Retirement is easy. But for some, it’s the staying retired that can be hard. Despite keeping a relatively low profile in his post-politics existence, former premier Daniel Andrews just can’t seem to stay too far away from a big announcement – and from his successor, Jacinta Allan.
Ministerial diaries for the end of 2024, published on Wednesday – only three months after they were due – revealed Andrews, who resigned late in 2023, and Allan got the old band back together for a meeting at the start of October to discuss “more housing for Victorians”.
Former premier Daniel Andrews: Still involved in housing policy?Credit: Nathan Perri
The next day, Allan sat down with the Master Builders Association, the Housing Industry Association and representatives from building companies Metricon, AHB Group, JG King, Harris HMC, Mazzei Homes and Icon Victoria. They discussed “more housing for Victorians”.
Further specifics of the meetings, held weeks before Allan announced new housing policies with an attendant declaration she wanted to be the premier who got Millennials into homes, remain a mystery. Neither meeting apparently required a housing or a planning minister’s presence.
A more cynical column might wonder whether Allan had asked Andrews for advice on Victorian Labor’s diabolical polling numbers, or how to manage the state’s debt levels. Talk about a hospital handpass.
Speaking of legacy items, Allan’s diary also shows she spent the end of the year discussing her pet project, the Suburban Rail Loop.
At a meeting in November, she joined another colleague, former deputy premier and now SRL Authority chair James Merlino, to talk to major stakeholders affected by the project (projected cost: many, many billions of dollars), including representatives from universities, health boards, the Shopping Centre Council and Scentre chief executive Elliott Rusanow.
Other notables to get face-time with Allan included former Australia Post executive Ahmed Fahour, who now chairs the Premier’s Business Council; Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon; and New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister, Winston Peters.
Sayers splits with wife
Ex-Carlton boss Luke Sayers has split with his wife, months after becoming embroiled in scandal when a lewd image was posted to his social media account.
A source close to Sayers, speaking anonymously to discuss personal matters, confirmed the news on Thursday, describing the split as mutual after the pair spent much time living separately in different countries over the past few years.
Luke Sayers and wife Cate in an undated image.Credit: Photo: Exclusively obtained by The Age
Cate Sayers has been spending much of her time in Italy while Sayers is based in Melbourne. Luke Sayers is a former chief executive of PwC Australia and is one of Melbourne’s most-influential movers and shakers, counting former premier Andrews as a close confidant.
He quit as Carlton president in January after an AFL investigation found his social media account had been compromised. The investigation concluded he was not responsible for posting the lewd image, which tagged an executive of Bupa, one of Carlton’s corporate partners.
Burke claps back
CBD brought word this week that American extremist Candace Owens was lawyering up, asking the High Court to overturn a decision by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to deny her a visa to Australia. Owens hopes that if the court rules in her favour, she can come to these shores early next year.
Burke, who is defending his western Sydney electorate of Watson against independent candidate Ziad Basyouny, took time out of the campaign to hit back at Owens, telling CBD: “It seems Ms Owens is willing to do anything to avoid refunding the people who paid to see her speak.”
Travelling Albo show
After the bright lights of Las Vegas, the NRL is headed to another glamorous desert-fringed rugby league wasteland this weekend, playing a double-header in Perth on Saturday.
CBD hears Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been invited to watch his beloved Souths take on the North Queensland Cowboys in the cavernous bowl of Optus Stadium, alongside West Australian Premier Roger Cook. The PM’s campaign schedule is kept closely under wraps – even journalists travelling in the media circus have no idea where they’re headed on any given day.
But we wouldn’t be surprised to see Albo in Perth this weekend. A big late swing in Western Australia three years ago effectively delivered Labor majority government, and Albanese has been sandbagging those seats in Perth ever since, making regular trips throughout this term, and heading there on day two of the campaign.
If he takes time to watch the match, it’d be quite a vote of confidence in Labor’s position as the race reaches its midpoint. The NRL, on the other hand, can afford to snub the Sandgropers. Saturday’s double header comes with relations between the league and the WA government particularly frosty, after recent revelations that it had put plans for an expansion team in Perth on ice.
A furious Premier Cook, who has been lobbying Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter “Showbags” V’landys to help get a team established, urged the NRL to treat WA with more respect. To misquote Don Draper, “That’s what the [GST] money is for!”
Daryl’s day
Former TV host and current Boomer icon Daryl Somers seems to have had a win in his dispute with former IT contractor George Johnson. Somers made his name hosting long-running variety show Hey Hey It’s Saturday but is now more likely to be seen in court roles than on TV sets; he won a trademark battle over Hey Hey’s Celebrity Head game last week.
Last year, Somers’ lawyers asked the Supreme Court to order Johnson to hand back admin access to Somers’ production company’s IT systems, after a dispute arose over an invoice.
The court has now ordered Johnson to pay some of Somers’ costs. CBD understands costs on both sides run into the tens of thousands.
Daryl Somers on the final night of Hey Hey It’s Saturday in 1999.Credit: Simon Schluter.
“The proceeding to which you refer has been resolved, and my client was pleased to receive an order for costs in its favour made by the Supreme Court of Victoria on 18 February 2025,” Somers’ lawyer, Christien Corns, from K&L Gates told us.
For his part, Johnson had only this to say: “I hope this is the end of it.”
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