The street posting box at this location was rusted and required replacement,” a Post spokeswoman said at the time. “We have several heritage street posting boxes in storage and we made the decision to replace the box with a heritage box, in keeping with the historic streetscape of the local area.”
It just happened that Fahour – then Australia’s highest-paid public servant – had recently moved into Invergowrie on Coppin Grove. Remarkable history indeed.
MANGOS MOVE
Changes are taking place in one of the busiest corners of Parliament House. Media veteran John Mangos, who was once news reading sidekick to TV legend Graham Kennedy on his news show, is saying goodbye to NSW senator Andrew Bragg. He is taking on a new role heading media for newly minted NSW frontbencher Natalie Ward. Which, at 65, must make him the oldest working press secretary in Australia. Indefatigable Sky News reporter Charlotte Mortlock will take his place.
Mangos has had his work cut out for him inside Bragg’s office over the past 18 months, given the ambitious upstart’s Josh Frydenberg-like desire to become one of the most talked about MPs in the country. A good thing then that the new starter Mortlock is known for her industrious work ethic. On Planet Bragg, that will come in handy.