Cash me outside … at Senate estimates
Scott Morrison has every confidence in Michaelia Cash as she fills in as A-G. But history tells us to expect some fancy footwork.
“I can turn to another great woman in my cabinet, Michaelia Cash, a very accomplished lawyer in her own right, and a former industrial relations minister,” ScoMo said, before donning an apron to make pasta with apprentice chefs at Sydney’s Doltone House.
Hang on — what about Senate estimates? Cash has previously skipped sessions when the questions get too tough, according to Strewth’s spies, even if she’s scheduled to represent the A-G or Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.
Take October 21, 2019. It was AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw’s first appearance in front of legal and constitutional affairs estimates and Cash was listed in the daily program. Yet Marise Payne appeared in her place. Where was Cash? Doing a photo shoot at Master Builders ACT, which she posted to Instagram. The media wasn’t invited.
“Senator Cash is not the Minister for Home Affairs,” her office told Strewth when we came knocking. “It is commonplace for cabinet ministers to rearrange their representing portfolios when there are clashes in their respective diaries.”
In that case, there must have also been “clashes” in October 2018 and February 2019, when Linda Reynolds replaced Cash in the hot seat. That’s obviously not an option for estimates later this month, as the Defence Minister is on medical leave until early April. Will we see a return of Cash’s whiteboard? Or perhaps another round of threats to name “every young woman” working for Labor “about which rumours in this place abound”. That curry for the country is probably too spicy in this political climate.
“This Liberal government is a joke,” Labor senator Kristina Keneally told Strewth. “The Home Affairs merry-go-round in estimates must stop. Cash, Reynolds, Payne — they just keep substituting one in for the other, depending on which one of them is currently in it up to their eyeballs in a scandal. Who knows who might turn up to represent Home Affairs this time? It just might have gotten so bad that they’ll send in Richard Colbeck.” Surely not — there’s far too many numbers! Keneally thinks Morrison should “show some leadership here: “It’s Home Affairs after all, nothing short of our national security is at stake”.
Farcical scenes at Parliament House, as security guards wheel out a whiteboard to stop media filming Michaelia Cash arriving at a #estimates committee hearing pic.twitter.com/YZXC7VxE6S
— ABC Politics (@politicsabc) March 1, 2018
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Problem with men
Trigger warning for pearl-clutchers! Former Liberal deputy Julie Bishop offered this graphic grab to ABC’s 7:30.
Host Leigh Sales: “The former Liberal minister Sharman Stone said that when you were in politics, a group of male politicians who called themselves the ‘swinging dicks’ sought to block your career aspirations. Were you aware of this at the time? Does it strike you as credible? What did you make of it?”
Bishop: “Well, actually, I believe ‘big swinging dicks’ so there was obviously an overexcited imagination on the part of some, I would suggest. Look nobody self-identified to me, thank goodness for that.”
Former Liberal minister @SharmanStone recently said a group of male politicians who called themselves the 'swinging dicks' sought to block @HonJulieBishop's career aspirations: "If their ambition was to thwart my aspirations, then they failed." #auspol#abc730pic.twitter.com/ON5zC8xApH
— abc730 (@abc730) March 8, 2021
The honourable members? Morrison,Dutton, Greg Hunt, Steven Ciobo, Michael Keenan, Christopher Pyne, Jamie Briggs, Michael Ronaldson and Mathias Cormann were all named by this newspaper as being involved, in a story back in 2009. When asked about the phallic group on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said: “I would agree with Julie Bishop that, if that were the case, they weren’t very successful.”
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We are one
The fruits of Andrew Bragg’s lockdown labour are about to hit the printers.
After recovering from COVID-19, the Liberal senator penned 50,000 words on Indigenous recognition. Just in time for Victoria’s new “truth-telling” commission!
Bragg was tight-lipped when contacted by Strewth about the TBC title. We hear it might be a lyric from the ABC’s ads, aka reconciliation song I Am Australia by Dobe Newton (The Bushwackers) and Bruce Woodley (The Seekers).
One thing we can confirm is the cover artwork was provided by Kansu Capital, a business run by former Liberal MP Warwick Smith. Smith said Bragg should be congratulated for the tome, which is set to be published by the Australian Catholic University’s Kapunda Press in May. A change from his last book, Bad Eggs, which focused on the sexy topic of superannuation.
Bragg is one of the leading voices for constitutional recognition in the Coalition and wants the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander flags permanently displayed in parliament. Believe it or not, the first time the Aboriginal flag appeared on the House of Reps floor was in September last year. Labor MP Mark Dreyfusmade history when he appeared via video link with the flag behind him, during Danistan’s Lockdown 2: Electric Boogaloo. We’re told Dreyfus was adamant both the Aboriginal and Australian flags appear in shot — despite Speaker Tony Smith’sdecree that only blank or Hansard book backgrounds were allowed — when he dialled in from his Mordialloc office.
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Unrepresentative swill
Should the ACT have more senators? Quizzed about the rising population in the Canberra Bubble™ during a Q&A by think tank The Australia Institute, Senate president Scott Ryan said “the parliament could grant more senators to the ACT” but “I doubt we’ll ever see the ACT treated like one of the original states”.
The Victorian Liberal senator said he “doesn’t really have a strong argument against” increasing the Territory’s allotment. The 431k Canberrans (including Ryan, who recently sold his Carlton North resident and relocated to das capital) are represented by two senators while 540k Taswegians get 12 upper house seats.
Ryan’s new paperback, Challenging Politics, is being launched by Monash University Press on Thursday as part of their “in the national interest” series. Ryan said one of the changes he ’s noticed over the past decade is that people don’t debate on facts.
“There’s a lot more imputing of motives. And there’s a lot more saying ‘You won’t do this because of something’, which is really an excuse for people to not listen to you. I’m not claiming I’m perfect on this — no politician has a halo,” he admitted.
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Who let the dogs out?
Joe Biden has a major problem. The American President’s german shepherds have been banished from the Oval Pawffice after a “biting incident” with security, according to CNN. A “person familiar with the dogs’ schedule” confirmed 13-year-old Champ and three-year-old Major were back at the Biden home in Delaware. How pupsetting!
strewth@theaustralian.com.au
Libs should be-Ware what they say about JWH
Could things get any worse for the Liberals in Hughes? Well, strap in. Diary can reveal that Liberal candidate Jenny Ware once called John Winston Howard ‘out of touch’.
Believe in your selfie, Andrew
Kevin Rudd appears to have met his selfie match in Andrew Charlton.
Scott Morrison isn’t sure when Christian Porter will be back, but the Prime Minister has “absolute confidence” Michaelia Cash can fill the Attorney-General’s shoes.