Hart’s departure could not be coming at a worse time for the Queensland government or its Premier, as there are growing suggestions Palaszczuk’s personal support is crumbling in the Labor party room, as reported on this paper’s front page on Saturday.
Hart had been assigned to act as the media spinner to help with one of Palaszczuk’s biggest headaches, troubled Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey, who has seldom been off the front pages of Brisbane papers recently.
But Hart’s exit comes just weeks after revelations that a press release was knowingly changed by Bailey’s office – in what is understood to have been consultation with the Premier’s office – to hide a $2.4bn cost blowout on a train manufacturing program proudly badged as “Queensland-made”.
A press release signed off by both Bailey and Palaszczuk nearly two months ago revealed that the cost of the 65 trains being built in the central Queensland town of Maryborough would be $7.1bn. But it subsequently transpired that a Palaszczuk government official had privately suggested that the real cost of the trains of $9.5bn be altered to the lower figure.
Bailey apologised, saying that it was a “stuff-up”, and that as the relevant minister he took responsibility. However, despite calls for his sacking from many in the media – and even the CFMEU Queensland branch – he has remained as Transport Minister.
Sources close to Hart have told Diary that he left the job earlier this month after being “disgusted” with the way the fiasco was handled. Last Monday, he took up a new job as senior reporter for the Gold Coast Bulletin.
Diary understands that Hart’s short stint within the Palaszczuk spin unit (which, incidentally, has poached virtually the entire Nine Brisbane newsroom, including senior figures Lane Calcutt, Cullen Robinson, Natarjsha Kramer and Shannon Marshall-McCormack by paying them big bucks) was somewhat tumultuous, with Hart constantly said to have been banging heads with the besieged minister.
We are told that Hart was particularly unimpressed with Bailey’s obsession with Twitter and his micromanaging of any media-related matters.
Bailey is proving a massive distraction for the Palaszczuk government, making the front page of Brisbane’s Courier Mail newspaper at least half a dozen times in the last six weeks.
The minister was lucky not to lose his job in 2017, when he was described by Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission as “very foolish” for using a private email account, mangocube6@yahoo.co.uk, to conduct official government business. Now, six years later, he finds himself in another headline-making story, which has forced Palaszczuk and other ministers to defend him on a near-daily basis.
When approached by Diary, Hart refused to comment. However, sources suggest that the constant criticism of Bailey within the media has created major tension among the Palaszczuk government’s high-level spin doctors.
When Palaszczuk was grilled in parliament by Opposition Leader David Crisafulli last Tuesday about misleading the public about the real $9.5bn cost of the train program, the Premier chose to ignore the massive cost blowout: “On this side of the House, we build trains in Queensland,” was her response.
Labor ad guru’s session: How to beat the Greens
The Labor Party is privately very concerned about the threat of the Greens, who are already campaigning in ALP heartland seats ahead of the next election about the shortage of rental properties for young millennial voters.
Diary understands that Labor is worried enough about the Greens to deploy Dee Madigan – regular panellist on the ABC’s advertising program Gruen, and arguably the mastermind behind Labor’s successful ad campaign that helped sweep Anthony Albanese to power in the 2022 election – to devise strategies to neutralise the Greens threat ahead of the 2025 poll.
Madigan – who has also run several state election ad campaigns for the ALP – hosted a session on the issue at the Federal Labor conference in Brisbane nine days ago. Ironically, it came at the same time that ex-Greens leader Bob Brown was picketing outside the conference on a variety of progressive issues.
Labor may have preferenced the Greens in previous elections, but concerns are rising fast in the ALP about their populist appeal to young voters.
Madigan’s session was titled ‘Reclaiming the Progressive Vote’, but it may as well have been called: How to beat the Greens. The ad guru hosted Victorian Labor state secretary Chris Ford, ex-ACTU leader Ged Kearney, Queensland Senator Anthony Chisholm, NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen and Inner West Sydney Mayor Darcy Byrne as panellists.
Joking that Labor had once referred to some Greens as “Tree Tories”, Madigan identified plenty of ways in which Labor has gone wrong in the past against the Greens threat.
For one, Madigan told delegates there was no point campaigning head-to-head on the environment and climate change, because it was playing to the rival party’s strength.
“I was working on a campaign once, and we went against the Greens: environment versus environment,” Madigan said. “It was a mistake. You actually just amplify their argument.”
The only journalist savvy enough to be present at the session was The Australian’s senior writer, Troy Bramston, who recorded the entire discussion – and reported on some of the interplay between Kearney and Chisholm on the day.
It was fascinating that Madigan made the comments in Brisbane, where the Greens wrested three federal inner-city seats from the major parties last election, including Griffith, which until 2022 was regarded as a Labor fortress because it was held for years by ex-PM Kevin Rudd.
Madigan gave some clues to Labor’s future strategy against the Greens, noting that at the most recent federal election, the party managed to take the argument back to its own strengths by campaigning on jobs. “I think federally … we managed to inoculate that at least, because we talked about it back in our frame, in terms of jobs,” she said.
Madigan also mounted a strong case to avoid tackling the Adam Bandt-led party on social media – where they are seen to be strong players – by instead having Labor establish a strong physical presence on the ground.
“I think that attending local functions and being in person is so important, because social media – as fantastic as it is – can give people a sense that they’re having a conversation with people that they’re actually not: talking in their own little bubble and getting excited about all the likes and shares,” Madigan said. “But the people liking and sharing weren’t voting for them – they were just wasting their time.”
Based on the chat, watching Madigan’s anti-Greens ad strategy for Labor unfold as the 2025 election nears will be fascinating.
Nine’s Neil Mitchell decision ‘within a fortnight’
Nine Radio is poised to make some key announcements within the next fortnight about 3AW, Melbourne’s dominant radio station, and its line-up in 2024.
The key plank will concern whether Melbourne morning radio king Neil Mitchell, who turns 72 in November, wants to go around for another year.
While Nine Radio would happily have Mitchell stay for as long as he wants, any change will ultimately come from the 3AW broadcaster himself.
At this point, senior Nine sources say he wants a less onerous routine going forward, and only renewed his lucrative contract for the morning show for six months when it came up on June 30 ahead of a possible change in 2024.
Mitchell and Nine Radio boss Tom Malone are believed to be looking at a range of options to boost his presence elsewhere – including giving his existing podcast Neil Mitchell Asks Why more promotion – and finding opportunities for him on Nine’s various platforms, including writing for the Nine papers and nine.com.au, and appearing as a regular on 3AW and flagship Nine TV shows like A Current Affair.
Mitchell’s departure from the morning shift in 2024 would create opportunities for others, including drive host Tom Elliott, who would almost certainly take over the 3AW morning shift.
In this scenario, former Seven Melbourne sports presenter Jacqui Felgate is the favourite to take over Elliott’s drive shift, ahead of Mitchell’s former producer Heidi Murphy and Nine Melbourne sports presenter Tony Jones.
Meanwhile, 3AW overnight host Tony Moclair is the slight favourite to take over the former Dee Dee Dunleavy-hosted afternoon shift at 3AW, ahead of former Geelong AFL legend and Brownlow Medal winner Jimmy Bartel. Dunleavy was surprisingly dumped from the shift in June despite strong ratings, with the slot since occupied by fill-in hosts.
Eddie McGuire best on ground at Twiggy’s bash
The sight of Eddie McGuire going wild in the front row of the moshpit next to Andrew Forrest in the deep Western Australian outback, while Jimmy Barnes hammered out Working Class Man, summed up the surreal nature of Twiggy’s 20th anniversary bash for his beloved Fortescue.
The party, at Twiggy’s Solomon iron ore mine in WA’s Pilbara, featured a decent cross section of eastern states media in very unfamiliar surrounds. There was everyone from McGuire to newspaper editors like The Daily Telegraph’s Ben English and The Sydney Morning Herald’s Bevan Shields, Sky News presenter Laura Jayes, The Australian’s Paul Garvey,Joe Hildebrand, Financial Review columnist Jennifer Hewett and The Sydney Morning Herald business columnist Elizabeth Knight.
There were also captains of industry, with the likes of Optus chief Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, former Ten CEO and Rugby Australia chair Hamish ‘The Hammer’ McLennan, and Washington-based Bondi Partners founder (and former federal treasurer) Joe Hockey.
Even The West Australian, which has been in a war of words with Twiggy over what he has seen as unfair coverage, was represented by the paper’s state political editor Caitlyn Rintoul.
Ten’s former Bachelor (and one-time rugby star), Nick Cummins, was the event’s surprise MC.
But of all the media contingent, it was hard to miss McGuire – who surely was the party MVP.
From the moment McGuire flew in on the private jet of billionaire investor Alex Waislitz, the one-time working class man was in the middle of everything, with many of Twiggy’s humble miners organising selfies with their boss and the TV star.
Whether it was punching the air with Twiggy while Barnesy belted out his greatest hits (and even AC/DC’s A Long Way to the Top), imbibing oyster bloody Marys at the bash, or copping a cold shower and tucking into the recovery breakfast after a night staying in the mine’s dongas, McGuire was loving every moment and revving up the 700-strong crowd, which was an unusual 50/50 split between Fortescue workers and VIPs.
Meanwhile, Twiggy was noticeably emotional when a couple of surprise video packages popped up. One featured ex-British PMs Boris Johnson and Tony Blair, Aussie PMs past and present, including Anthony Albanese, Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, and even KISS lead singer Gene Simmons. The other was more personal, featuring Twiggy’s family, including estranged wife Nicola.
The mining billionaire also turned up on stage at the end of Working Class Man at around 10pm (Solomon time) – just as Barnesy’s set was about to wind up – for an encore. Many others present continued to enjoy the bash’s after-party long into the wee hours of the morning. McGuire, however, was seen retiring to his donga before midnight.
Annabel Crabb cops flak for ‘humanising’ Peter Dutton
Ex-PM Scott Morrison cooking a fish curry eight years ago was one thing – but apparently Annabel Crabb’s decision to feature Peter Dutton cooking a seafood chowder on her ABC show Kitchen Cabinet was a bridge too far.
The strange outcry on social media ahead of the Dutton episode last week was so severe that it forced Crabb to take a break from her socials before the show even went to air.
Some of the extreme reactions among Crabb’s followers were outrage that she was doing so much to “humanise” Dutton, that it was “one of the most embarrassing missteps the ABC has made”, accusations of running “propaganda”, and even calls for Kitchen Cabinet not to be “renewed”. And that was before the show even went to air!
In fact, the outrage on X (formerly Twitter) and other platforms was evident for many days before the episode went to air, with many Labor stalwarts repeatedly voicing their disgust.
Finally, Crabb disclosed on her Instagram account on Monday: “I’m going to jump off socials for a bit now, as there is a lot of free character assessment flying around about what this episode is GOING to be like.”
She revealed that she had offered a slot on Kitchen Cabinet to both Dutton and PM Anthony Albanese. “Of COURSE I was always going to interview the Opposition Leader if he was amenable,” she told her 135,000 Instagram followers. “I asked both major party leaders, and of the two of them, Peter Dutton said yes. He’s the alternative PM.”
Crabb said that with Dutton, she took “the same approach I have taken in every one of the 48 episodes my team and I have made”. “I turn up and bring dessert, and I ask … questions about my host’s life,” she posted.
“Sometimes viewers like them better by the end of the show, sometimes they don’t. The important thing is that viewers decide for themselves. That’s how things roll in a democracy. I hope you watch Peter Dutton tonight.”
The episode wasn’t without its awkward moments, particularly on the voice to parliament. After Dutton confirmed that he regretted boycotting the national apology to First Nations people, Crabb asked: “Do you think that you’re at risk of kind of making the same mistake again with the voice which is facing a referendum pretty soon?”
Dutton’s response was emphatic. “This is inserting a new chapter into the Constitution. It’s a nation’s rule book. And I think if you’re going to do that, the onus is on the proposer to have the detail available. And people in our country should have the ability to air their views without being shouted down.”
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