And so to The Lodge, Canberra, for the most exclusive function of the festive season: The Prime Minister’s Press Gallery Christmas drinks.
Canberra being Canberra, where the fun can only ever be off the record, the whole event was governed by the Chatham House rule, which means attendees can report the details of an event but not the identities involved. But here at CBD we instead observe The Chatty House rule, so here’s everything that happened. The event this year was pared down, without a marquee and held in the courtyard near the pool.
When it was last held two years ago Prime Minister Scott Morrison amped up the jokes with ScoMo curry boxes and a special cocktail – the ScoMohito. Alas this year it was beer, wine, sparkling and soft drinks.
Gone was the mainstay canape of the Howard era, the mouth-scalding deep-fried camembert, replaced by prawns in pastry and deep fried. Sausage rolls, steak tartare and ceviche corn tortillas and festive-themed mini pavs and mince pies also featured.
Ministers in attendance included Greg Hunt, Anne Ruston, Simon Birmingh
Andrew Carswell delivered the Prime Minister’s annual roast of journalists at the press gallery’s Christmas party.Credit:Illustration: John Shakespeare
am, Bridget McKenzie, Marise Payne, Michaelia Cash and David Littleproud.
This year the PM took a back seat in the traditional roast of press gallery journalists and handed the gig to Andrew Carswell, his head of communications and media.
He cracked lots of jokes about the different bureaus, recounting how PMO spinners make their way through the hallways, popping into the ABC to speak to 7.30’s Laura Tingle and get some tips on “how we can do better”, then onto The Guardian to have a cup of green tea with Katharine Murphy, to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald to “find out what the Chinese have been up to” and on to News Corp to deliver the daily drop.
The routine got plenty of laughs. By contrast, Morrison played it pretty straight with the usual Christmas wishes and acknowledgement of the challenging year in Parliament House.
ScoMo’s parting shot was loaded with meaning: “I look forward to seeing you all here next year.”
LINE OF DUTY
Walking wounded among the ranks of Federal Parliamentarians this week.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is sporting a splint after he was engaged in domestic duties changing sheets on a bed and borked the tendon of his middle finger.
Apparently the finger now looks like an extra from The Walking Dead.
Senator Kimberley Kitching is recovering after her tangle with a snake.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
And Victorian Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching was bitten on the hand by a venomous brown snake in Brimbank Park in Melbourne on the weekend when she was going to the defence of her beloved pooch Nancy-Jane. Luckily, it was a dry bite – which in reptile terms means the snake bit but didn’t release any venom. But more on the dog: Kitching’s cavoodle is named after former American First Lady Nancy Reagan and US post-war actress Jane Wyman, being respectively the second and first wives of former American President Ronald Reagan. The pooch was named in acknowledgement of her previous cavoodle: Ronnie.
GRAND TOUR
What’s the latest with acclaimed/controversial brain surgeon Charlie Teo?
Readers will recall that after an emergency hearing, the NSW Medical Council has slapped conditions on Teo’s registration, pending completion of an investigation.
The celebrisurgeon has been banned from performing any “recurrent malignant intracranial tumour and brain stem tumour surgical procedures” unless he obtains written approval from an independent neurosurgeon approved by the medical council.
Soon after that Teo skipped out of Australia in August for a grand tour commencing in Europe, first stop Germany, then onwards to the US.
Meanwhile, the Health Care Complaints Commission continues to investigate several complaints, including allegations of a lack of care for interstate patients who came up to Sydney for surgery from Melbourne.
The gallivanting Teo is spruiking his start-up brain-scanning Omniscient Neurotechnology, which aims to provide software to map and analyse the brain’s networks.
And he’s attracted fans. Prominent fund manager Will Vicars has not only invested more than $10 million into Omniscient, he is also a director. Philanthropists Gretel Packer and the Vincent Fairfax family have each invested $2 million.
Other investors include former Vittoria coffee company co-owner Clelia Cantarella, Gina Rinehart’s daughter Ginia and property developer Phil Wolanski.
“This is revolutionary, what they’re doing,” Vicars recently enthused to the Australian Financial Review.
Now, Teo has popped up in India, conducting a workshop for 39 surgeons in the city of Pune, according to the Hindustan Times.
But the paper was, in contrast to Vicars, more measured in its description of Omniscient, stating: “However, being a new technology there is no guarantee and it is still developing.”
WHEN FRIENDS FALL OUT
A board meeting on Monday would have rated as one of those tough days in the office at Sydney’s Aitken Investment Management. After all, investors – and the rest of the eastern seaboard – learned over the weekend to be true what they had been hearing for weeks: co-founder and chief investment officer Charlie Aitken had split from co-founder wife Ellie Aitken and was in a relationship with Hollie Nasser, the wife of AIM investor and board member Chris Nasser. A complete mess at home and at work and the ultimate nightmare in corporate governance. The pubs investor reportedly found out about his wife’s relationship with Aitken around the Friday, November 12. He resigned as a director the next day and installed his younger brother Damien Nasser in his place to keep watch over the family’s significant investment in the fund manager. Those close to Nasser said he moved with speed to recuse himself in a bid to avoid any messy potential conflicts of interest around the board table. In a statement to media, Nasser didn’t mince his words: “While the affair has greatly impacted me and my children, it is a private matter and I do not wish to go into any detail about it.” Safe to assume Monday’s board meeting was … awkward.
AIM did not respond to questions on Tuesday. Damien Nasser did not respond to questions amid whispers they are considering divesting their stake. And who could blame the Nasser family from wanting a clean break with the fund manager?
Meanwhile, Charlie Aitken told investors last week he would take leave to attend to a “personal matter” while co-portfolio managers Etienne Vlok and Dan Gerdis would continue to run AIM’s global high conviction fund. “I thank you for your understanding and want to assure you that there is no interruption to the way your investment is managed by the team at AIM,” Aitken said.
Which – if you ignore the departure of a board member and an icy atmosphere among staff who are still reeling over the affair – could almost be true.
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