Registrar your interest

For an institution that’s often criticised as a dumping ground for cronies, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal doesn’t appear to be interested in changing its spots.

Justice David Thomas.

For an institution that’s often criticised as a dumping ground for cronies, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal doesn’t appear to be interested in changing its spots.

Brisbane-based Federal Court judge and AAT president David Thomas has asked his deputy presidents to write letters of support for besieged registrar Sian Leathem, according to multiple sources, despite a disastrous performance at Senate estimates and little interest from her colleagues.

When Strewth asked the AAT, a spokeswoman said Thomas “has not approached deputy presidents to ask them to write unsolicited letters of support” for Leathem. What about solicited?

After seven years at the high-volume tribunal, Leathem’s $415k-plus package is set to expire in April.

Many AAT members were awaiting an invitation to her farewell drinks after the tribunal confirmed a search committee was looking far and wide for a new registrar.

“The President is conducting an advertised merit selection process to inform his recommendation to the Governor-General for the appointment,” an AAT spokeswoman said in September. “The position has been advertised in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.”

Better luck next time Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Hobart and Darwin!

The registrar is appointed by Governor-General David Hurley on the nomination of Thomas, but the president appears to be back on board the Leathem train.

Even after the registrar was labelled “argumentative” by Liberal senator Sarah Henderson and warned about misleading the Senate by Labor’s Kim Carr, during her most recent appearance alongside Attorney-General Michaelia Cash in late October.

Michaelia Cash.

Leathem came under attack over written answers the AAT provided the committee concerning how it responded to questions on notice.

Two answers were amended in Christian Porter’s office following a phone conversation between the registrar and the then attorney-general’s senior adviser in late 2020. They were provided to the Senate without being finalised by the AAT, even though the tribunal claimed it was responsible for the answers. Leathem apologised for the “stuff up”, claiming she was moving from Sydney to Brisbane at the time.

Whew! If it was Western Australia, she would have no chance to keep her job.

Strewth’s sources sayLeathem’s most recent reappointment surprised her colleagues, given former High Court judge Ian Callinan concluded in his scathing 2018 review: “With only a few exceptions, no member, past or present, was entirely satisfied with the role or support of the registry. There was a strong and pervasive view of a large majority that the registry was intrusive, or seeking to be so, upon the role of members.”

Watch this space.

Consciously uncouple

Here at Strewth, we often find ourselves decoding the jargon of mandarins.

The latest spin cycle comes care of the Department of Parliamentary Services secretary Rob Stefanic. In an all-staff email sent at 5:21pm last Thursday, Stefanic outlined his “organisational realignment”, scheduled to start on January 4.

Or as one staff member bleakly summarised it: “Different deckchairs, same Titanic.”

At least six DPS branches are being “disbanded”, with a handful of others “reshaped” or “relocated” or “merged”.

There’s a new WH&S section to implement “relevant recommendations” from Kate Jenkins’s review, and a new legal and conduct section to house a “dedicated bullying, harassment and discrimination officer”. Better late than never.

Buried at the bottom of the 1400-word email, under “Other information”, was this brutal piece of bureaucratic speak: “As a result of the change, 14 positions have been identified as excess to requirements and we will work with those affected staff to provide them with all necessary support.”

Merry Christmas, here’s a Centrelink form.

Rob Stefanic.

Rebel, rebel

If you needed a reminder that there’s one rule for them and another one for us, look no further than Rebel Wilson.

The 41-year-old was given permission to skip NSW’s mandatory 72-hour quarantine when she flew in from the US earlier this week.

Under current Omicron rules, fully vaccinated international arrivals must isolate at home or in a hotel for three days.

However, the star of Fat Pizza was snapped by the Daily Mail in a public park on Monday afternoon, hours after touching down in Sydney.

Rebel Wilson.

Strewth understands NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard granted the exemption so Wilson could walk the red carpet at the AACTA Awards at the Opera House on Wednesday afternoon. For … compassionate reasons?

NSW Health provided this helpful statement: “NSW Health does not comment on individual cases. However, when exemption requests are reviewed and granted … strict conditions such as testing and vaccination requirements are imposed to ensure any risk to public health is minimised.”

Wilson wasn’t the only FIFO actor to attend the AACTA ceremony. Among the A-list crowd was Succession star Sarah Snook,mentalist Simon Baker andKiwi director Taika Waititi. Did they score exemptions too?

Sarah Snook and Simon Baker.

Perrotête-à-tête

Anyone watching the National Press Club address by Dominic Perrottet could be forgiven for thinking they’d stumbled into a late night comedy club.

The NSW Premier wowed the crowd – including four of his male ministers, AIG chief Innes Willox, BCA boss Jennifer Westacott and postie turned Toll Global Express chief Christine Holgate – with a series of one liners.

Dominic Perrottet.

His opening gag: “The Victorian comedian Sammy J put it recently, ‘Even my child knows the name of the Tasmanian Premier. Hasn’t she suffered enough?’ ”

Then there was this on the GST: “Now I might not have handled that situation in the most diplomatic way, calling him ‘Mark McGollum’, but sometimes you need a bit of colour to draw attention to the travesty.”

His millennial burn on the White Bay Power Station eyesore?

“It should sit as a testament to remind us every single day of what poor architecture can do and maybe that has a place in our city so we never make those mistakes again.”

And the kicker? “I have a constructive relationship with my counterparts in Canberra” but … “I don’t see whatever colour is in Canberra is making an ounce of difference.” See ya Scott?

Cereal killer

Trigger warning (for anyone eating breakfast)!

State Daddy O's.

A Sandgroper is selling a limited edition line of Mark McGowan-themed cereal called “State Daddy O’s”.

Mark Wong, a marketing manager at Dilate Digital, is flogging the boxes (filled with fruit loops) for $25 on Facebook Marketplace.

There’s a kebab maze on the back that says: “C’mon kids! Help WA escape the hard border and rejoin the world.”

Is it too late for WA-xit?

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