By Stephen Brook and Kishor Napier-Raman
Once again, Melbourne has got the better of former prime minister Tony Abbott.
Regular readers will recall the great man’s tussle with a tram on Collins Street back in February, when a 12a route driver sounded the alarm after Abbott stood too close for too long at the Collins Street tracks after alighting near Spring Street.
Tony Abbott in February – with spectacles.Credit: AP
I mean, we all remember former UK prime minister and right-wing hero Margaret Thatcher explaining that conservatives are “not for turning”. But man, those trams weigh 21 tonnes. Abbott eventually moved out of the way.
Now word reaches us of an incident last Tuesday at the security screening in the Virgin Australia terminal of Melbourne Airport, where PM28 came off worse in a lunchtime encounter with a security scanner.
As CBD’s man on the spot informed us: “He put his glasses in the tray, they went through the scanner and didn’t come out the other side.
“It was a very annoyed Tony by the end of it. He was polite and pleasant, but they were looking everywhere.”
CBD was unable to find out the outcome of the dematerialising spectacles, but it was apparent to witnesses that the admirably apolitical security staff had absolutely no idea who the man in their midst was.
When we caught up with Abbott, he told us there was no happy airport reunion for a man and his spectacles.
“Alas no,” the former PM told CBD when we inquired if the eyewear was recovered. “The staff looked for them but reckoned they couldn’t see anything. C’est la vie.”
Normal service resumed
The devil works hard, but the crusading parishioners at the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church work harder when it comes to trying to get Liberals elected.
The secretive fundamentalist church, led by patriarch and “Man of God” Bruce Hales, teaches a “hatred” of outsiders, condemns homosexuality and treats women as second-class citizens.
It also sent out an army of volunteers to campaign for the Liberal Party in marginal seats across the country including Kooyong, Gorton, Hawke, Gilmore and Calare. All despite its members receiving an exemption from voting, on religious grounds.
Gareth Hales, multimillionaire son of Plymouth Brethren Christian Church leader Bruce Hales, wears a blue Scott Yung campaign shirt at the Bennelong pre-polling booth on April 30.
Anyway, with the dust now settled, the Liberals vanquished despite all that electioneering, the Brethren flock can go back to what they do best – buying up multimillion-dollar tracts of property.
Relatives of Hales have been particularly drawn to the Epping-Eastwood area of Sydney. Among them is Justin Hales, Bruce’s 25-year-old grandson, whose father, Gareth, was one of the senior Brethren figures spotted leafleting.
He recently spent about $8 million buying not one but two adjacent blocks in North Epping on a quiet cul-de-sac.
The first was bought in 2023 for $2.9 million, with its four-bedroom neighbour picked up for a suburb record of $5.13 million last year. Now Hales is seeking council approval to consolidate the two houses into a single 11-bedroom mega mansion, at a cool cost of $9 million.
When first exhibited, the development application shattered the council’s maximum permitted floor size, and attracted 30 objections from neighbours. It is being exhibited again with a slight reduction in size. Hornsby Shire Council is considering the application.
A Brethren spokesperson told CBD: “Our church has no comment to make on the home renovations of any of our parishioners, past or present, young or old, Hales or not Hales.
“If you want information about our church, let us know. If you want information about property renovations, watch The Block.”
All change at News Corp
Seemingly moments after News Corp’s long-standing legal consigliere, Ian Philip, announced his retirement as chief general counsel after 28 years, now comes even bigger news: long-standing public and government affairs consigliere Campbell Reid is relinquishing his role as group executive, corporate affairs, policy and government relations.
News Corp Australia group executive Campbell Reid.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
But, as News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller told staff in a 750-word memo heaping praise on Reid, “even a title that long doesn’t capture the many diverse roles he plays across our company that are a reflection of his unique skills and experience”.
Quite. Reid, a former editor of The Australian and The Daily Telegraph in Sydney, started his career as an 18-year-old cadet at The Waikato Times in New Zealand in 1976. He became a generalissimo in News Corp’s successful quest with the rest of the industry to force tech giants to pay for news content in the Media Bargaining Code.
He was in his element as a tabloid newspaper editor, once splashing a massive headline in The Telegraph, “HAVE WE GONE COMPLETELY MAD?” when highlighting minuscule payouts to victims of crime compared with other government largesse.
Reid was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to journalism in 2019 and remains in his role at News until October. He will stay at the company on a part-time basis as an adviser, will be head of the Digital News Academy and represent the company as a director of the American Australian Association and chairman of the Mediality company.
The new group executive corporate affairs for News Corp Australia will be Sally Fielke, who joins from Coles, where she was group corporate and Indigenous affairs officer.
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