By Stephen Brook and Kishor Napier-Raman
Here we go. After five riveting weeks, Australians finally head to the polls tomorrow – at least those of us who haven’t ditched the democracy sausage and voted early.
It’s a big day for punters, pollies and pundits alike. But one former prime minister wanted nowt to do with it. Malcolm Turnbull, we have learnt, has jetted out of the country. He won’t be around on polling day and, more pointedly, election night.
Malcolm Turnbull with wife Lucy Turnbull.Credit: 60 Minutes/Channel Nine
To be fair, given how many Liberals think their former leader is some kind of crypto teal-greenie-communist, they probably don’t want him in their orbit. But given PM29’s recent musings on everything from negative gearing to AUKUS to the Canadian elections, an absent Turnbull is only a tweet away.
Since Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison still carry deeply cursed vibes in the eyes of the public, it leaves elder statesmen John Howard as the only former Liberal PM the party feels confident to roll out.
So confident that some in the party had high hopes of making PM25 a star attraction at its main election night bash, Peter Dutton’s home-town hoedown in Brisbane. But no.
Peter Dutton at a Liberal Party rally with John Howard on Sunday.Credit: James Brickwood
As Howard told CBD: “I will be watching the results with my close family and then attending a Liberal Party event in the city [Sydney].”
Abbott and ScoMo didn’t enlighten CBD about their party plans. And we don’t expect to see Paul Keating (too cranky, or busy blissing out to Mahler) or Julia Gillard at any election events either. Ambassador Kevin Rudd is busy being diplomatically circumspect in Washington.
Labor will host its party in Sydney, somewhere in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s inner-west electorate of Grayndler (although, c’mon guys – Kirribilli House has ample entertaining space).
In 2022, the party and its admirers cracked open celebratory tinnies of Willie the Boatman Albo Pale Ale at the Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL in Sydney, because nothing is more Australian than celebrating a long-awaited return to power in a suburban pokie den.
The Greens have chosen a venue in the concrete wasteland that is Melbourne’s Docklands. Hardly eco, but close to public transport and part of leader Adam Bandt’s electorate of Melbourne.
Trumpet of Patriots billionaire bankroller Clive Palmer will join Seven’s election night coverage, but camera-ready One Nation leader Pauline Hanson rebuffed a couple of TV election panel overtures. Instead she will be in Tasmania, where her daughter Lee Hanson hopes to snag a Senate seat.
Primetime Pyne
Former Coalition defence minister Christopher Pyne is nothing if not conscientious. The professional South Australian and lobbyist has been reaching out to friends to plug an upcoming appearance on Nine’s election-night panel, rattling the can for tips on the night.
Others, meanwhile, are just looking for someone willing to listen. Celebrity agent Max Markson has been spruiking his client former Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who thus far appears to have not secured a TV gig.
Site shutdown
One of Melbourne’s most influential (and most savage) local government watchers has shut down almost all of his council monitoring websites.
Dean Hurlston, a local government activist who runs the Council Watch Victoria organisation and several Facebook sites, has taken down Stonnington Council Watch and most of the other individual council watch pages.
Local government activist Dean Hurlston.Credit: Simon Schluter
But the main Council Watch Victoria page lives on, and to the astonishment of readers, posted something nice about a Hurlston opponent, Moonee Valley councillor Rose Iser.
A post on Wednesday read: “We highly respect Council (and Cr Iser’s) declarations of conflict of interest in the Clocktower funding in the budget, some of her amendments (in yellow) were good.”
Dorothy, we are most certainly not in Kansas any more!
It was only in February that Iser called on the Municipal Association of Victoria to condemn what she described as the “personal abuse … conveyed regularly online by Council Watch Victoria”, for which she was attacked by the site.
Why the change of tune? CBD approached Hurlston for comment but didn’t hear back. Could this change possibly be connected with a court hearing on Tuesday at which Stonnington Mayor Melina Sehr was granted an interim public safety order (a civil matter that does not involve criminal charges) against Hurlston?
As The Age reported, Sehr’s affidavit alleged Hurlston used pseudonyms to contact her and her then employer, which she claimed resulted in her losing her job. And a post on Facebook (which was deleted) accused Sehr of using the death of her mother to dodge media inquiries.
Possibly relevant fact: Hurlston’s partner, Joe Gianfriddo, served as Stonnington mayor before Sehr. Gianfriddo lost at last year’s council elections in a one-on-one battle against councillor Jami Klisaris, an ally of Sehr.
Hurlston told the court the Council Watch group had 30,000 members and was a serious site.
“Sometimes the language is salacious or a little bit brutal, but that’s the nature of what we do.”
He said criticisms of the site were “essentially public officials saying that their safety is at risk because of criticism”. The matter is due back in court in June, when the court will hear Hurlston’s version of events and decide if a permanent order should be made.
In the meantime, the interim order means Hurlston cannot publish anything about Sehr personally that could be construed as demeaning, derogatory or intimidating.
Slow going
Fittingly, one of the nation’s fastest property flippers is Matt Shirvington, Sunrise TV host and former sprinter.
He won the attention of property buyers everywhere with his two-week, $11.2 million Killara mansion flip on Sydney’s upper North Shore (OK, it was actually 17 days) in 2022.
That quick resale after settlement meant that the presenter and wife Jessica, an author, doubled down on their Mosman property after not getting the right price for the home they bought for about $7.5 million in 2017. The seven-bedroom mansion has a swimming pool, tennis court, spa and self-contained studio.
Architects for Casa del Shirvo recently lodged an updated development application for a $2 million renovation with the local council. The updated application is for standard stuff. Off-white rendered brick walls with charcoal tiles on the roof and a bit of Colorbond steel as well.
But the original application was approved last May. That’s slow going indeed.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.