By Kishor Napier-Raman and Stephen Brook
The Mooch has come to town.
Former finance bro Anthony Scaramucci is best known for his tempestuous 11-day stint as Donald Trump’s White House communications director which ended soon after he delivered a profanity-laden tirade to a New Yorker journalist trash-talking various other members of the then-president’s staff.
But having rebranded as an outspoken Trump-hater, crypto evangelist and political podcaster, the Mooch is in high demand and travelled to these shores to address the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia Investment Summit in Newcastle on Thursday.
But the man christened “Gucci Scaramucci” by former president George W. Bush was never going to slum it in Newcastle for long, and returned to the Harbour City for dinner and drinks that evening, after a quick pit-stop on A Current Affair.
Unsurprisingly, a Merivale joint was on the agenda, with the ASFA hosting an exclusive dinner in the private dining room of Good Luck, the latest bauble in Justin Hemmes’ hospitality empire.
While CBD didn’t score an invitation, we did get our hands on what seemed an intriguing guest list. From the political world, Labor’s all-powerful national secretary Paul Erickson and Liberal senator for NSW Maria Kovacic were invited. Union types on the invite list included former Australian Workers’ Union boss Daniel Walton, who now chairs Labor-aligned think tank the McKell Institute, and Tony Maher, president of the Mining and Energy Union, who might not have gotten an invitation had his mob not split from the CFMEU last year.
The superannuation sector was ably represented by ASFA’s chair Gary Dransfield, CEO Mary Delahunty and former Australian Super boss Ian Silk, on the boards of Hawthorn footy club and Crown Melbourne and proud owner of corporate Australia’s most extravagant moustache. Former ABC News Breakfast finance presenter Madeleine Morris, now a consultant with AFSA, was the closest any journos got to the power room.
Also on the invite list were American Chamber of Commerce April Palmerlee, Mills Oakley partner Mark Bland and AMP’s director government Alastair Kinloch.
Whatever pearls of wisdom the Mooch delivered about the Trump White House, or the state of play in November’s presidential race, we’re sure it beat talking about super.
MON’S MOTOR
Happy days for Kooyong’s teal independent MP Monique Ryan, who has finally joined the EV club, purchasing a Volvo XC40 EV in May, according to a parliamentary filing this week.
In a Good Weekend profile published shortly after she’d vanquished Josh Frydenberg at the 2022 federal election, Ryan said she couldn’t afford an EV and was noted to be getting around her electorate in a distinctly environmentally unfriendly 10-year-old VW Golf.
A spokesman noted to CBD: “EVs have come way down in price since Monique gave that quote, which is why it is more affordable – and this in no small part due to the fuel efficiency standards Monique and other independents have fought hard for.”
We wondered if Ryan bought the $76,990 RRP (plus on road costs) XC40 Recharge Single Motor or the $85,990 RRP (plus on road costs) XC40 Recharge Twin Motor, which offers considerably more EV grunt. Alas, we didn’t hear back.
NEVERTHELESS, THEY PERSISTED
Commiserations in the best CBD style to Lucy Bradlow and Bronwen Bock, whose political aspiration to job share as MPs in federal parliament was dead, buried and cremated on Thursday after the Australian Electoral Commission confirmed that the duo’s favoured seat of Higgins would be abolished.
Or so we thought.
Regular readers will recall that Bradlow, a former lawyer who previously worked for Labor’s Kristina Keneally, and Bock, an investment banker, generated blanket media coverage by advocating a one week on, one week off arrangement in Parliament House. Some constitutional lawyers scoffed, and so did we.
But the campaign, which blended far-reaching implications for Australian participatory democracy with $85 B+B branded hoodies, lives on.
“We will be making an announcement on our plans for a relaunched campaign imminently,” the pair told us.
CARE PACKAGE
On Thursday morning, CBD heard whispers that CARE Australia’s new chief executive Kirsty Robertson wouldn’t be starting her new job on Monday.
Robertson was poached to run the charity, which was founded by former prime minister Malcolm Fraser, from Caritas, with her appointment announced last month.
But our mail was that Robertson was out, and the board, which includes Fraser’s daughter Phoebe Wynn-Pope, was at sixes and sevens about how to handle the situation.
Following questions from this column, CARE Australia put out a press release confirming interim chief executive Morgana Ryan would be made permanent, and Robertson would “sadly no longer be commencing in the role of CEO due to unexpected ill-health”. We wish her well.
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