Former PM Malcolm Turnbull, Andrew Forrest confirmed for COP26 in Glasgow
While PM Scott Morrison’s attendance at next month’s Glasgow climate summit remains in doubt, former PM Malcolm Turnbull was all too happy to confirm his attendance to the press on Wednesday.
Make no mistakes though, there’s nothing political about his appearance, or so he says.
“I’m not in politics anymore,” PM number 29 told journalists in a Q&A after his National Press Club address.
That was after a 30-minute tirade slamming the government’s policy on everything from China relations to the French subs deal. Not political? You could have fooled us.
Nevertheless, the 66-year-old confirmed he would be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Joe Biden,David Attenboroughand even Pope Francis next month, joining the conference in his new capacity as chair of Fortescue’s green energy arm FFI along with the firm’s founder, Australia’s second richest person Andrew Forrest.
Hitching a ride to Glasgow on the mining magnate’s recently purchased $98m private jet sure has to beat flying coach during the pandemic.
Diplomatic relations aren’t off limits sans his PM title either, Turnbull sharing with the virtual audience and host Laura Tingle that he had spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron in the aftermath of the scrapping of the $90bn subs deal, noting the French PM “is a good friend and we have kept in touch”.
All that while another of Turnbull’s friends, or should we say former friend, Russel Pillemer took his turn in the dock on the third day of hearings in the case brought by Alex Turnbull against his father’s former business partner.
Covering similar ground to the Turnbulls before him, Pillemer was quizzed for close to six hours on his side of the share loan agreement, sharing with the court that he had “conveyed optimism” as to the Hunter Hall merger to the younger Turnbull ahead of the family’s share sale.
Lengthy questioning on Wednesday consequently pushed any closing submissions out till late October, meaning a resolution remains out of reach.
Still there has been plenty of old wounds resurfaced in the past few days to keep respective legal and PR teams occupied.
Prying eyes
In the latest gem to be unearthed in the trove of affidavits filed in the case, take this morsel from the now Singapore-based Alex Turnbull as an inkling into his life as son of a PM.
Even before Point Piper’s lawyer-turned-banker took up the role as PM29, Turnbull Jnr told the court he got into a practice of heightened vigilance when it came to matters of foreign intelligence.
According to his affidavit, dating back to 2013, when his father was Communications Minister, he was warned of the risk of “hacking or infiltration by Chinese state intelligence”.
“My practice was to use a ‘burner’ phone while in China … or delete all communications on my usual iPhone regularly to ensure they would not be accessible,” he said.
As such, Turnbull warned some of his communications with Pillemer during that pivotal time may have been lost.
Hardly a jackpot for the likes of the CCP.
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Pass around the hat
Any hope of filling Flemington with punters for the Cup Carnival is seemingly diminishing for the folk at the Victorian Racing Club, who were forced to concede plans for crowd numbers would be scaled back significantly.
In a circular to members, chairman Neil Wilson and chief Steve Rosich noted plans to host crowds of 11,500 for some or all of the four-day carnival, a notable scale back from initial hopes of 60,000 punters a day.
Premier Dan Andrews’ road map released last week was hardly the beacon of hope the club was looking for, setting out modelling that the 80 per cent double-dosed threshold would be reached three days after the Melbourne Cup.
A tragedy for sure, but it is the board’s insistence to rattle the tins that has rubbed certain members the wrong way.
You see, along with the update on racing, there was yet another reminder for members to renew, along with what they described as a “make good” provision given that most were unlikely to get a look-in for trackside access during Cup week.
Members could elect to receive a 50 per cent rebate on their subscriptions for use in its premises, a 30 per cent cash refund or, as was the default, elect to “pledge their membership” to the club’s coffers.
“The requirement of maintaining Flemington as Australia’s premier racecourse continues as we navigate the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions and racing without members and patrons in attendance on course,” the club wrote.
“A pledge of your membership ‘make good’ would be greatly appreciated and valued by the club. Your pledge will be formally acknowledged and will make a significant contribution to the future sustainability of the club.”
While the financial position of the VRC is undoubtedly under pressure, the move has only solidified growing discontent in the member base, with murmurings perhaps a “make good” on certain board members might be on the cards.
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Silk signs off
He may be the super sector’s most distinguishable figure, but as AustralianSuper chief Ian Silksigns off on his final day at the helm on Thursday it is set be quite the low-key affair.
What else do you expect from the lifelong union man?
Margin Call hears there’ll be no pomp or ceremony, not even a handshake from chairman Don Russell (thanks to Covid) with nothing more than a Zoom meeting scheduled to commemorate the occasion.
After 15 years at the firm, and growing the fund’s assets to more than $235bn, you’d hope Silk might be in line for a watch or a plaque at least – but with rising scrutiny on industry fund spending, as evidenced at his final grilling before Tim Wilson’s economics committee earlier this month, he’ll be lucky to score even get a signed novelty farewell card.
The veteran chief, who owns a modest two-bed apartment in East Melbourne, passes the torch to his chief risk officer Paul Schroder, already well entrenched in the firm and the man charged with the lofty task of helping the fund reach $500bn.
Silk’s next move, meanwhile, is still up in the air, his union contacts undoubtedly lining up to get a piece of that trademark moustache.
As Margin Call noted at the announcement of his exit, word on the street is the 64-year-old hasn’t ruled out another chief executive gig.
After the 15 years he’s just had, best give him a few weeks off first.
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