On the house

Christian Porter took 17 months to declare the sale of an investment property, a blunder his office blamed on an ‘administrative oversight’.

Christian Porter.

Christian Porter took 17 months to declare the sale of an investment property, a blunder his office has blamed on an “administrative oversight”.

As part of the conscious uncoupling between Porter and his second wife, Jennifer, the Wembley townhouse was offloaded for $662,000 in February 2020, yet the Industry Minister failed to update his parliamentary interests until last week. It was only when Strewth started asking questions that his office clarified the error.

“An administrative oversight meant the sale of the property was notified by the minister as part of his ministerial disclosure but not deleted on the parliamentary register in the time period it should have been,” a spokesman said. “The property was an investment property previously held jointly by Mr Porter and his ex-wife.”

Strewth understands that after the April 2020 settlement, Porter advised Scott Morrison about the divestment but neglected to inform the Clerk at the Register of Members’ Interests. The official paperwork noting the sale is date stamped July 7, 2021.

Porter made a $37,000 loss on the Wembley investment, unloading it, and a Bank West mortgage, for $662,000. The two-bedroom, two-storey townhouse in Perth’s western suburbs was purchased for $699,000 in April 2016, and rented out from January 2018, until its sale.

It’s not the only change the pair has made to their property portfolio since their split. The couple announced their decision to separate after 13 years in a joint statement in January last year. “We are, and always will be, a close and loving family,” it said.

A month later, the then attorney-general discharged his Kingston residence in the ACT, and the Goldfields Money mortgage that went with it.

The estranged couple then nabbed a three-bedder in the Perth beachside suburb of Swanbourne for $1.315m in June 2020, taking out a mortgage with ANZ … quite the coup given the desirable location last changed hands for $1.4m in 2012, but not enough to make up for the Wembley loss. Located in Liberal MP Celia Hammond’s seat of Curtain, the Swanbourne home is used by Porter’s former spouse and two children. He lives in the Yanchep family home, a four-bedder purchased in 2012 for $670,000, 50 minutes’ north of Perth in his Pearce electorate.

After a high-profile defamation battle with the ABC, the 51-year-old, one-time Cleo bachelor of the year finalist confirmed his new romance with Sydney criminal lawyer Karen Espiner last month. The 34-year-old co-founder of Younes + Espiner Lawyers plans to open up shop in Canberra so she and her cabinet beau can continue to share their love of sour worms … during sitting weeks at least.

Christian Porter and Barnaby Joyce.

Tribe has spoken

A two-time runner-up from Australian Survivor has been preselected by the Victorian Liberals for the federal electorate of Dunkley. How apt!

Criminal barrister Sharn Coombes beat former MP Chris Crewther at the fire challenge on Saturday, 111 votes to 83. Strewth understands Coombes currently doesn’t reside in the southeast Melbourne seat but plans to relocate soon.

Shane Gould, Sharn Coombes and Shonee Fairfax on Australian Survivor.

After a long career as a crown prosecutor, followed by a stint in private practice and second-place titles in the 2018 and 2020 reality TV series, the 40-something decided to throw her buff in the political ring.

Dunkley was in Liberal hands from 1996 to 2019, when it was lost by one-term wonder Crewther, and is top of the Coalition’s win-back list for the next election. It is currently held on a margin of 2.7 per cent by Labor MP Peta Murphy, who is living with terminal breast cancer.

Josh Frydenberg congratulated Coombes on her win, saying he looked forward to joining her on the campaign trail.

Looking forward to joining @CoombesSharn on the campaign trail after she was endorsed by @LiberalVictoria delegates this afternoon.

Sharn’s professional background will help deliver better outcomes for Dunkley. pic.twitter.com/Gqkhg3fQgq

— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) July 10, 2021

Meanwhile in NSW, two former Liberal staffers have ditched politics for high definition romance. Energy Minister Matt Kean’s former communications director Jessica Jones is vying for country affections on Farmer Wants a Wife, and former electorate officer Lachlan Mansel is looking for love on Beauty and the Geek. It sounds like the makings of a new hit show — From Parliament House to Searching for a Spouse!

The Cough

Here’s an idea from comedian Vidya Rajan: “Remake The Slap but with an illegal super spreader party set in a beachside suburb, the fallout from which will tear this group of affluent friends apart.”

Sounds more compelling than the Arm Yourself campaign, launched sans milkshake on Sunday and labelled “very weak” by Grim Reaper creator Siimon Reynolds.

“It will be very difficult for Shaun Micallef to send this ad up,” Anthony Albanese told Insiders. (It’s worth noting that on Instagram, #ArmYourself is almost exclusively American pro-gun propaganda.)

Hours later, the government released a graphic ad just for Greater Sydney, which appears to show a woman under 40 — an age group not eligible for a vaccine — struggling to breathe in hospital.

Fingers crossed that NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant’s glasses breaking mid-press conference isn’t an omen for what’s to come.

Dr Kerry Chant.

The federal Opposition Leader has so far managed to avoid the stay-at -home orders currently inflicted on his Sydney electorate by sojourning in the Sunshine State.

Albanese kept mum when asked what vaccination level the population needed to reach to avoid future lockdowns. “Well, I think my view and the view of politicians when it comes to health advice shouldn’t matter,” he said. “I think it is a good idea to leave the health advice to health experts. I don’t have ‘doctor’ at the front of my name and I will leave it to the doctors to give that advice.” Such as … Dr Jim Chalmers?

WARNING: Here is the GRAPHIC Australian Government #COVID19 ad to run in Sydney. #COVID19nswpic.twitter.com/6IXgBy7miw

— Karen Barlow (@KJBar) July 11, 2021

It’s getting ugg-ly

Nick Xenophon is seriously considering a second tilt at the Canberra Bubble™ … all because of ugg boots. There’s no business like shoe business!

The former senator is one of the lawyers representing Eddie Oygur in his battle against US clothing conglomerate Decker, which owns the trademark for the sheepskin shoes.

Xenophon, who said he’s being been paid in uggs, is incensed by Attorney-General Michaela Cash’s “couldn’t give a stuff attitude”. He wants the government to make a direct plea to the US Supreme Court and provide $500,000 in legal funding.

“For the last five years, Eddie has been standing up for Australia to bring the ugg back home, and with it thousands of jobs,” he said. “This should be a no-brainer. Are our political leaders so out of touch they can’t see the benefits of rolling their sleeves up and getting involved?”

Worse comes to worse, Oygur could switch back to the original name used by Frank Mortel, of Mortels Sheepskin Factory, in 1958 — “ugly boots”.

Nick Xenophon.

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