UNSW comes to the rescue of Nomad restaurant; Carlton chairman Rob Priestley defends handling of Sayers saga

Alan Yazbek. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Black-listed restaurant Nomad Sydney seemed about as likeable as Kanye West after its co-owner, Alan Yazbek, was caught on camera holding up an “Israeli swastika” at a pro-Palestine rally last year.

Remember that? Patrons so thoroughly boycotted Nomad and its sister restaurant in Melbourne as a consequence that the parent group basically fired Yazbek, shipped him off to an ashram for some psychic repair (or so it said; did he even go?) and gave itself an exhaustive corporate facelift to try to undo the damage wrought.

US Federal Reserve governor Christopher J. Waller. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

It’s why the group is now called Edition Hospitality and why Yazbek’s got nothing to do with the place (or so it said), and why Yazbek’s wife Rebecca has been doing almost everything imaginable to lure back customers – free meals, gift card pro­­motions; everything except smoking out the dining hall with a massive sage cleanse to ward off the anti-Zionist energies.

But Rebecca surprised us on Wednesday by declining to talk about a tentative uncancelling of her venue, care of a bash thrown by the University of NSW on Tuesday night. Of course it was UNSW, boy does that figure.

The university’s chancellor is David Gonski, one of the most prominent Jewish leaders alive in Australia but who has said and done little to address the blight of anti-Semitism that’s festered on university campuses over the past 18 months. Publicly, he’s said nothing. Suggestions to speak up and say anything have been rebuffed.

Not like Jennifer Westacott, chancellor of the University of Western Sydney, who’s not Jewish but who boldly stood alone last year in condemning anti-Semitism at the height of the ugly protests and tent encampments.

Gonski, to be fair, didn’t attend the function at Nomad, but the venue hosted about a dozen people for a dinner put on for US Federal Reserve governor Christopher J. Waller, paid for by UNSW.

Waller is in Australia for a talk he gave at the university on Monday, at which he said Don­ald Trump’s tariffs would probably have a modest impact on prices and wouldn’t jack up inflation. Bear in mind Waller was appointed by Trump during the President’s first term, so he’s ­liable to speak in soothing tones about whatever the prez does.

Sensing controversy, UNSW’s media team ran from our questions faster than a Manhattan rat in a kitchen, confirming only that Gonski wasn’t there.

In his place was UNSW’s Dean of Business, Frederik Anseel (we earlier said it was vice chancellor Attila Brungs, but he wasn’t there) along with AMP CEO Alexis George, Wollemi Capital’s co-founder Tim Bishop and an individual from investment bank Barrenjoey, whose identity we couldn’t nail down, although CEO Matthew Grounds assured us it wasn’t him.

Rethink on funding

Meanwhile, the kids in charge of the Melbourne University Law Students’ Society are rattling the can for sponsorship money, as they do each year, but this time the big firms are refusing to fund them over concerns the money might be channelled towards unexpected causes … like aid work in Gaza.

This all started a year ago when the law society, known as MULSS, issued a “statement of solidarity with Palestine” that, as usual, said nothing of the 251 hostages or the 1200 people who were murdered in Israel. Instead, it condemned the “misconduct warnings” issued to masked thugs who stormed the university campus and occupied its buildings.

The bit that got MULSS into big trouble was its commitment to donate a portion of its sponsorship revenue to aid organisations in the Hamas-run territory, some of which, as we now know, employed staff who held hostages in their homes or participated in the October 7 massacres.

Herbert Smith Freehills told us it was no longer funding the student group. “Yes, we expressed concerns over this statement last year, and have chosen to not renew our sponsorship,” a spokesman said. “You will note that we are no longer listed as a sponsor on their website.”

Mark Leibler. Picture: Valeriu Campan

No one will be surprised to learn that Arnold Bloch Leibler isn’t likely to renew its sponsorship of MULSS, either, the Leibler on the nameplate belonging to Jewish businessman Mark Leibler and his son Jeremy, a senior ABL partner and president of the Zionist Federation of Australia.

Baker McKenzie said its sponsorship was “under review” for 2025, but also that its funding was “expected to be used for the intended purpose for which funding was specifically requested”.

Minter Ellison wouldn’t comment, but we hear its out. A spokeswoman said the firm views “any kind of anti-Semitic behaviour as abhorrent, and we reject it in the strongest terms”.

Funnily enough, the MULSS president who put her name on the statement, Sabrina Liang, happened to be working as a paralegal with Minters at the time of this fuss and just finished clerking at King & Wood Mallesons, which didn’t respond to our questions – and neither did Allens or Gilbert + Tobin, although the three of them are said to be considering this very question of sponsorship ahead of the university semester starting next month.

Luke Sayers who?

Do ordinary members of Carlton Football club really care about the saga of Luke Sayers’ lewd images? Not judging from the club’s 160th annual general meeting on Wednesday night, when the issue - and the man himself - rated scarcely a mention.

Not in new Carlton chairman Rob Priestley’s opening address, although the JP Morgan chairman briefly alluded to his sudden ascension to the role and made an oblique reference to previous statements issued on the subject.

Carlton Football club members had only a couple of questions about Luke Sayers. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

But certainly no vote of thanks for the work of his predecessor - which seems a trifle churlish given Sayers’ 12 years service as a Carlton board member.

Would that have been different if Carlton had actually won a premiership in the period? Hard to say, but it’s been a long and difficult 30 years since Carlton last won the flag - a point not lost on a vocal minority at the meeting.

In fact, the former club president’s name first got a mention in the 20th minute when, amid Priestley’s defence of the club’s decision to rely on a screening committee to vet potential board appointments before they are put to a vote of members (another vexed issue for the vocal minority), Sayers’ name cropped up - almost by accident.

Sayers got another mention shortly afterwards, but only as part of a question about who would fill the former PwC boss’ vacancy in the Carton boardroom. That was the job for the independent nominations committee, members were told.

The rest of the questions from the floor - those not involving the board appointment process, a recurring theme in recent years - were worthy club matters: disability parking spots at Princess Park, access to training sessions, restoration of the ailing stands at the club’s traditional home, and why the club hasn’t won a flag in 30 years.

Only at the end of the night was a direct question asked about Sayers’ role at the club.

Why, asked a member, wasn’t Sayers required to step aside when news first broke of PwC’s attempt to profit from access to confidential government tax law planning? A good question back when it broke, and still a good question.

The answer from Priestley?

We had a good chat with Sayers at the time, and saw nothing “in terms of his summation of the facts” that would cause the board to ask him to step down.

So that’s that, then.