By Stephen Brook and Kishor Napier-Raman
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles found his attention was divided on Saturday night. That’s because there was a co-main event taking place in Logan City, Greater Brisbane – his 29-year-old son, Sam Marles, was the star of the Eternal 95 Mixed Martial Arts fight.
We were going to make analogies about the brutalities of political bloodsport on election night, but thought that a little too obvious, even for us.
Sam Marles overpowers opponent Nate Law in their Eternal MMA bout on election night.Credit: Eternal MMA
The clash of events required some deft multimedia handling by Marles on perhaps the most politically important night of his career, but you can’t be member for Corio, deputy prime minister and defence minister as well as a dad to four kids without mastering the juggle.
Marles expected the fight in the welterweight division about 10.30pm, so joked with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during the week that Labor had to claim victory well before then. But the fight was shifted earlier and took place as media outlets were calling victory for Labor.
The politician scrambled to get the fight up on his iPad, and Labor supporters in the room took his whooping as evidence that Labor had just won an avalanche of seats – in fact Marles was cheering on his son.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Deputy PM Richard Marles swung by the Willie the Boatman brewery in Sydney on Sunday.Credit: Sitthixay Ditthavong
And what a fight it turned out to be, according to MMA Eternal chief executive Cam O’Neill, who praised the young Marles as respectful and humble, “the kind of athlete every promoter wants on their card – tough, skilled, and composed under pressure.
“He showed real grit on Saturday night, coming back from early adversity to earn a third-round TKO and Fight of the Night honours.
“It was a big night for the Marles family on multiple fronts, and we’re thrilled Sam delivered such an electric performance on the Eternal MMA stage. It was a knockout night for the Marles family – Sam in the cage, and Richard at the polls.”
Marles told CBD: “There were a couple of events taking place on Saturday night: the election, the Cats’ triumphant win over Collingwood and Sam’s massive win in Logan.
“It was the biggest fight of his career and I know how hard he had worked for it, and so as a dad I couldn’t have been happier for him about what he achieved on Saturday night.”
Sam Marles, whose mother is Richard Marles’ first wife, Lisa Neville, a former Victorian police minister, won against undefeated local Logan opponent Nate “The Law” Law.
When asked how he was feeling afterwards, he handled his post-bout interview with the ease of a National Press Club regular, saying: “I’m feeling pretty sore.”
Old mate backs old mate
It’s a big CBD welcome back to former federal attorney-general and one-time “future prime minister” Christian Porter, who was spotted at the Liberal Party election night event in Brisbane on Saturday. Porter arrived at Brisbane’s W hotel about 6.30pm with his wife, lawyer Karen Espiner, whom he married in the environs of Byron Bay in the summer of 2023.
Christian Porter arrives with his wife, Karen Espiner, at the Liberal Party function/wake on election night at the W hotel in Brisbane. Credit: James Brickwood
It was CBD that first brought readers news of their budding romance back in 2021, when the couple bonded over a shared love of the law and, as we reported at the time, sour worm lollies.
The Porters hung out in the VIP function adjacent to the main chamber and were spotted in the company of former ministers Steve Ciobo and Michael Keenan. CBD wondered if this was Lazarus with a triple bypass, to use the John Howard phraseology for unlikely political comebacks.
It wasn’t that long ago during the Morrison government that the future of the Liberal Party was a toss-up between Porter and Josh Frydenberg.
Porter, who resigned from politics in 2021 after allegations he has always denied, slipped into the main room with his squad just before Peter Dutton gave his gracious concession speech.
Relax, Dutton is an old mate and Porter, who earns his coin as a barrister in Western Australia these days, was there to support him in what turned out to very much be his hour of need.
Party post-mortem
After a brutal night for the Liberals, CBD’s stopwatch has been ticking as we wait to see just how long it takes former party leader and prime minister Malcolm Turnbull to succumb to the urge to opine. So far, silence since April 30. But lo and behold! An email mentioning Turnbull in the subject line pinged into our inbox at 8.52am on Monday.
But it turned out to be an alert to the fact that PM29 is attending the State Library of Victoria’s 2025 Redmond Barry Luncheon, in conversation with former Labor minister Barry Jones. We shall be hanging off every word.
Meanwhile, party moderates from Turnbull’s old NSW faction gathered in Sydney on Sunday afternoon to sink beers, lick their wounds, and search for any glimmer of hope.
Attendance was critical, the faction’s boss, lobbyist Michael Photios, had insisted.
The mood in the room was one of anger – at Peter Dutton’s appalling campaign, at conservatives in the party who’d driven them to the wilderness, at Zoomer Lib-fluencer Freya Leach for having the temerity to show up.
Photios delivered a scathing speech in which he blamed Dutton for Saturday’s drubbing and lamented the party’s failure to win over women and younger voters. Expect a lot more of this.
Senator Maria Kovacic said the moderates had again paid the price for the right’s failures. The price this time included frontbencher David Coleman and first-term MP Jenny Ware, who both lost southern Sydney seats few thought were even in play.
Read more on Labor’s landslide election win
- Inside story: How the Coalition campaign was a catastrophe months in the making
- Some seats are still too close to call. Here are all the races that remain in doubt – plus every seat that’s changed hands
- Interactive: See how your polling booth voted in this election
- Live results: Track every seat in the country
- Live blog: Anthony Albanese plans second term, Liberals plan a leadership change
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