Push the Dutton
Among the many revelations seeping out of the ongoing legal battle between Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto and Lib-turned-indie Moira Deeming is the fact that Peta Credlin has not let her responsibilities as a media figure get in the way of her political involvement.
Credlin, chief of staff to Tony Abbott during his legendarily chaotic time as prime minister, was in regular contact with Deeming around the time of her suspension from the partyroom. Credlin passed on tips regarding which of Deeming’s colleagues the MP might “turn” to support her, and told her solemnly: “We need you to survive this. You will lead the party one day.” So it maybe wasn’t a great shock to read in the Nine papers this week that “Liberal MPs are sounding the alarm” about the influence Abbott and Credlin have over “the strategy and tactics of the federal opposition”.
One point that wasn’t made as clear in the piece as it might have been: more explicit interference from Abbott and Credlin also means even more explicit interference from News Corp. Abbott takes home several hundred thousand dollars as a board member for Fox, and Credlin has been fixture of Sky News for many years, as well as contributing a weekly column in The Australian and the Sunday editions of The Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun.
Coat of many colours
When you’re the richest person in the country, they call this kind of thing “eccentricity”. Gina Rinehart’s Driza-Bone company is offering a special range of women’s riding coats, with special linings depicting the majesty of the Kimberly outback. They’re described in their entirety on the Driza-Bone website thusly:
Memories are solidified when set against a spectacular backdrop of an Australian outback gorge. This stunning location, resembling a natural cathedral, transforms every coat into a piece of Australia’s romantic wilderness. The gorge’s grandeur symbolizes a timeless sanctuary, where love and nature intertwine. This unique lining not only celebrates the majesty of the outback but also captures the profound significance of this awe-inspiring landscape.
Vivid stuff. Only one small detail is missing from the above: the lining ALSO contains what appears to be a photo from the wedding of Rinehart’s family friend and Hancock employee Marguerite Olivier.
Yep, apparently that copywriter decided, or was told, that the presence of a personal family photo on the lining of an expensive coat is the kind of detail that just explains itself. Even to the presumably reasonably large section of shoppers who wouldn’t recognise Rinehart on sight, and/or don’t know that Rinehart owns Driza-Bone. Oh, and did we mention that the wedding photo portion appears to have been photoshopped in from an event that took place somewhere else? Sure. Why the hell not?
ABC declares war
The ABC, more than any other Australian news organisation, has to be careful with its words. As recent events have aptly demonstrated, one clumsy turn of phrase and Aunty faces days, even weeks, of attacks led and/or gleefully amplified in more than half the country’s media outlets. So it’s probably not a great sign that, according to a tipster, its style guide gurus have declared what’s happening in the Middle East is now definitely a war:
“Given the increasing tempo of conflict in the Middle East it is OK to describe what’s happening in the Middle East, including the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah as ‘war in the Middle East’,” the manager of editorial policies for news wrote to staff on Wednesday morning in an email seen by Crikey.
The organisation is being a touch more circumspect when it comes to other issues, though: “We’re still waiting to see how events develop in Lebanon, so we’re not yet describing it as a separate Israel-Hezbollah war or an ‘invasion’ of Lebanon. We’re still calling the ground operations ‘incursions’.”
Kerry Stokes the fire
For footy fans, the AFL grand final may as well be Christmas. Indeed, for those gossips in the media and business world, it is. That’s because there’s nothing quite like the galaxy of names that file into the Olympic Room at the MCG on the last Saturday in September.
The prime minister, the governor-general, and the CEOs of some of the biggest companies in the country were all in attendance, including Seven West chair Kerry Stokes, whose Seven Network holds the free-to-air rights to the AFL as well as exclusive rights to the grand final.
The grand final has always been played (with two pandemic-affected exceptions) in the afternoon, with the traditional 2.30pm timeslot a consistent cause of irritation to media executives, including Stokes, who was all too happy to deride the AFL’s resistance to change.
Asked by The Australian whether the game would hit the bellwether mark of four million viewers, Stokes “forcefully” said “we would if they let us play the game in the twilight”. The game ended up “smashing ratings records”, according to Seven’s press release, hitting 4.02 million viewers and becoming the most-watched program of the year.
When asked who would win the game, Stokes simply told The Australian, “I will”, which is such a rad thing to say, don’t you think?
Crikey asked the AFL whether it had any response to the chair of its primary rights holder publicly admonishing the administration of the league on its biggest day. We didn’t receive an answer.
We guess Kerry’s won this one. Some people are never pleased, are they?
