Mornington Peninsula beachgoers on the warpath

Cartoon: Peter Nicholson.

It’s the question gripping the Mornington Peninsula: who will pay to fix the footpath out the back of the humble holiday abode of one of Australia’s richest families, the Libermans?

If the local council has its way, Victorian taxpayers might have to help meet the bill, estimated at more than $100,000.

The Beleura Cliff Path, which nips into the rear of the Liberman block, is popular with locals traipsing to the beach.

But after a dramatic landslip in November 2013, Mornington shire council closed the path — “for repairs”.

Locals claim stormwater runoff from the house caused the collapse by hollowing out the path. In February, the Libermans moved their outlet further down the cliff to stop it happening again. But the shire says the path remains closed and it hasn’t yet figured out how to make permanent repairs.

A possible source of cash is a special levy on nearby residents.

Next door to the philanthropic Libermans are the duty free Mandie clan, and other neighbours include wholesale butcher Graeme Gathercole, Bevington Group founder Tom Bevington and former UBS analyst Fleur Grose, now at Owen Hegarty’s EMR Capital.

Rather than wait, locals have torn down a fence blocking the path and continue to use it, picking gingerly around the hole.

Murdoch lunch

It was standing room only at eastern suburbs eatery Catalina’s yesterday, but it wasn’t the usual Tuesday lunch crowd. News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch was hosting tables with CEOs, advertising clients, directors and a smattering of News executives.

Among those spotted were former Spanish PM Jose Maria Aznar, who is on the News Corp board, along with Metcash chair Peter Barnes. Retailer Gerry Harvey and Harvey Norman CEO Katie Page were at the head table with Rupert. News CEO Robert Thomson, an Essendon tragic, was strategically placed next to AFL chairman Gill McLachlan.

Rupert also praised NSW Premier Mike Baird, who was along for lunch, where guests enjoyed an entree of marron or pork belly and a main of kingfish or beef.

Notably the week will also see the first News Corp board meeting in Australia since the 2013 demerger.

Lachlan Murdoch and his wife Sarah were also at Catalina’s along with an all-star cast from corporate Australia that included Commonwealth Bank chief Ian Narev, who will report the bank’s full-year profit today. Others included Qantas chief Alan Joyce and former Telstra chief David Thodey, who has just been appointed new chair of the CSIRO.

Adding to the list of sports heavyhitters were AFL chair Mike Fitzpatrick, soccer boss David Gallop, NRL boss Dave Smith — fresh from his killer $925 million broadcast rights deal with Nine — and rugby union chief Bill Pulver.

Foxtel’s Richard Freudenstein and Fox Sports’ Patrick Delany were there, as was Herald & Weekly Times chair Penny Fowler, who is the daughter of Janet Calvert-Jones, along with News editorial executives including Chris Mitchell, Clive Mathieson, and Weekend Australian editor Michelle Gunn.

Spot the fires

The timing couldn’t be better (or worse) for the delegation of heavy hitting execs in Sydney this week from State Grid of China, in town to lobby towards a joint bid with Nick Moore’s Macquarie for Mike Baird’s $9 billion TransGrid privatisation.

The group, led by the head of State Grid’s overseas investment arm, Zhu Guangchao, arrived to a new spot fire — news that Australia’s security agencies were closely monitoring a Chinese-backed bid for TransGrid and that the NSW government had been discussing its concerns with FIRB. State Grid, which is bidding with MacBank’s Macquarie Infrastrucrure and Real Assets vehicle, is also mired in controversy over its role as a major shareholder of locally listed AusNet and probity concerns over voting at the company’s AGM last month.

That spot fire is the subject of an informal ASIC probe.

Pizza with big cheese

Punters dialling a Domino’s from the listed pizza-maker’s Hamilton store in Brisvegas recently got more than a family size with the lot when big cheese Don Meij played delivery boy.

Meij, who started at Domino’s as a delivery boy, wanted a fresh taste of what life was like for his staff and direct feedback from the hordes who eat his takeaway.

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