It seemed like all of Australia was tuned into the emotional rollercoaster that was the Matildas’ penalty shootout triumph over France in Saturday night’s World Cup quarter-final.
All except for former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, who along with a few poor punters at the Commercial Hotel in Walcha, somehow managed to watch the wrong Matildas v France game.
Turns out the pub in northern NSW managed to broadcast a replay of the Tillies’ 1-0 victory over Les Bleues in last month’s pre-tournament friendly, shown on Channel Ten.
Nobody realised anything was amiss until the next morning, Joyce told CBD, when he was surprised to hear everyone else talking about a dramatic penalty shootout.
Joyce was good-natured despite falling victim to an all-time classic stitch up. “It’s like clapping the training at Flemington, not the Cup ... such is life,” he said.
He promised to double-check the pub was playing the right game when the Matildas take on England in Wednesday’s semi-final.
CHALMERS BRINGS IN CHARMER
Even as treasurers go, Jim Chalmers is a political wonk.
This is a bloke who spent pretty much his entire pre-parliamentary life as a Labor staffer, except for the time he was doing a PhD on Labor prime minister Paul Keating. In his downtime, he pens essays on the future of capitalism for The Monthly.
But clearly Chalmers wants to inject a bit of colour and pizazz into his political performance, as he has enlisted the help of ABC golden boy Nick Hayden, the former head of entertainment at the broadcaster.
Sources have confirmed to CBD that after leaving his post at Aunty in July, Hayden will be involved in an entirely new pantomime and has joined Chalmers’ office as a speechwriter, with a bit of strategic communications work thrown in, just as the country is expected to slip into an economic downturn.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has hired a one-time ABC golden boy.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Hayden has had a hand in some of the ABC’s most lauded programming including The House With Annabel Crabb, Spicks and Specks, Tonightly with Tom Ballard, Celeste Barber’s Challenge Accepted, Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery and (incoming) WTFAQ with Chaser “boy” Chas Licciardello.
Hayden steps into a void left after Gerard Richardson, who ran communications for Bill Shorten in 2019 and later worked for NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner, departed as Chalmers’ speechwriter some months ago.
Maybe, just like Geppetto helped Pinocchio, Hayden can make Chalmers less wooden. CBD wasn’t able to reach Hayden, and Chalmers’ office declined to comment.
NO QUESTIONS FOR JOYCE AND ALBO
It was positive vibes only when Anthony Albanese and Qantas boss Alan Joyce spoke at a special event to mark the airline unveiling its logo to support the Yes campaign, that will feature on its planes.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the airline’s unveiling of its Yes logo on Monday.Credit: Louie Douvis
So positive were the vibes that while two of the country’s most powerful men gave speeches in a room with plenty of journalists, neither took a single question.
And we’re sure there were plenty that could have been asked: How more support from wealthy business elites would help transform the Yes campaign’s floundering fortunes? Why the government blocked Qatar Airways’ push to double its flights to Australia? How Albo’s 23-year-old son Nathan managed to score a golden ticket to Qantas’ elite chairman’s lounge?
We’re told it was all a matter of timing – with both men working to a tight schedule, curly questions became an afterthought. How convenient.
LATHAM OUT
Mark Latham’s reign atop NSW One Nation is now over. But not without a parting shot. Latham labelled his axing on Monday by party matriarch Pauline Hanson as “bizarre” and not in line with party due process.
Hanson said the party’s national executive decided last week to establish a new NSW state executive without Latham, and declared his leadership position vacant.
Mark Latham has been pushed out as leader of NSW One Nation, and has accused Pauline Hanson of not following due process.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen/Dominic Lorrimer
It was an unceremonious end to an unceremonious tenure. Latham’s time at the top was punctuated by various offensive comments about the LGBTQI community and the typical right-wing culture war furore that made One Nation a household name and Latham, now, a footnote in history.
C-PACKED
Australia’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is continuing its rightward lurch. Originating from the respectable face of classical conservatism concerned with small government and low taxes, it now appears to be slowly aligning itself with the somewhat outlandish far-right faction that is concerned with causes like forcibly taking over the US Capitol building.
The sponsor of this year’s conference is US-based Christian crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo, which has become the go-to platform for far-right groups to funnel money to legal funds after being banned or restrained from other platforms.
Former MP Warren Mundine.Credit: Trevor Collens
Organised by conservative Australian leaders like Warren Mundine, Andrew Cooper, Howard-era minister Gary Hardgrave and former MP Ross Cameron, the conference will host a slew of current and former MPs, including former prime minister Tony Abbott speaking next weekend.
GiveSendGo was condemned when it provided a platform in the US for Kyle Rittenhouse, Capitol rioters, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell and the Proud Boys.
An analysis by British anti-disinformation organisation Logically found that the site was a “hub for a multimillion-dollar far-right funding network, comprising well-known QAnon supporters, anti-vaccine activists, and the far-right media outlet Project Veritas”.
Others have pointed out that GiveSendGo’s firm devotion to Christianity might conflict with its tacit support of the far-right, white nationalist groups it gives a platform to. We suppose it’s not too surprising.
The CPAC is hosting podcaster Elijah Schaffer, who was sacked from former Fox News firebrand Glenn Beck’s outlet The Blaze after allegations he indecently assaulted a co-worker. Cooper and Mundine didn’t respond to requests for comment.
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