By Noel Towell and Kishor Napier-Raman
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten will write the next chapter in his long, long goodbye to politics in Canberra on Thursday with a valedictory speech to the parliament.
The NDIS minister doesn’t actually come off the tools until February, but that doesn’t leave much time to get the parliamentary formalities out of the way.
Labor MP Bill Shorten and wife Chloe in 2019. Shorten retires early next year.Credit: AP
After his speech Bill will gather a few pals for a little par-tay at a place called Ballyhoo on the site of the storied Lobby Restaurant, scene of some unforgettable ballyhoo back in 2012 when then-prime minister Julia Gillard was forced to hole up with then-opposition leader Tony Abbott as they were briefly besieged by a couple of hundred protesters.
Anyhoo, we were unable, at this early stage, to get hold of a guest list for the Shorten soirée.
But we’re reliably told to expect friends, family, acquaintances from both sides of politics, union types, rank-and-filers and true believers as well as members of the disability advocacy community.
Sounds lovely, but we can’t help wondering if Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles might stop by. The two men aren’t close, politically, and belong to different factions of Labor’s Victorian Right, um, faction.
But you feel that what might really be peeving Richard this week is Sportsbet’s odds on who might succeed Anthony Albanese as Labor leader, with Shorten, despite his presence in the departure lounge, paying $10 while Marles, Albanese’s actual deputy, a much longer shot at $18.
We asked Richard’s office on Thursday if their man had any thoughts on this state of affairs. We haven’t heard back.
FISK MANAGEMENT
We brought word on Thursday of the runaway popularity of the ABC’s lawyerly sitcom Fisk among the nation’s legal profession, but it’s getting silly when the national broadcaster has to go and tackle bootleg material from its hit show.
But yes, Fisk’s star Kitty Flanagan told a special live performance of Annabel Crabb and Leigh Sales’ Chat 10, Looks 3 podcast at Melbourne’s Hamer Hall this month of the ABC’s efforts to protect its copyright over the comedy.
The actor recounted how the broadcaster had come into minor conflict with real-life law firm Maurice Blackburn, which fancies itself as Australia’s leading plaintiff law firm, standing up for the little guy and all of that.
At issue was an unauthorised screenshot of the program which the legal do-gooding outfit had posted on Facebook, without permission, to publicise the firm’s website.
The ABC declined to comment.
But a spokesman for Maurice Blackburn said the incident occurred in 2021 and the law firm had responded to a request from the ABC and swiftly removed the post.
Now Maurice Blackburn posts relating to the show contain the disclaimer: “This content is not endorsed by the ABC and Maurice Blackburn has no association with the ABC. Views and legal commentary are our own.”
Fisk 1, Maurice Blackburn 0.
bAIked off
It’s no secret that CBD is a must-read along the nation’s corridors of power. So we were chuffed, but not surprised, to get a shout-out this week in the chamber of the State Parliament’s upper house, no less.
Bronwyn Halfpenny speaking at the tech summit in Melbourne on Tuesday.Credit: Tech Council of Australia
It was all about our reportage on Labor’s Parliamentary Secretary for Jobs Bronwyn Halfpenny getting her AI’s – for artificial intelligence – and A1s in a muddle at a National Tech Summit, of all places.
Turns out that Liberal member for Northern Metro Evan Mulholland isn’t the type of bloke to let these things blow over, quoting our piece while having a crack – thinly disguised as a constituency question to Halfpenny’s boss Natalie Hutchins – at the hapless parly sec.
“Perhaps the parliamentary secretary for jobs believes A1 Bakery, a fantastic Lebanese bakery chain in my electorate, will underpin our future society and growth,” Evan suggested.
Now CBD in no way condones this level of smart-arsery, mostly because that’s our turf.
But we are on a unity ticket with Mulholland when it comes to A1 – the bakery – which is indeed fantastic. Might be just the place for Evan and Bronwyn to break bread. Trust us, there’s nothing artificial about it.
GERRY RIPE
Anyone who has endured Gerard Henderson’s Media Watch Dog column in The Australian will know his penchant for pedantry when it comes to fellow journalists.
The Sydney Institute program for this week’s “2023” annual dinner lecture.
So when, just after G&T hour on Wednesday, 700 guests took their seats at Gerry’s annual Sydney Institute dinner, few missed the glaring error on the evening’s official program announcing the “2023 annual dinner lecture.”
Can you bear it?
We expect Comrade Henderson – a dear friend of the column – to address this whoopsie in his online weekend opus, which is so long and tedious that even the Oz won’t print it.
Long and tedious also covers the keynote, delivered by Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, who revved-up the crowd with more details about the Albanese government’s policy brain fart about banning kids from social media.
Riveting stuff.
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