By Stephen Brook and Kishor Napier-Raman
You might know Harry Connick Jr as the legendary live performer, actor, singer, composer and best-selling Grammy and Emmy-award winner.
But the US crooner is also a lobbyist to our state government. How can one man have so much talent?!
Harry Connick Jr during a visit to Australia last year.Credit: Steven Siewert
In June, Connick Jr attended a meeting with Treasurer Tim Pallas to discuss a proposed music hub along with executives from the now-beleaguered Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Certainly his presence on the disclosure log makes a change from the usual conga line of Melbourne identities to Pallas’ office, including outgoing Crown Resorts boss Ciaran Carruthers, incoming Tabcorp chief executive Gillon McLachlan, ANZ chief Shayne Elliott and Ari Suss, chief executive of Lindsay Fox’s Fox Special Projects.
Oh, and Redbridge pollster Kos Samaras came in to discuss “community sentiment”. No doubt the treasurer appreciated the feedback.
Treasurer Tim PallasCredit: Joe Armao
CBD suspects this is not the last the government will see of Connick Jr. Last year the jazz/funk/big band singer was a judge on Channel Seven’s Australia’s Got Talent, and his three adult daughters now live in Australia.
We hunted without much success for more details from the state government, the MSO and Connick Jr’s US representatives. But CBD notes When Harry Met Tim is not the singer’s first lobbying rodeo. In February, Connick Jr accompanied Vic Screen executives to meet Creative Industries Minister Colin Brooks to “discuss film and scoring opportunities in Victoria”.
But to the embarrassment of all, the singer’s name on the government diary disclosure was misspelt as “Harry Connect Jnr”, which sounds like yet another mis-firing government major project.
SO LONG, FAREWELL
Farewell Shakes, you’ll be sorely missed.Credit: John Shakespeare
We can’t wait any longer to bring you the bittersweet news, our brilliant illustrator John Shakespeare leaves this space today.
For about 35 years, Shakes has drawn cartoons for this column and its predecessors, where his deft touch, generous wit and unique style was beloved by both readers and even the subjects of his visual takedowns.
Many cartoon subjects lined up to become purchasers: former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has a cartoon of him and wife Vikki Campion hanging in their living room. Ex-defence minister Christopher Pyne has a few, as does defamation silk Sue Chrysanthou, SC.
Customers also included Australia’s richest person and discerning portraiture critic Gina Rinehart, and Qantas, who we hear, used to buy all Shakes’ prints of their executives.
Rinehart was a favourite subject of Shakes as was Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and dog Toto. The PM has his own Shakespeare, a cartoon of his proposal to fiancee Jodie Haydon.
“I’ve had so much fun doing CBD, from ANZ’s Mike Smith hiding his meat pies in the attic to Gina mimicking the Nevermind album cover, I’ve had a ball,” Shakes said. “I’ll miss it!”
It goes without saying but we shall say it anyway: we’ll miss Shakes too.
TO BE FRANK
Kanye West, meet Warrnambool Racing Club committee member Frank McCarthy.
Just as West had his moment storming the stage back in 2009, so did McCarthy on Saturday night at the $200-a-head Country Racing Awards at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.
While West gained global infamy when he snatched the microphone from Taylor Swift mid-speech during a music awards night and rudely insisted his love Beyonce was more deserving of the best female video award, McCarthy’s intervention had a different vibe.
It came while comedy duo The Nelson Twins performed, prompting some in the 700-strong crowd to take umbrage at their jokes. Certainly, McCarthy did.
He jumped on stage mid-act, took a microphone from one twin and told them both in no uncertain terms that their material was “an absolute joke”. And not in a funny way.
“I just casually walked up and had something to say to the two entertainers,” McCarthy told CBD.
“As I said to them, ‘Do your research’. The failure with their performance was the entertainers did not do their research about the crowd they were entertaining to.”
The Nelson Twins (identical twin brothers and qualified teachers Chris and Justin Nelson from the NSW country town of Walbundrie) sounded somewhat bruised in a statement where they said that they would “consider their options”.
“We had been churning out dick jokes for 18 minutes of a scheduled 20-minute performance and at no time did anyone from Country Racing Victoria ask us to stop, those mad bastards were loving it,” the twins said.
“We are on a journey to make sure that people never lose their sense of humour, keep laughing legends and come and see us at a real show soon.”
Country Racing Victoria apologised to those who were offended while both the twins and the racing official criticised what they called inaccurate media reporting in the days following the awards night.
Final word to McCarthy: “At the end of the day the one thing worth writing about is that Warrnambool Racing Club walked away with a significant award.” We have to admit we liked his style.
PLAZA DRAMA
We didn’t think former North Sydney mayor Jilly Gibson’s tempestuous farewell to her old council would drag into a third day, but drag on it has.
When the meanies at the council voted down a motion to rename a small plaza after Gibson, the good people of the harbourside suburb of Kirribilli took matters into their own hands.
On Thursday morning, a local plaza on Burton Street was renamed “Jilly’s Plaza” on Google Maps. Whoever could be responsible for this? Not Gibson, we’re told.
But in yet another sign of her divisiveness, the location was removed from Maps within hours.
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