Malcolm Turnbull ‘approval’ a weighty matter for Shuquan Liu

Illustration: Rod Clement.

It’s been a big week for Shuquan Liu, the practitioner of Chinese medicine who shot to prominence for his role in Malcolm Turnbull’s striking weight loss.

A few years after Dr Liu began applying his ancient Chinese techniques, Turnbull was Prime Minister. A trim one, too.

ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui/The Australian.

So it’s understandable that Dr Liu has made some fuss about his most famous patient as he launched a new clinic in Brisbane this week.

It’s also understandable that, however flattered the boss may have been, the PM’s office has since asked the good doctor’s people to please refrain from saying the “101 Wellbeing Program” has the “Prime Ministerial Seal of Approval”. We’re sure it won’t happen again.

Thankfully, Dr Liu has other high-profile fans who are much happier to spruik his good work.

For now there’s no sign of a testimonial by fellow Dr Liu ­patient, ‘Aussie’ John Symond.

But the greyhound-thin chair of corporate regulator ASIC, Greg Medcraft, has supplied a testimonial of more than 700 words on its life-changing ­powers.

Medcraft, Scott Morrison’s tough cop on the beat, says the ancient Chinese secrets helped him take the strain off his diabetes-troubled pancreas.

“I lost 18 kilos in three months!” says Medcraft in his testimonial. “For the first month, I only took herbs which reset my appetite. In total, I dropped to 64 kilos, stabilising at 69.”

Medcraft also notes that during his online due diligence, he found a lot of people had failed with the program. “It’s not for everybody,” he warns.

Just the caution you would expect of someone professionally wary of snake-oil salesmen.

Headline act

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was much happier to associate himself with a new product by Chris Mitchell, this paper’s former editor-in-chief.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and former editor-in-chief of The Australian Chris Mitchell. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas.

The PM launched Mitchell’s much discussed book Making Headlines yesterday in the Jubilee Room of NSW Parliament — a spot where the younger ­Turnbull used to study law while he was also working as a journalist. And he was full of praise for the “crisp plain English account of the dynamics of politics and the media in Australia”.

Turnbull also told one of his favourite stories for these occasions — the time the then editor of The Sunday Times, Harold Evans, sent Turnbull a note to call on him. Evans had been impressed by Turnbull’s performance at a university debate at Oxford. “It was like getting a summons from God,” recalled the PM.

Evans tried — unsuccessfully — to talk Turnbull out of his legal studies and on to his paper.

“He told me I should drop my legal studies immediately. He said: ‘If you persevere with them, you will be bored out of your wits. You could end up becoming a judge’, and he shuddered.

“And then he shuddered again and he said: ‘Or worse still, you could become a politician.’ Well at least I avoided the bench.”

Turnbull happened to bump into the now 88-year-old Evans and partner Tina Brown, another esteemed editor, on his recent trip to New York.

Considering the delicacies of the subject, the PM yesterday kept away from “the very frank assessments” about a number of his predecessors as prime minister: “It is better that it is Chris Mitchell who’s making the headlines today, not me.”

Dishing out thanks

The author Mitchell, noticeably thinner than in his editing days, could now almost pass asa Shuquan Liu patient himself.

With his book selling well, and the PM launching it, Mitchell was in a gracious mood — thanking the Murdoch family, his publisher MUP’s Louise Adler, his family, friends and former colleagues.

“I’m also eternally thankful to Joe Aston and Bryce Corbett for the publicity.”

As well as thanking the PM for launching the book, Mitchell thanked Turnbull “for giving me feedback about my book — weeks before it was released.” There you go.

Smith flies in

Civic-minded millionaire Dick Smith was also along, as a guest of Mitchell, and was determined not to miss his opportunity to get in the ear of the PM.

Civic-minded millionaire Dick Smith.

First he asked Turnbull — who you could forgive for feeling a touch ambushed — why his government had awarded a $50 billion contract for a diesel-fuelled submarine to French company DCNS, which specialises in nuclear submarines.

Smith, along with businessmen including John Singleton, took out an ad in this paper on that very subject a fortnight ago that suggested the public had been conned.

“He wouldn’t answer me,” Smith told us after the submarine chat. Smith also noted — in the PM’s defence — that perhaps it wasn’t the perfect venue for the exchange.

Smith managed to slip in a second item on the agenda of his impromptu PM summit.

In November 1919, prime minister Billy Hughes personally came up with the idea of a £10,000 prize for the first aircraft to fly from England to Darwin. It was a competition to promote technology and aviation that was a crucial development in long-distance flying. Smith wants the PM to champion a similar scheme to mark the 100-year anniversary of the project.

“It was an innovation by an Australian prime minister,” Smith proudly told us.

And he wants the 2019 version to be for electrically powered aircraft — just the thing for our innovative leader.

The PM, you won’t be surprised to hear, didn’t commit to the project yesterday on the fringes of the book launch. Might be one to follow up.

Bragg’s exit

The Financial Services Council’s director of policy Andrew Bragg is leaving the wealth management industry’s association. He’s been there since 2009, working through the John Brogden years and into the Sally Loane-era.

Bragg has made no secret of his political ambitions. He just missed out on Liberal preselection for the seat of Murray at the 2016 election.

No doubt his next job will be selected with a future, successful tilt in mind.

In the Pourhouse

One Nation senator Pauline Hanson’s register of interests were released yesterday.

One Nation senator Pauline Hanson. Picture: Kym Smith.

So now we know that Hanson, her party’s leader, owns shares in John Guscic’s travel agent Webjet and Craig Meller’s financial giant AMP.

Hanson banks with both Michael Cameron’s Suncorp and CBA, whose boss Ian Narev will be grilled by her lower house peers on Tuesday.

She’s also got two houses in Coleyville, in the southeast of Queensland, an interest in a Gold Coast apartment her son Adam lives in, and an “investment property commercial” in Maitland, in NSW’s Lower Hunter, better known to locals as The Pourhouse Craft Beer Bar.