Backroom Baz: Dan Andrews’ social media guru’s return puts Libs on edge

A Channel 7 reporter turned government spinner who turned his skills to helping Daniel Andrews manage his media messaging is back to help Jacinta Allan — and it’s sending shivers down the spines of the opposition.

Former Channel 7 reporter turned government spinner Brendan Donohoe.

They say big wheels keep on turning, and on Spring St they don’t get much bigger than former Channel 7 reporter turned government spinner Brendan Donohoe.

Donger, as he’s affectionately known, spent decades covering the political beat before turning his skills to helping Daniel Andrews manage his media messaging.

The veteran left shortly after Andrews did at the end of 2023, but Baz is told he’s back to help Jacinta Allan and her team. And his presence is already being felt, with Opposition MPs this week remarking (privately and in hushed tones, of course) at how slick the government’s messaging and communications strategy around its bail reform package had been.

Donger didn’t return Baz’s calls, but as a master of the dark arts he generally prefers to work from the shadows. Baz is assured that like a ghost of elections past Donohoe is already sending shivers down the spines of the Opposition.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece for 100 days in office story standing on the Princes Bridge in the CBD overlooking the Yarra River and the East of the City. Picture: Jason Edwards

Nick’s unique insights

Melbourne Lord Mayor and ALP apparatchik Nick Reece is set to enter unfamiliar territory: launching a book on legendary Liberal Prime Minister Robert Menzies, at the Robert Menzies Institute.

Promo material for the event is promising that Reece will share “his unique political insights” when he launches The Menzies Ascendancy: Fortune, Stability, Progress 1954-1961.

Reece is being promoted as “one of Melbourne’s most dynamic political leaders”.

Wonder what the comrades at Trades hall and Labor HQ will make of that? Is deputy lord mayor, and Liberal, Roshena Campbell rubbing off on Reece? Baz will report back after the April 9 book launch.

The race that unites

There was a rare sighting at last week’s Grand Prix with the reappearance of nearly all the living former premiers in the posh Victoria Suite. Steve Bracks, Ted Baillieu, Denis Napthine and John Brumby rubbed shoulders at Sunday’s race, marking the first time in years the former premiers had been invited as guests of the government together on the Sunday of the event. Baz is told they were most unwelcome on the main race day under Dan Andrews, who was a conspicuous no show last week.

Baz is told senior Liberals are quietly putting contingency plans in place should Pesutto decide to call it a day if his feud with Moira Deeming continues to go south. Picture: David Crosling

Smile away the blues

If former Opposition Leader John Pesutto is getting ready to quit politics, it certainly doesn’t show. Now, Baz isn’t for a minute suggesting Pesutto has any plans to go anywhere, indeed he is telling colleagues he is here to stay. But that doesn’t mean Liberal boffins aren’t planning for a sudden Hawthorn by-election.

Baz is told that senior Liberals are quietly putting contingency plans in place should Pesutto decide to call it a day if his feud with Moira Deeming continues to go south.

Still, even in choppy waters Pesutto found time to smile this week, just as the party’s new captain, Brad Battin was fighting his own battles after being busted cruising while on the job. Baz can only imagine what Pesutto and Premier Jacinta Allan found time to laugh about when they crossed paths in parliament this week.

Doesn’t quite add up, James

Last week Baz reported on shadow treasurer James Newbury’s near miss while out cycling. This week, another bump in the road for the new opposition money man who has taken to the new role with some gusto. But he might want to triple check his figures before pushing out press releases in future. Department of treasury boffins were overheard having a good chuckle recently after Newbury put out a critique of the government’s mid year financial report in which he complained that public sector wages had already hit 51 per cent of the annual budget in just six months – almost precisely on target. But it was his actual maths that had them really talking, a press release claiming: “the cost of Labor’s debt is skyrocketing, with interest expenses blowing out to $3.3bn in just six months, a 27 per cent increase from last year.”

Maths is not Baz’s specialty, but boffins say the actual increase was 23.68 per cent. Ten points for effort, but Newbury might want to get the red pen out next time.

Shadow treasurer James Newbury might want to get out the red pen next time. Picture: David Caird

Vote of no confidence

What is it with state electoral bodies right now? There were calls for WA electoral commissioner Robert Kennedy to be suspended last week over “unacceptable” stuff ups in that state’s election last weekend. Well he’s not the only one facing an angry backlash. Enter Liberal MP Matthew Guy who unloaded on the Victorian Electoral Commission in an impassioned parliamentary speech recently. And he has good reason, given the VEC and former commissioner Warwick Gately referred an investigation involving Guy and his former chief of staff, Mitch Catlin, to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission. Smack, bang, in the middle of the 2022 election campaign, no less. “They had a lot of questions to answer given their utterly partial behaviour at the 2022 election,” Guy said. And how does Guy think we should proceed from here? By “either abolishing or removing the VEC from future by-elections or elections in this term coming up” and to employ the AEC instead. Watch this space!

Overheard

“I did go on a cruise. I can’t deny that.”

Opposition Leader comes clean after the Queensland getaway he kept secret from colleagues was exposed.

— Brad Battin

Got any scuttlebutt for Baz? [e-mail]

Originally published as Backroom Baz: Dan Andrews’ social media guru’s return puts Libs on edge