By Stephen Brook and Kishor Napier-Raman
It seemed that everyone on one side of politics has been clamouring to hear from Jordan Peterson, the reactionary Canadian psychologist best known for apocalyptic ramblings about the death of Western Civilisation. Even rebellious ousted Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming.
But alas, the big guy was a no-show at his own conference in Sydney on Tuesday.
Spotted: Moira Deeming (pictured at Parliament House last year) was seen absorbed in her phone, live-streaming the final submissions in her defamation case against Liberal leader John Pesutto while she was at a Sydney conference. Credit: Joe Armao
Peterson’s Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, a conservative think tank which counts a number of past and present Coalition figures on its advisory board, held its annual conference at the International Convention Centre. But the star attraction was forced to Zoom in after failing to get an Australian visa. What are the chances?
CBD hears Peterson only applied for a visa last Friday, required for all those planning to undertake business here. It didn’t arrive, and since then, the doctor was called to deal with a family matter back in Canada.
Those in the audience included rebellious Deeming, seemingly taking time out from her interminable defamation case against Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto.
Jordan Peterson couldn’t make it. Credit: Getty
But actually, she was not. She was spotted by CBD’s spies absorbed in her phone, live-streaming the final submissions in the case which were still afoot back in Melbourne.
Peterson’s late scratching didn’t deter a healthy crowd of conservative thought leaders, including former prime minister Tony Abbott, his former chief of staff Peta Credlin, ex-deputy PM Barnaby Joyce, and former minister Keith Pitt.
And Peter Costello, former Liberal treasurer and recently departed chairman of Nine, publisher of this column, took to the stage to blast Daniel Andrews’ Labor government as “moronic” for its COVID-19 restrictions.
COOKIE CRUMBLES
“Uncalled-for and un-Australian.” That’s the assessment from some about Senator Lidia Thorpe’s headline-generating behaviour in front of King Charles at the Parliament House reception hosted by Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon this week.
But now a major uncalled-for and un-Australian error has been spotted on the menu for the reception for King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
From the menu at the reception for King Charles and Queen Camilla.Credit:
Amid such patriotic delights as “pumpkin, Victorian Meredith feta and warrigal frittata”, “Griffith salted Murray cod croquette” and “Wattleseed Lamington” on offer, was a reference to an “Anzac cookie” in the sweet platter section of the menu.
Oh dear. The Department of Veterans Affairs guidelines for use of the word “Anzac” run to 28 pages and includes the Protection of Word “Anzac” Act from 1920.
Guidelines state that “the biscuits must not substantially deviate from the generally accepted recipe and shape, and must be referred to as ‘Anzac Biscuits’ or ‘Anzac Slice’ (not ‘Anzac Cookies’).”
A spokesperson at the Department of Parliamentary Services told CBD that the naming convention at Parliament House is “Anzac biscuits”, but there had been an oversight when the menu was printed. “We meant no disrespect to the term Anzac and its significance within Australian culture.”
RUNDLE RUMBLE
By the time media watchers were digesting the news that Crikey’s veteran correspondent-at-large Guy Rundle had been dumped after making one gross comment too many, the writer was already about to embark on his next adventure.
Anybody familiar with Rundle’s oeuvre would be unsurprised at the icky text message he sent into ABC’s Radio National Breakfast last week claiming that rising sexual assault complaints are because “every grope is now a sexual assault”.
Guy Rundle has been sacked as Crikey columnist and correspondent-at-large.Credit: Michael Clayton-Jones
What’s more surprising is that after years of tormenting editors with his overwritten prose, semi-regular offensive outbursts and general Hunter S. Thompson complex, Rundle was finally out. Despite all of the above, the subscribers love (and continue to love) him.
Perhaps those Rundle fans can rejoice because Guy the Gonzo is in the United States, where he was meant to cover the election for Crikey, until last week’s news. But while Rundle’s flights were already booked, CBD hears Crikey’s parent company Private Media hadn’t contributed to any travel costs before their relationship with Rundle ended on Friday. And nobody at the publication has heard from him, or knows where he is. Rundle didn’t enlighten us either when we tried to reach him.
So all that’s left is to hold out for the inevitable Substack, where our Guy can pontificate away without pesky editors removing his obscure literary references and rogue racial essentialisms.
UP AND AWAY
In 2017, Sussan Ley stood aside from then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s ministry in part over her prodigious use of taxpayer-funded flights.
Sussan Ley (pictured in 2006) is getting back behind plane controls.
But Ley, now deputy Liberal leader, no longer needs to bill the punters, because the NSW MP has just bought her own plane – a Cessna 182, according to her register of interests.
A spokesperson for Ley told CBD the MP had bought the plane after recently re-licensing as a pilot, and that the Cessna was her favourite aircraft, and a reliable working bush aircraft.
“Her electorate of Farrer is 126,500 square kilometres, and one of the largest in the country. It is around the same size as Greece, Bangladesh or Nepal. She is using her plane to help to fly around her electorate at her own expense,” they said.
“Her plane is also a way for her to continue to fly, which is a personal passion for her.”
Ley first got her commercial pilot licence at 19, but failed to get a job with a major airline because of her gender. Some places are worse at this stuff than the Liberal Party.
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