By Kishor Napier-Raman and Noel Towell
The Nationals have always had a particularly cosy relationship with the mining industry. In particular, the Carmichael mega-mine, operated by Indian-owned Bravus (née Adani) has become, to the party of farmers, a monument to true blue Hilux-driving Quiet Australian grit – and a big up yours to soy inner-city elites. Or something like that.
In return for that loyalty, Adani has donated thousands exclusively to the Queensland Liberal National Party in the last two financial years. They’re also willing to shout a few freebies.
Last October, Nationals leader David Littleproud was flown out to the Carmichael coal mine in Central Queensland, courtesy of Bravus. But Littleproud only declared that trip on Wednesday, which is strange because the Nats have never been shy about their relationship with foreign-owned resource titans.
Of course, a veteran like Littleproud might be aware that MPs must declare such freebies within 28 days of receiving them, or else have the potential to be found in contempt of parliament. We asked the deputy opposition leader’s office about this, but didn’t receive a response by deadline.
Littleproud was more forthcoming about another gift – membership of the struggling Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs. His regional Queensland electorate of Maranoa is famously vast, but last we checked, doesn’t extend as far as Belmore. We didn’t get an answer on this one either, but Littleproud’s local amateur rugby league side, the Chinchilla footy club, are also known as the Bulldogs.
POLITICAL FOOTBALL
The annual pollies versus press soccer game in Canberra’s Parliament House is supposed to be a gesture of goodwill between two groups who have a sometimes testy relationship.
But patience was strained on either end of the pitch on Wednesday when the game – due to be played before sittings got under way for the day – was abandoned after just one player from the press gallery, Sky News’ Cam Reddin, rocked up.
The politicians, meanwhile, managed to muster 18 eager roundballers – including former Australian rugby union international, Senator David Pocock, Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh, the Greens political party’s Max Chandler-Mather and Labor part-of-the-furniture backbencher Graham Perrett, the pollies’ chief organiser.
The details are murky, but it looks like the press team got their wires crossed – way to go for a bunch of professional communicators – about whether the game would go ahead on a soggy Canberra morning. It appears there may also have been some trepidation about facing Perrett, whose robust approach to the beautiful game has been remarked upon in the past.
The journos also pointed out the all-male composition of their would-be opponents, claiming the gallery would have had a 50-50 gender split, if they’d shown up. They’re hoping for a rematch next week.
ARABIAN HEIGHTS
Saudi Arabian leader Mohammed bin Salman’s multitrillion-dollar attempts to launder his country’s reputation for bonesawing journalists and associated medieval barbarism has brought a few Australians over to the kingdom.
Australia’s youngest-ever parliamentarian and former assistant minister for innovation Wyatt Roy was recently signed as head of innovation at NEOM, Saudi Arabia’s futuristic desert dystopia. And if social media is anything to believe, Roy is having a grand old time in the kingdom, hanging out at the Formula 1 and using his Instagram feed as a de facto PR feed for Saudi tourism.
Perhaps that makes Wyatt a bit of an influencer because there’s another innovative and agile Aussie following him to the Middle East. Alex McAuley, a former diplomat turned founder of start-up lobby group the Tech Council of Australia, is off to become NEOM’s director of technology and investment, joining Roy’s team.
The Tech Council is now chaired by Elon Musk’s doormat Tesla chair Robyn Denholm, and counts Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canva’s Cliff Obrecht among its board members.
McAuley, who left the council last year, took to LinkedIn to describe his latest career move as an “epic new adventure”. He’s particularly keen on the scuba diving.
To be fair, NEOM, a linear green city running through swaths of uninhabitable desert, is just the kind of weird endeavour that would excite a certain kind of bloodless tech bro. But we reckon there are a few ways to get your adventure fix without working for someone as cartoonishly evil as MBS.
COPYCAT
After three unsuccessful cracks at federal parliament, former NSW transport minister Andrew Constance faces his last chance saloon when he goes up for Liberal Party preselection in the hyper-marginal South Coast seat of Gilmore on Saturday.
Constance, and his rival Paul Ell, are running neck and neck, although the former Bega MP did manage to land an endorsement from federal leader Peter Dutton.
But CBD questions whether Dutton’s heart is really in it. We’ve seen his reference for Constance, and it’s basically identical to the one he wrote for Constance before last year’s Senate preselection. He did manage to swap the words “Senate” for “Gilmore”. Talk about copying your old homework!
In that race, Constance entered as the front-runner and lost. So did Dutton’s other pick, Zed Seselja. On Saturday, we’ll discover whether the leader’s blessing will once again be a kiss of death.
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