Swift parry

ONE of Bronwyn Bishop's talents is to get stuck in at the dispatch box when someone's asking the wrong sort of question or in danger of giving the wrong sort of answer.

ONE of Bronwyn Bishop's talents is to get stuck in at the dispatch box when someone's asking the wrong sort of question or in danger of giving the wrong sort of answer.

So it's nice to see her daughter, Ten Network entertainment reporter Angela Bishop, has inherited this power. Bishop was MC at a press conference in Sydney yesterday, where actors Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal were flogging (in a very charming way) their new film, Love and Other Drugs. Before the fourth estate was allowed anywhere near them, however, a PR person explained that in the interests of not having the microphone confiscated, it would be a jolly good idea not to ask personal questions. Which was a blow for anyone keen to address the biggest issues of the day, such as rumours of Gyllenaal's romantic involvement with singer Taylor Swift. Nevertheless, all proceeded smoothly until the last question, when someone from Who magazine took a pleasingly sly approach along the lines of: "You guys are obviously doing the whole big global thing constantly. Is there a chance that either of your partners - Adam [Shulman] or Taylor - will be joining you to see what Australia has to offer?" Like her mother swooping with a point of order, Bishop pounced before Hathaway or Gyllenhaal had a chance to speak: "Moving swiftly along . . ."

So farewell, Fairfax

A QUICK note of sympathy for the security guards at Fairfax Media's Sydney bunker, whose workload was cruelly increased yesterday due to a surge in ushering-former-employees-from-the-building duties. First there was Fairfax chief executive, Brian McCarthy, who departed in spectacular fashion. Then there was journalist Nabila Ahmed, who still had three weeks left to serve before moving to The Australian but was suddenly shown the door. And she follows in the wake of The Australian Financial Review ad boss Phil Gallagher. So it seems things can move quickly at Fairfax.

Santa's claws out

ALONG the way, Strewth has had one or two things to say about Craig Emerson's hair. [And you wonder why you're not going to the Walkleys - Ed.] We've described it "straining skywards as if caught in the tractor beam of a passing spaceship"; we've seen it as "buoyant and erect as grass in a spring meadow"; we've likened it to a space shuttle launch. So when we asked Emmo what he was hoping to score from Santa this year, there was a certain inevitability (though not a displeasing one) to his reply, which was: "One large tub of gravity-defying hair gel." Fingers crossed! What about Christopher Pyne, long-term sufferer of Speaker Harry Jenkin's tough love? It turns out Pyne is thinking of others as well as himself, which is very Christmassy. "I hope," he tells Strewth, "that Julia Gillard, Anthony Albanese, Michael Costa, Mark Latham and Mark Arbib get stuck in a lift together on Christmas Eve." But one can't be entirely selfless: "For me, I hope Santa gives me the key to the independents' minds and the key to unlock the Speaker's good nature."

Rudd beats a retreat

SOMETIMES we suspect Julia Gillard's strongly expressed distaste for the Coalition's three-word slogans (and now two-word slogans) is firmly rooted in the cruel demise of her own two-word slogan "Moving forwards" (speaking of firmly rooted). So how galling it must have been to watch Kevin Rudd, the bloke she deposed, head out yesterday to deal with that WikiLeaks business and eat what may be referred to politely as a cable sandwich, only to give a masterclass in how one goes about coining a slogan. Despite starting off with the facial expression of a man with a lower tract filled with razor blades and an aura that suggested he was having as much fun as he did the day he was rolled, the Foreign Minister came up shining with: "Let's punt for peace."

Holy handouts

PERHAPS when Kevin Rudd has a few minutes free he could help out the church in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Leichhardt, which has a sign imparting this message: "Sick of the big banks? Bank on Jesus." It's a start, but it really needs some work. And we know Kev isn't afraid of offering tough advice. As he told us yesterday, the point of diplomacy is "not to roll over and have your tummy tickled".

Warne to his subject

THE Twitter stream of Shane Warne is swiftly becoming Strewth's favourite stream-of-consciousness event on the internet. Yesterday, the ratings-haunted talk show host was busy propositioning British former newspaper editor turned TV star (and heir to Larry King's throne) Piers Morgan after Morgan made some cracks about Australia's performance in the cricket. Warne's approach was equal parts carpe diem and self-deprecation. "Question Piers? I have my own TV show in Australia interviewing interesting people! Will you come on?" This was followed by, "I'm in London Thursday Friday this week. Got 15 mins free? How many viewers do you have? Not many for me! LOL." A short time later he was revealing to the world: "I'm scared of needles so that's why have resisted botox etc!!" It's nothing short of a thrilling ride.