It ain't over . . .

CONTRARY to common perception, the NSW government can move quickly, especially when it has radio host Alan Jones on its back.

CONTRARY to common perception, the NSW government can move quickly, especially when it has radio host Alan Jones on its back.

For example, at about 8.50am yesterday, state Arts Minister Virginia Judge was telling Jones she did not plan to make an announcement about renaming a Sydney Opera House theatre after Joan Sutherland just because he thought it was a good idea. Jones was giving her a typical monstering but Judge stuck to her lines. Sydney radio listeners have become accustomed to Premier Kristina Keneally calling in to dispute something she had just heard. But this time a press release sufficed. At 11.30 Keneally announced she had instructed the Sydney Opera House administration to assist NSW Opposition Leader and opera lover Barry O'Farrell with his plan to rename a theatre there. "I am pleased to give him the opportunity to pursue his passion to create a lasting memorial to Dame Joan Sutherland," Keneally said. "This is a time for bipartisanship." Judge's job is to find a way of commemorating Sutherland's life.

Pyne's protege

LIBERAL Party attack terrier Christopher Pyne has an apprentice in the South Australian parliament. He's freshman state MP Steven Marshall and is clearly inspired by Pyne. In the six months since he was elected, Marshall has constantly irritated the likes of Treasurer Kevin Foley and Trade Minister Tom Koutsantonis with his Pyne-esque interjections from the lower house back bench during question time. But he really got under the skin of Industrial Relations Minister Paul Holloway, who sits in the upper house. During a budget estimates committee hearing this week, Marshall interjected with "you're joking". The usually unflappable Holloway took the bait. "I think that you're pathetic," Holloway snarled. "I've heard about you, but now I know it to be true. You have a big mouth." To complete his apprenticeship and make Pyne truly proud, all Marshall needs now is to get himself thrown out of the house by the Speaker.

Man or mannequin?

FORMER Fairfax and News Limited editor Bruce Guthrie seems determined to make more enemies among his former colleagues. We understand he is promoting his new book, Man Bites Murdoch, and therefore must put himself out there by spruiking, titillating and exaggerating. He spruiks well, in the manner of a door-to-door salesman. He also insults everyone who works for News, including the many fine journos who work at The Australian, by claiming the company is dominated by "[Rupert] Murdoch robots, programmed to consider him first and the issue second". He told ABC Radio National yesterday that when "you come into it from outside, at best it's like a small-town mentality, at worst it's almost like a secret society; if you're not part of the family it's very hard to break in". This is rubbish, Bruce, to use a polite word. As for being robots, Strewth can attest that Guthrie never had a hair out of place and his tie was always perfectly knotted like that of a shop-window dummy.

Taking the cake

WHILE he was editor-in-chief of The Weekend Australian Magazine and Wish magazine, Guthrie acquired an enviable reputation for being first in line for any gifts - grog, CDs, DVDs, books and so forth - that came into the office. He also had a reputation for accepting luxury travel assignments, or junkets as us robots at News Ltd would call them. A gorgeous African safari and a luxury trip to Cradle Mountain in Tasmania broadened Guthrie's travelling experience, which was supplemented by his private holiday arrangements. Of course, we all enjoy luxuries and Guthrie is no exception. His wife Janne Applegren helped with travel stories at Wish, but she's remembered more for her desk-bound travelling.

Brumby finds peace

IF you are locked up in a Chinese jail and you win the Nobel Peace Prize, you can expect to have your wife put under house arrest. This fate will not befall the wife of Victorian Premier John Brumby, who has won the 2010 Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award. Naturally, Brumby is proud of the gong but sees it as an award for Victorians who "are proud of our diverse multicultural heritage". The award was presented by executive director of the Hindu Foundation of Australia Abhay Awasthi. Brumby will be hoping for the trifecta: the AFL premiership went to his team Collingwood, now he has this worthy award; next the state election next month.

Winning streak

IN the US city of Philadelphia at the weekend, 24-year-old Juan J. Rodriguez took off his clothes and did a streak in front of President Barack Obama. He has been charged with indecency and public lewdness. It emerges that Rodriguez was trying to win a $US1 million challenge. Billionaire Alki David offered the money to anyone who would run naked within sight and earshot of the President in an effort to publicise his website, Battlecam.com, whose name was daubed on Rodriguez's chest. But David is trying to renege and is coming under heavy internet pressure to cough up.