Believe in your selfie, Andrew

Andrew Charlton and Kevin Rudd.

Kevin Rudd appears to have met his selfie match in Andrew Charlton. The pair teamed up for a half-hour photo shoot with fans after an Eid event on Monday, posing at Parramatta Oval for what seemed to be thousands of shots. Charlton cut his wonky teeth as a senior economics adviser to Rudd during the GFC, and appears to be adopting the former prime minister’s populist approach to campaigning. “Andrew loves selfies,” one Labor staffer was overheard uttering, as they watched on. A quick audit of the old Knox grammarian’s Instagram account backs up that claim. (Diary’s personal favourite was a recent snap of a kid called Akira who apparently saw him doorknocking in Westmead and offered him a chocolate Cornetto.) Charlton’s Liberal competition, fellow blow-in by the name of Maria Kovacic, also got by with a little help from a PM. Scott Morrison was mobbed by children as he handed out lolly bags. It was the PM’s second visit in two days, which shows just how serious the Liberals are about taking the marginal western Sydney seat off Labor. The crowd was equally as keen on Kevin07, with one voter saying he was “heartbroken” that the 64-year-old was not given a fair shake of the sauce bottle (read: time behind the microphone). Oh well, at least he got a handshake from the man who currently has his old job. Luckily … neither went the full Mark Latham.

The handshake.

Bunny boiler

Anthony Albanese found himself in Brisbane, marching alongside Annastacia Palaszczuk at a May Day rally while sporting a South Sydney Rabbitohs hat. A bold tactic in enemy territory; inflaming voters a few days before the sixth-place Bunnies face off against the ninth-place Broncos at Sydney’s Accor Stadium. Over to the 39 NRL “experts” on tips.com.au, where Albo is running dead last after eight rounds of footy. He’s sitting on 37 points, nine spots behind Sharks turncoat ScoMo on 40. (For those playing along at home, Cronulla doesn’t play Souths until July.) It’s no surprise that 2GB shock jock Ray Hadley tops the table on 52 points. Compare Albo’s effort to the hot streak by Bombers fan Dan Andrews in 2020, when the Vic Premier led the AFL tipping comp for the majority of the state’s locky d – a feat one of Diary’s sporting sources put down to the old paradox: the less attention you give to the games, the better you go.

Grapes of wrath

Here’s a tip for all those public servants using caretaker mode as a convenient cover for a long lunch. Capital Wine Co has created a “chardonnay for Ukraine” called Molotov Wines. 20 per cent from every sale will be donated to humanitarian and medical charities working in the war zone, including Caritas Internationalis. Made from Murrabateman grapes, each bottle comes with an “in case of emergency” recipe to create a molotov cocktail. The chardy is currently being stocked at Italian Brothers – John-Paul Romano’s eatery, which describes itself as “Manuka’s most private, elusive and opulent bar, cafe and deli … where deals are done”– a short stroll from the Finance Department and Russian embassy.

Molotov Wines.