Clive on the line

THE PUP might be popping but Clive Palmer still had a win yesterday.

THE PUP might be popping but Clive Palmer still had a win yesterday. The afternoon show on ABC 612 in Brisbane is running “guess the G20 world leaders” quizzes. Yesterday’s clues were: “This world leader married a famous folk singer and has a daughter who studied at Harvard University. This world leader studied chemical engineering in the 1970s and also claims a law doctorate. This world leader loves Hollywood films including Saving Private Ryan. This world leader was 15 when his father, a communist revolutionary, went to prison.” Caller Clive nailed it: China’s Xi Jinping. Palmer — for it was him — was rewarded for his efforts with a BBC nature documentary DVD, Snow Leopard: Beyond the Myths. Strewth was sure he’d go for the Military Aircraft of the 20th Century option, but perhaps he’s already got it.

Surely no coincidence

PALMER was a busy man yesterday. He issued two media releases within 11 minutes, slapping down Jacqui Lambie and purging her chief of staff and media minder Rob Messenger from his party. Lambie hit back a few hours later with a “Ya boo sucks” statement of her own. “I want a non-political office and Mr Palmer’s confirmation that Mr Messenger is no longer a member of the Palmer United Party saves him the trouble of resigning,” she defiantly claimed. But what really stood out was the absence of the spelling errors or grammatical blunders that have characterised her previous media releases. Palmer boots Messenger from PUP, then there’s a huge improvement in his grammar and spelling. Coincidence? Strewth suspects not.

A chat of her own

A SPECIAL shout-out to Labor health spokeswoman Catherine King, who yesterday issued a transcript of a doorstop that featured no questions from journalists and nothing but King apparently talking to herself. It was a fascinating document, not so much for its content but all the philosophical questions it raises of the “If a tree falls in the forest” kind.

Ticky beefs it up

SYDNEY may have missed out on the G20, but yesterday it hosted the F20 food summit, emceed by ABC The Business presenter Ticky Fullerton. Fullerton began proceedings by announcing in her plum Pommy public school accent that because she had presented Landline, the audience had “a farming girl on your side”. As she showed when introducing keynote speaker Donald McGauchie, one of the most respected agriculturalists and businessmen in the country. Ticky told the tale of the young bull and the older bull, standing on a hill overlooking “a paddock of beautiful young, hot heifers”. “The younger bull said to the older bull, ‘Why don’t we run down and jump one of those heifers?’ The older bull said, ‘Why don’t we walk down and jump the lot?’ ” Fullerton continued, “Strategy is a big thing in Donald McGauchie’s world.” The man himself then took to the stage saying that was one of the most extraordinary introductions he’d had in his career. “I am not sure what it means to myself, except that I’m old,” McGauchie added.

Just a detail

ALSO in Sydney yesterday was the official launch of former Talking Head David Byrne’s musical Here Lies Love, a highlight of next year’s Vivid festival. Such was the excitement that NSW Minister for Regional Tourism John Barilaro referred to the show as Here Lives Love — “It’s a bit of a tongue-twister” — throughout his speech. Producer Rodney Rigby did no better, singing the praises of Vivid by saying that more than 1.4 people had attended last year. Byrne, who spoke eloquently, will be hoping that he can drag the festival into double figures when the show opens next May.

Dud root gong beckons

MORE plaudits may be headed Richard Flanagan’s way. The Tasmanian author has been shortlisted for the prestigious Bad Sex Awards, the prize established by Auberon Waugh “with the aim of gently dissuading authors and publishers from including unconvincing, perfunctory, embarrassing or redundant passages of a sexual nature in otherwise sound literary novels”. The Booker winner is most certainly in good company. Other nominees include Pulitzer winner Michael Cunningham, fellow Booker honoree Ben Okri and the acclaimed Haruki Murakami.

Summit for everyone

BACK to the G20. The summit comes with more add-ons than any Demtel product. There’s the B20 for business, the C20 for civil society, the L20 for workers, T20 for thinkers and the Y20 for yoof. Then there’s the semi-official events, such as the F20 we mentioned earlier and the H20 for health professionals. And to clean up afterwards, Strewth supposes, there’s Glen 20.

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