Cher greets Gladys in Armenian at Mardi Gras

The first Mardi Gras since same-sex marriage was awash with politicians.

Malcom Turnbull with Cher, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Lucy Turnbull at the Sydney Mardi Gras.

Cher was the big star of this year’s Sydney Mardi Gras (the first since same-sex marriage was approved) and it appears she really hit it off with Gladys Berejiklian. The US pop music icon asked the NSW Premier “How are you?” in Armenian when they crossed paths at the LGBTI bonanza. Berejiklian’s parents are Armenian, as was Cher’s father. Sources close to the Premier say she is still slightly dazzled. The pair then took a snap with Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull. The PM and Cher had a 10-minute chat where Cher talked about how pleased she was about the result of last year’s postal survey. The woman behind Believe and If I Could Turn Back Time also hung out with Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, who donated $1 million of his own cash to the Yes campaign. Many other pollies attended the 40th anniversary of mardi gras, including Labor leader Bill Shorten with wife Chloe. But all eyes (when not on Cher) were on LGBTI heroes Dean Smith and Penny Wong. The Liberal senator who wrote the SSM law and Labor’s first openly gay cabinet minister looked fabulous as they marched and partied after an often horrendous, but ultimately uplifting, 2017.

Saint Cher

Cher has visited Australia before and it turns out she barracks for St Kilda. She sang at Melbourne’s legendary Palais Theatre in 1981 and she was accordingly made an honorary member of the local Aussie rules club. Here is Cher, adorned in a Saints guernsey, getting a peck on the cheek from late St Kilda great Trevor Barker.

1981. Cher whizzed into Melbourne yesterday and showed St Kilda footballers how their guernseys should be worn.Cher was made an honorary member of the club and was more than pleased to receive a No.2 guernsey from club star Trevor Barker, who wears No.1And shoppers in the heart of Collins St., where it all happened, were more than a little startled and eager to get autographs from the two stars.Cher will be performing at the Palais in St Kilda tonight, tomorrow night and Monday, and rest assured her costumes will be a sight more alluring than this one …Especially if you’re not a St Kilda fan.Singer. Football. Jumper. Celebrity. Melbourne. Neg: 811203/34(hsretro instagram 16/03/2017)

Pyne’s performance

The Adelaide Festival is in full swing and one federal minister is just lapping it up. Christopher Pyne was spotted by a Strewth agent on Saturday night at the theatre. It turns out he was seeing Memorial, an interpretation of Homer’s The Iliad starring veteran Aussie actor Helen Morse, with one of his sons. Pyne and wife Carolyn also got tickets to Hamlet the Opera, directed by national stage legend Neil Armfield, the night before. Pyne told Strewth Morse’s performance in Memorial was “incredible” and, slightly less enthusiastically, that Hamlet the Opera was “stimulating”. Our spy says there haven’t been many local pollies at the festival as the state election draws ever closer. No votes to be won at the Adelaide Arts Centre?

Round the track

Pyne also attended Adelaide’s Supercars 500 racetrack yesterday and was spotted heading into the pit garage of the Shell team. We’ve never picked Pyne as a revhead. He once told the ABC’s Annabel Crabb on air that Judy Garland’s Somewhere Over the Rainbow was his favourite song, after all. But we suppose the Minister for Defence Industry will need to invest in some supercars for when the inevitable war with New Zealand kicks off.

CFMEU call-out

This august organ’s front page last week had many tongues wagging when it revealed the Opposition Leader had given an extraordinary speech to striking Glencore miners in Queensland. But more extraordinary was the amazing endorsement we got at that very same event. Yes, CFMEU boss Tony Maher told the audience at the October rally last year that he just loves reading this newspaper. “And I read in The Australian today — I do read The Australian even though it contains a lot of lies.” Aww, babe, we love you too. But just what did Maher read? “I read in The Australian today that the Indian market is going to grow ... from between 134 million tonnes per year to 619 million tonnes a year.” Well, we do have the best mining coverage in the country.

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