Well, this sounds like it’ll be a hoot.
asserted
it → sound → ?
Liberal Party MP Simon Kennedy has been billed as the headline act of a fundraising dinner that appears to be co-hosted by the party’s Caringbah branch president, Marie Simone.
asserted
that → bill → president
The name might look familiar: in 2021 Simone made news in this masthead for falling short in Liberal Party pre-selections ahead of local elections.
uncertain
Simone → look → elections
At the time, she and her husband, Rene Licata, were known for driving matching Maseratis.
asserted
she → know → Maseratis
Licata was also chief executive of the property developer the Manta Group, which fell into administration in March last year.
asserted
which → fall → March
Still, the Manta Group name appears to live on.
asserted
name → appear → ?
Or at least the failed property developer’s website domain does.
asserted
domain → fail → ?
Simone, funnily enough, is still using a Manta Group email address.
asserted
Simone → use → address
And it gets better: Simone’s Manta Group email address is listed as the contact on the NSW Liberal Party event listing.
asserted
address → get → listing
But Simone’s name isn’t the only one that caught our eye.
asserted
that → catch → eye
The “exclusive dinner”, which will go ahead at The Loft on Pyrmont’s Jones Bay Wharf, also promises guest appearances from shadow treasurer Tim Wilson, and none other than NSW Liberal frontbencher Chris Rath, who the ICAC last month confirmed helped party operatives avoid a parliamentary inquiry.
asserted
operatives → go → inquiry
That hasn’t stopped the NSW Libs from wheeling Rath out for the party faithful.
asserted
That → stop → faithful
(Regular readers will no doubt recall he was a special guest at NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane’s sleepy Coogee campaign launch late last month.)
asserted
he → recall → launch
So our guess is Kennedy and Wilson are feeling pretty relaxed about the whole thing, too.
asserted
Kennedy → feel → thing
Kennedy declined to comment and Wilson’s office didn’t get back to us by deadline.
asserted
office → decline → deadline
It’s only been about a month since Politico set up shop in Australia with the launch of its Canberra Playbook newsletter.
asserted
Politico → set → newsletter
Now it’s mulling plans to ratchet up its output.
asserted
it → mull → output
Next month the buzzy insider publication will launch a new podcast, according to people familiar with the plan.
uncertain
publication → launch → plan
The podcast is set to go live in the sitting week beginning October 12 and will be hosted by Amanda Copp, currently a federal political reporter at the Nine Network (which is owned by Nine Entertainment, owner of this masthead).
asserted
which → set → masthead
On top of the podcast, Politico’s Australian launch editor Ryan Heath is also considering a second daily edition of Playbook, we’re told, in line with the dual AM and PM editions sent out in Washington, DC.
asserted
we → consider → Washington
No word yet on when exactly Politico Australia will start sending a second edition but our guess is it’d begin only after the arrival of reinforcements.
asserted
it → start → reinforcements
For the last month Heath has had two reporters: Finn McHugh, formerly of Capital Brief, and Miriam Webber, who joined from The Canberra Times.
asserted
who → have → Times
They’ll soon be joined by Paul Karp, who seems to be there in spirit already but has still been serving out his notice at The Australian Financial Review (also owned by Nine).
asserted
who → join → Nine
The ABC finally has a new news boss.
asserted
ABC → have → boss
Simon Robinson’s arrival at the broadcaster has been hotly anticipated since the ABC announced that he’d been appointed as successor to Justin Stevens as the broadcaster’s next director of news in late May.
uncertain
he → anticipate → May
On Monday the day finally arrived.
asserted
day → arrive → Monday
Robinson, who joined the ABC following 16 years at the well-respected global news agency Reuters, has mostly spent his first few days in the job getting to know colleagues from the broadcaster’s Ultimo headquarters, we’re told, and heading out to meet the troops in Parramatta.
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we → join → Parramatta
But for many of the ABC’s news division staff, Thursday will be the first time they get a real sense of their new boss when he addresses staff at a town hall in conversation with ABC presenter Leigh Sales.
asserted
he → get → Sales
Going into Thursday the expectations were high.
asserted
expectations → go → Thursday
Robinson was most recently the deputy to Reuters editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni, who oversees a newsroom of about 2600 people, many of them in bureaus around the world with a reputation for breaking accurate news on everything from war zones to financial markets with speed.
asserted
who → oversee → speed
In a more-than-1000-word note to staff on Monday, Robinson hinted at some of his priorities.
asserted
Robinson → hint → priorities
There were the obligatory “trust matters”, a focus on “getting the basics right”, following the reporting, acknowledging errors, being transparent about addressing them, and so on.
asserted
basics → be → them
No doubt managing director Hugh Marks wishes he’d had Robinson around a little earlier!
asserted
he → wish → Robinson
The ABC declined to comment.
asserted
ABC → decline → ?
But Robinson also showed a little ambition.
asserted
Robinson → show → ambition
“We already do so much that is world-beating.
asserted
that → do → much
I want us to be excellent in everything we do – on screen, on radio, online and in the country’s inboxes,” he wrote in the sprawling Monday email, seen by CBD.
asserted
he → want → CBD
“Specifically, I think we can become even stronger at covering breaking news, the bread and butter of almost all newsrooms, and at breaking more news ourselves.”
asserted
we → think → news
We look forward to hearing how Thursday goes.
asserted
Thursday → look → ?
The Aporia
