By Kishor Napier-Raman and Sherryn Groch
The troubled Yes campaign for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament continues to bring together traditional political rivals.
Credit: John Shakespeare
While the campaign is avoiding celebrities and high-profile backers by marking Wednesday’s referendum date announcement with a rally in Adelaide’s working-class suburbs, it’s a different story in Sydney’s east.
At Kings Cross Station former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull is set to join Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek for a spot of light campaigning for the Yes vote. He was approached by the Yes campaign, which presumably hopes Turnbull carries a bit of influence among his old constituents in Wentworth.
While the former PM has backed the Voice for some time, local Liberals in teal country continue to go the other way. The Wentworth federal electorate conference sat out of co-hosting a town hall with Jacinta Nampijinpa Price last week because it was too busy resolving to follow Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in supporting a No vote.
The branch, now run by Peter King, who Turnbull deposed at preselection way back in 2004, has already hosted an event with Warren Mundine, so its position on the Voice is hardly a surprise.
As for Turnbull and Plibersek, it’s all very wholesome, but the Yes campaign is going to need more than just good vibes.
LABOR MATES
Speaking of Plibersek, the minister was one of several pollies to get free tickets to the recent Women’s World Cup.
While most MPs were hosted by FIFA or Football Australia, Plibersek’s tickets to the August 20 final between Spain and England came courtesy of 89 Degrees East, the lobbying shop run by Kevin Rudd’s long-time former consigliere Alister Jordan.
BLING RING
Last December, liquidators began the process of auctioning the assets of presumed-dead fraudster Melissa Caddick to help repay the $23 million she stole from investors in a Ponzi scheme.
Despite a frenzied three days of bidding that raised nearly $1 million, a $39,200 Stefano Canturi diamond ring bought by Caddick a week before her wedding to hairdresser-cum-DJ husband Anthony Koletti fetched just under $7000.
Clearly, somebody thinks that price was too low. CBD’s informants spotted the ring, listed as belonging to Caddick, for sale at an antique shop in Blackheath, priced at $70,200.
Given people’s fascination with true crime, it’s no surprise the infamy surrounding Caddick’s name might’ve inflated the price just a little. But it’s a shame the proceeds are not going to the fraudster’s victims.
PELL AGAINST THE WORLD
Last week the Catholic Church failed to reverse a Victorian Supreme Court decision that allowed the father of a choirboy allegedly sexually abused by cardinal George Pell to sue it.
Pell, who spent more than a year in custody for sexually abusing two boys before his convictions were quashed by the High Court, remains a hero for many conservative Catholics worldwide.
What else could explain the hyperbolic blurb to a new book on the cardinal, Pell Contra Mundum (translation: Pell Against the World), published by Queensland-based conservative press Connor Court next month?
“The world groans and the Church stumbles. Men fail to act and inspire. To whom can we turn for an example?”
The answer, of course, is Pell, who is described as “a white martyr with insights into the spirit of this age and the ongoing crisis in the Church”.
The tome, which collects writings by Pell and a handful of like-minded Catholics, is edited by American priest Robert Sirico.
He runs Michigan-based conservative think tank the Acton Institute, which has evangelised about the “explicit blessing of the union between faith and economic freedom”. Perhaps that explains the fascination with the Vatican’s former treasurer.
BOOTIN’ PUTIN
Visitors to the Monash University website may have noticed a surprise guest in the promotional pictures.
Among the advantages listed with studying politics at Monash was a curious poster boy for “overseas opportunities”: Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured in a tasteful spacesuit-business suit combo).
CBD stumbled across a strange poster boy for Monash University’s politics program: Vladimir Putin.Credit: Internet/Marija Ercegovac
Sadly, on further inspection CBD confirmed this was not from Putin’s private collection but a rather jazzy Photoshop job.
As to how a foreign dictator ended up as an Australian university recruiting tool, speculation is running wild. Was it a rogue staff member? A student prank? A hack? The smoking gun of foreign interference in our university sector?
Bemused students first pointed out Putin’s space-faring cameo as far back as 2021 on Facebook, and a trawl through the web archive reveals it has been there even longer.
But after CBD got in touch last Friday, Monash staff quickly booted the wannabe tsar for a more sensible travel staple: an inanimate blue vespa.
A spokeswoman said: “The university is aware that an image was inappropriately uploaded to a Faculty of Arts’ page, which has since been removed.”
Aim for the stars, not the tsars, kids.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.