Millionaire Labor MP Andrew Charlton and wife Phoebe Arcus purchased a $2m house in Parramatta leading up to the 2022 election, doing so in case Charlton actually won against Liberal candidate Maria Kovacic in the contest for the seat.
It was necessary, of course; the expectation was that Charlton reside in the electorate he hoped to represent and not, say, in Bellevue Hill, far from the concerns of western Sydney, where he and Arcus had been living in a manor priced in the neighbourhood of $20m.
As it turns out, Charlton more than cleaned up against Kovacic in the vote, but the red-brick house that he and Arcus bought needed a wee bit of lipstick and rouge before the family could move in.
Renovation plans were put to the local council and it was rented for $750 per week. The clan, meanwhile, flopped in a nearby high rise waiting for the go-ahead.
Well, it seems that process has been taking an awfully long time to get moving – so long, in fact, that Charlton has said bugger it and decided to just buy another western Sydney pad altogether. The latest purchase, just settled, is a five-bedder somewhere in central Parramatta, Margin Call has learned.
No word on what was paid but we’re betting it’s no hovel that he and Arcus have acquired, nor is it likely to need extensive redecorating – otherwise, what was the point? The plan is to move in post-haste (lease pending on the high rise).
Taken together, it leaves the MP and his barrister wife with a portfolio of two homes in the region, a terrace in Woollahra, and the hill-top estate in Bellevue Hill, with its parquetry, its infinity pool, its gym and its library.
The only remaining question is what Charlton will do with the unloved pile that he and Arcus bought pre-election during their downshift. We’re hearing a decision is still pending on that one.
Dominello’s domain
Former NSW digital minister Victor Dominello has already announced two career moves this month. The first was a directorial appointment to a joint initiative between the University of Technology Sydney, and the University of NSW.
The second was that he would succeed the forever boyish Wyatt Roy in his position on the Technology Council of Australia board.
But there’s a great deal more to come in Dominello’s bold second act post-politics. Word about town is that he’s rubbing sticks together on a digital consultancy firm of sorts. It’s in its early days, we’re told, and along for the ride in the project is Dominello’s longstanding chief of staff Matt Dawson, who’s been with the MP since his earliest days in parliament.
Currently on another continent, Dominello’s been seeking advice on putting the business together from former PwC managing partner Joseph Carrozzi, who’s been helping out in an advisory capacity.
No suggestion Carrozzi is involved in the business, however – he’s on enough boards already.
That includes chairing the HealthCo Healthcare and Wellness REIT, the Centenary Institute, employment services group Angus Knight and, for now, the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, from which he’s stepping down at the end of next month. Not to mention directorships at Football Australia and Western Sydney University.
Dominello didn’t respond to a request for comment. From what we hear, it was a choice between starting his own shop or joining one of the big consultancies, some of which have been courting him, apparently.
Masters stroke
The Matter of Masters is a footnote in American immigration history. The decision may be unfamiliar to many but it did set a vital precedent for Australian sporting heroes attempting to reside in the land of the free over the past 50 years.
It’s named after professional golfer Margaret ‘‘Margie’’ Masters, who successfully challenged US visa requirements mandating that she leave the country every six months in order to return, a ruling that gave sportsmen and women “preference immigrant” status to live permanently in the US. Previously, this was only bestowed upon people with proven accomplishments in the sciences or the arts.
Masters, essentially, redefined golfers as artists. As the 1969 decision noted: “It has been determined that professional tournament golfers are basically entertainers and may be included with the arts, in the sense that the term is used in section 203(a)(3) of the Act. Professional tournament golfers entertain thousands of paying spectators at the golf courses and literally millions of viewers who watch tournament action on television during weekends.”
Successors in sport who have gone on to live in the US, such as Greg Norman, Adam Scott or Andrew Bogut, are likely to owe a debt of gratitude to Masters for this achievement, although her trailblazing occurred largely on the green, rather than in law. In 1965 she turned pro and was named rookie of the year. In 1967 she became the first Australian woman golfer to play on the LPGA tour, and the first Australian winner of that tournament – the Quality Chek’d Classic.
Masters joined Woodlands Golf Club in Melbourne, in 1950, where the women’s club championship trophy is named in her honour. On Saturday the club will farewell the Australian giant of the sport, who died in October, aged 88. Family have agreed to a scattering of her ashes along the Woodlands course. “Woodlands is privileged indeed, to have had her as a member and for her to have Woodlands as her final resting place,” a note to club members said.
South32’s succession confusion continues
A year ago South32 was interviewing candidates to take on the chief executive’s role, but there’s still no sign of Graham Kerr leaving the miner’s C-Suite.
Court sends Clive back to his swamp
Clive Palmer’s interminable efforts to get clear of prosecution over alleged breaches of the takeovers code were unceremoniously swatted aside by the Federal Court.