By Kishor Napier-Raman and Noel Towell
The latest episode in our life-after-politics series takes CBD to unfamiliar territory; the gym.
But that’s where you’ll find – every day, apparently – former Liberal member for the federal Melbourne seat of Chisholm, Gladys Liu. She was once famously lauded by her former leader Scott Morrison on election night in 2019 (“how good is Gladys Liu?”).
The Hong Kong-born MP soon went right out of fashion in Liberal circles as acting tough towards China became official policy, and in the 2022 contest, her primary vote collapsed nearly 8 per cent, handing the seat to Labor’s Carina Garland.
But CBD has always admired the Gladys stamina (it’s now forgotten how hard she worked over many years to overcome racial and gender barriers to win that seat) so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised at Liu’s next career step – she landed her certification as a fitness trainer a few weeks ago.
Gladys Liu has had a career change.Credit: John Shakespeare
This development has not come out of the clear blue sky.
Liu completed her first Melbourne Marathon in October, has been appearing at the occasional Parkrun, and told the SBS Chinese language service that she was at the gym every day while reminding viewers of the dangers of muscle atrophy for those of us who fail to stay in shape as we age.
CBD was unable to get the famously interview-averse Liu on the record on Tuesday, so we’ll just conclude by saying she’s an example to us all.
Not that we have any intention of following it.
MEET AND GREET
Unlike their federal counterparts, NSW cabinet ministers must open their diaries to the public every quarter, which is how we know just how many times Premier Chris Minns has met Labor powerbroker turned lobbyist Graham “Richo” Richardson since coming to power (three in the first six months).
But during a debate over a transparency bill introduced by independent (former Liberal) Gareth Ward, Opposition Leader Mark Speakman pointedly refused calls from Labor to reveal his own diary – a missed opportunity for the relatively unknown Liberal to get a dose of publicity.
And in a response to the Tele, the Liberal leader’s spinners pointed out that Speakman “did not meet with registered lobbyists”. Which we found odd, given that moderate factional powerbroker lobbying supremo Michael Photios, head of PremierNational, was key in securing Speakman’s leadership of the NSW Liberals.
In fact, representatives from PremierNational attended Speakman’s Christmas drinks last November, as did Robert Orrell of Hamsa Advisory. Anthony Benscher, the managing director of Liberal-aligned lobbying shop Barton Deakin also showed up at a drinks event with Speakman last year.
But Speakman’s team noted a distinction between “meeting” a lobbyist, and just happening to hang out at the same Liberal party fundraiser.
“The Leader of the Opposition does not meet with registered lobbyists,” a spokesperson reiterated.
“As clearly articulated in government disclosures, attendance at public or social functions and events does not meet the definition of a meeting.” So there you go.
TECH ROCK
There is much to be said for staying in your lane, so while it seems clear that Vinay Samuel, founder and CEO of home-grown data analytics operation Zetaris, has made a decent fist of the “disruptive transformation” game, it’s not obvious why he’d want to reinvent himself as a rock star.
But it looks like the 2019 Australian Computer Society’s Disruptor of the Year, who played guitar in the noughties pub-rock outfit Rip it Up, wants to climb back into the touring van again.
Of course, the scene has changed a bit since the 2000s. Back then, you didn’t have Spotify to smooth your way onto the sticky carpet circuit.
So Samuel and his bandmates in the Silo, singer Jason Demillo and drummer Glyn Davis – not the secretary of the Prime Minister’s Department but a Zetaris colleague who once had a musical moment in the sun as a contestant on The Voice – have chosen the streaming service for the release of their self-titled single Silo on Monday.
But Samuel insists that being in a band isn’t that different from his day job.
“It is identical whether I am working on creating new technology or a new song,” he says. “I have to problem-solve.”
We can’t wait for the album.
ROUGH TRADE
After the scandal around former deputy premier John Barilaro’s appointment to a cushy $500,000 trade role in New York, the then-Labor opposition vowed to retire those “jobs for the boys” postings if elected.
London-based Stephen Cartwright quit soon after the election, and Mike Newman announced this year he’d be leaving his job in Japan, with the remaining commissioners to serve out their terms until 2025.
So CBD’s eyebrows were raised this week when a job advertisement for a trade and investment commissioner based in Japan and South Korea started doing the rounds. We were swiftly assured this wasn’t a quiet backflip.
The job in question is just a humble trade and investment commissioner role, not one of the turbo-charged “senior” roles that Barilaro initially created, and eventually got offered.
But if Treasurer Dan Mookhey cuts Investment NSW, the agency responsible for the Barilaro kerfuffle, further in next week’s budget, we reckon such overseas jobs could become even scarcer.
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