By Kishor Napier-Raman and Noel Towell
For a bloke who clipped the wings of an entire state for much of the COVID-19 pandemic, WA Premier Mark McGowan has taken to the open skies with some gusto.
It was hard to miss McGowan’s sojourn to Canberra last week as Mr 91 per cent did the rounds of east coast media. Now, he’s getting ready for an official trip to Rome - on the first flight of Qantas’ new non-stop service between Perth and the eternal city.
Guests celebrate the end of Kim Beazley’s tenure as WA Governor - minus Premier Mark McGowan
Then he’s off to London where, among other things, McGowan will be the star attraction at a Showcase WA reception at the city’s historic Ironmongers Hall which will feature “a range of produce and delicacies unique to WA and Australia,” the Premier’s office tells us.
Organisers had wanted to add a First Nations presence to the evening with a didgeridoo playing as guests arrived.
But London-based performer Bec Quinn, who is helping make the arrangements, told CBD that the didge plan had to be abandoned after a thorough social media trawl of London’s large expatriate Australian community.
“The general consensus was, that unless it was played by an Indigenous male, it would be offensive to Indigenous culture,” Quinn said.
“So we’ve decided against having a didgeridoo player.”
McGowan’s busy travelling schedule means he missed a surprise soirée in Perth to celebrate the end of former Labor leader Kim Beazley’s reign as Governor of Western Australia on Friday night.
The event, held at waterfront establishment 8 On the Point (because Labor folk simply love a succulent Chinese meal), brought together a few old party heavies, most notably former treasurer and current national president Wayne Swan, and ex foreign minister Stephen “not the cricketer” Smith, who helped organise the do.
Guests from outside Labor included Australian Republic Movement chair Peter FitzSimons and veteran foreign policy wonk Hugh White, who was hired by Beazley as an adviser in the 1980s.
The Beazley friends traded war stories well into the small hours of the night. Swan and Smith spoke glowingly about how the party elder helped shepherd Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his current crop of cabinet ministers through the ranks.
Guests also heard of the time Beazley crossed paths with a young law degree-toting naval officer in the 1990s.
“This guy will go well in politics,” Kim said at the time, encouraging him to run for state parliament.
The officer’s name? Mark McGowan.
ACT Liberals lick their wounds
The Canberra Liberals are not in a good spot right now, even by their own standards.
Last month’s knocking over of Senator Zed Seselja by Wallaby-turned environmental warrior David Pocock means the national capital has no Liberal in the national parliament for the first time since the ACT started electing senators in 1975.
At the local level, the party has been in opposition for more than 20 years and, oh, the branch’s former president and Seselja confidant Tio Faulkner was jailed in New Zealand this year for a bizarre environmental crime at his Bay of Plenty pig farm.
So Canberra Liberals’ leader Elizabeth Lee was perhaps understating the case late last week when she told the faithful that it had been a “tough few weeks”.
But help is at hand. The party’s new federal deputy leader Sussan Ley will be in town next week to rally the troops at a $65-a-head fundraiser on Thursday night where there will be much to discuss.
“We must focus on the future by directing our efforts to winning the next ACT Election, and winning back the ACT Senate seat at the next Federal election,” Lee wrote in her invitation.
But the choice of venue, for an outfit that fears its best days are behind it, is interesting: The National Museum of Australia.
The King Stay The King
Things have slowed down a little for Alan Jones, the forever king of Sydney talk radio.
Two years since his 2GB retirement, and months after being dumped from a Sky News prime time slot, the notorious shock-jock is now reduced to shilling for his new online-only show Alan Jones: Direct to the People on obscure, newly formed Australian Digital Holdings.
So desperate for eyeballs is Jones, that he’s been forced to send out spammy emails instructing viewers how to watch his show via Apple TV.
For sure man!
Nevertheless, Jones’ attempts to create a new media empire at ADH has brought a few notables into the mix. Conservative business heavy Maurice Newman is chair, with high-flying barrister Margaret Cunneen also involved behind the scenes.
But times aren’t all that tough. On Thursday night, Jones was spotted munching caviar with ambitious, baby-faced protegee Jake Thrupp (ADH’s head of programming) at Sydney fine-dining establishment Aria.
Jones was in full Mafia Don mode – decked out in a terracotta jacket at the best seats in the house (with a front-row view of a Vivid-illuminated Opera House), he still had plenty swinging by his table to kiss the ring.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese did the same during the election campaign, appearing on Jones’ web-show. Kingmakers never die.
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