Revenge of the hyphenated names
The Australian Greens have sworn in their latest federal senator: Steph Hodgins-May, a Victorian taking the seat vacated by Janet Rice, who formally resigned in April. Hodgins-May’s appointment means yet another double-barrelled name has joined the ranks of the party, bringing the total to seven. A deep breath for the other six: Allman-Payne, Chandler-Mather, Hanson-Young, Steele-John, Watson-Brown, Whish-Wilson. Last week Margin Call clocked the hyphens and hinted that they may be out of touch with the ordinary people (47% of Greens compared to 3% of the population!)
Crikey knows of at least one former prime minister who’d be horrified by all these hyphens. Cast your mind (waaaay) back to the Teak Table affair, when John Laws asked then prime minister Paul Keating about the controversy swirling around the purchase of an antique table for the Lodge: “what is the story with this wretched teak table?”
PM: Look, I think this is the revenge of the ‘hyphenated names’.
JL: The what?
PM: The hyphenated names. It is all the people with their hyphens showing, didn’t you see, there is more double names in this stunt than you have ever seen in your life it is all the basically it is either the blue rinse set or the hyphenated names striking back. Whenever you read it there is Dawson-Damer there is all these sort of, hyphenated names. Basically, it is the old Tory antique club who have got on the back of this and Tamnie is holding the side the up with a plum in her mouth, doing her best for them too.
These days, aside from the Greens, the only two hyphenated names in Parliament belong to… the Labor Party. How the tables have turned.
Clive’s favourites
Our old friend Clive Palmer has a long and colourful background in the sporting boardrooms of the country. One of his most infamous endeavours was his stewardship as majority owner of ill-fated former A-League football club Gold Coast United.
Former Young Socceroo and podcaster Jake Barker-Daish, who made seven senior appearances for Gold Coast, came out recently to reminisce on Palmer’s time as owner, telling the Suited and Booted podcast that Palmer would personally pick players, even getting particularly keen on one player on the basis of mistaken identity.
According to Barker-Daish, with Palmer having seen Gold Coast defeat Premier League club Fulham 2-1 in a preseason friendly, he became completely enamoured with a player who he thought to be named Mitch Bevan, who in fact had not played in the game at all (Palmer had confused Bevan for teammate Steven Lustica). Bevan was at the tender age of 18, merely a youth player for the club, but would go on to make eight senior appearances for Gold Coast, with Barker-Daish claiming Palmer would “help him out with certain things in life”.
“I’m out there gunning, hard work, and some bloke’s getting a gig because he was thought to be someone else,” said Barker-Daish.
We contacted Palmer for comment, but he said he didn’t talk to Crikey before promptly hanging up. Which was weird, seeing as he gave us a comment last week and we’ve interviewed him a few times before. Must be another case of mistaken identity.
News Corp strapped for cash
The purse strings are tight at News Corp these days — and understandably so. The company has just embarked on $65 million worth of cuts that have already seen some high-profile departures.
While the usual Christmas bash might be a little less lavish this year, News Corp management felt it prudent to remind staff of the corporate card policy, with an email seen by Crikey from corporate finance director Ian Baldwin telling staff that “over the last 12 months, [News Corp] has seen a steady increase in credit card transaction activity for travel, entertainment and gifts to staff and third parties.”
“As we navigate a more uncertain economic environment, we must ensure that our spend in these areas is appropriate for our business needs,” Baldwin told staff.
