By Stephen Brook and Kishor Napier-Raman
One immutable fundamental of federal relations underpinning the Commonwealth of Australia, state-on-state rivalry, was upended recently when Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece undertook a whistlestop tour of Sydney – and commented favourably on the experience.
“Sydney and Melbourne are the two best cities in the world!” Reece said glowingly of the northern metropolis in a LinkedIn post (but not in an official media release, as far as we could tell). Talk about undermining 124 years of slow-burn resentment towards the Harbour City nurtured by Melbourne since Federation.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece (right) with NSW Premier Chris Minns on a 36-hour visit to Sydney.Credit: LinkedIn
During his 36-hour outing late last week, Reece also blew smoke in the direction of some of NSW’s most prominent power players.
NSW Premier Chris Minns was “a seriously smart guy … he also has an incredible knowledge of rugby league”. But Reece kept it real, musing that Minns might be lucky enough to score an invite to the AFL grand final, which, no surprises – is in Melbourne!
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore was a “legend” who had “copped a bit over the years” but was someone who deserves “huge credit for her vision and determination”.
No jacket required: Reece hangs with Justin Hemmes.Credit: LinkedIn
Reece also name-checked Business Sydney, and Crown Resorts chairman John Borghetti while all the while being sure to heap praise on Melbourne.
So when meeting hospitality dude Justin Hemmes, he was canny to point out that while he loved his tour of The Ivy in Sydney, Hemmes’ Merivale Group was undertaking its biggest project (Parkade) … in Melbourne!
One fascination for CBD was how deftly Reece navigated his way through Sydney’s crucial but often unspoken dress codes.
Thus full suit and tie to meet Moore, but tieless for his selfie with political bro Minns (although as a true Melburnian he couldn’t bring himself to be seen dead in denim).
But to hang with Merivale’s Hemmes, the tie and jacket disappeared entirely.
One thing about Reece, as the only state secretary of the Victorian Labor Party ever to have his own show on Sky News, he sure knows how to team with the theme.
If you are not in, you are out
Labor’s mega majority has barely gotten its feet under the desks. But already, some younger government apparatchiks are getting antsy, after being told they will have to reapply for their jobs.
CBD hears much of that anxiety is misplaced, and the staffing reset is a natural process which occurs after any “trigger event” like a cabinet reshuffle, or the swearing-in of a new ministry after an election. Because Labor took on so many baby hacks after its long-awaited return to government in 2022, the staffing ranks are filled with anxious Zoomers who’d never been through the process before.
Still, the post-election period is a busy time on Labor LinkedIn, with plenty of seasoned politicos deciding to call it a day. Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s chief of staff, Thomas Mooney, is moving on after nine years with the long-serving senator.
CBD hears Mooney has aspirations to one day enter the South Australian parliament and one day become premier, although we can’t imagine Adelaide Adonis Peter Malinauskas’ reign ending any time soon.
Meanwhile, senior policy adviser Skye Laris is leaving Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office after a six-year stint. Laris is married to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.
Odesa calling
CBD has been keeping an eye of late on the rather exotic travels of our former prime ministers.
Nothing will top Julia Gillard being turned into a hologram for the Women UNLIMITED leadership summit because not even poor Hillary Clinton, appearing in person, will get to see The Real Julia.
And while most Australians are probably sick of hearing from ex-leaders Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott, both have been living their best lives on the global security speaking circuit, which is most definitely a thing.
Abbott is often in Hungary to keep the fires of his bromance burning with the country’s hairy-chested conservative leader, Viktor Orban. Last week, we noted Abbott’s appearance at the Asian Leadership Conference in Seoul, speaking alongside former Indonesian president Joko Widodo and Malaysia’s long-serving ex-PM Mahathir Mohamad, still on the speaking circuit in his 100th year.
Scomo is frequently looking for friends in the United States, even getting to spend New Year’s Eve at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, while promising to bring the AUKUS pact to outer space and holding enough part-time jobs to keep him relevant.
And last weekend, both men were in the charming Ukrainian port city of Odesa for the Black Sea Security Forum, organised by British billionaire and Conservative peer Lord Michael Ashcroft.
Both men took the stage in Odesa, with Morrison in a discussion on the global south. Abbott was a little more lively in his panel on the UK’s interests in the Black Sea, even having a crack at former Tory MP Bob Seely over that government’s cutting of British defence spending.
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