Actor Craig McLachlan is attempting to stage a comeback.
asserted
McLachlan → attempt → comeback
The former Neighbours star’s career has been spluttering since he was found not guilty of indecent assault involving allegations made about his behaviour during a production of The Rocky Horror Show.
asserted
he → splutter → Show
After attempting a comeback last year, and cancelling it, McLachlan will appear next month in his own cabaret, music, circus, magic and “gloriously twisted” comedy show titled Schadenfreude.
asserted
McLachlan → attempt → cabaret
The blurb from his PR, Max Markson, states: “The good doctor has a theory: there is something wonderfully entertaining about watching somebody else’s perfectly ordered world fall apart.
asserted
world → state → theory
And he intends to explain exactly why.”
asserted
he → intend → ?
Nothing to do with McLachlan’s real life we are sure.
asserted
we → do → life
The show might rankle with those who kept an eye on McLachlan over the years.
uncertain
who → rankle → years
In 2018, this masthead reported the former star of the Doctor Blake Mysteries was alleged to have indecently assaulted and sexually harassed female performers during a 2014 stage production of The Rocky Horror Show.
asserted
star → report → Show
McLachlan then launched defamation proceedings against this masthead, the ABC and performer Christie Whelan Browne over reports about the allegations.
asserted
McLachlan → launch → allegations
In 2020, he was acquitted in the criminal case involving allegations made by four women.
asserted
he → acquit → women
In 2022, McLachlan abandoned his defamation case and was ordered to pay legal costs.
asserted
McLachlan → abandon → costs
And in 2024 Whelan Browne settled out of court a case she brought against production company GFO, seeking compensation for lost earnings and damages.
asserted
she → settle → earnings
McLachlan is in Greece on holidays ahead of the big gig, which opens at Melbourne’s Spiegel Haus on October 28 ahead of a potential Sydney run.
asserted
which → open → run
Appearing alongside him is a former cast member of The Rocky Horror Show, Kristian Lavercombe, who played Riff Raff in 2600 performances, as well as another Rocky Horror alumni, Stellar Perry, a 2020 grand finalist on The Voice Australia.
asserted
who → appear → Voice
The outcry was considerable a year ago when McLachlan was cast by producer John Frost in a production of Cluedo, and he abandoned the role.
asserted
he → cast → role
In 2023, he appeared in Seven’s survival reality series SAS Australia, quitting the course before the finale.
asserted
he → appear → finale
Schadenfreude promises original music, twisted takes on familiar songs, burlesque and puppetry.
asserted
Schadenfreude → promise → songs
Failure to launch
To infinity and beyond is the dream of former prime minister Scott Morrison, but the plan to build a space port in Far North Queensland might have hit gravitational turbulence after a court application to wind up a company associated with the venture.
uncertain
plan → launch → venture
Regular readers will recall that Morrison took up the gig as non-executive chairman of Space Centre Australia in October 2024.
asserted
Morrison → recall → October
Shortly after, Space Centre Australia signed a contract with Hensoldt, the local offshoot of a German aerospace and defence company, to buy two high-performance, next-generation air surveillance radar systems (ASR-NG) in a deal worth about $30 million.
asserted
Australia → sign → deal
Morrison flew to Taufkirchen, Germany, for the signing along with James Palmer, chief executive of Space Centre Australia.
asserted
Morrison → fly → Australia
The ex-PM said: “The establishment of SCA’s Spaceport in Cape York will not just provide the infrastructure needed to make Australia a leading nation in the global space industry, but it will importantly and significantly enhance Australia’s surveillance and aviation domain management capabilities in remote Northern Australia, to support the work of our defence forces and border protection agencies.”
Oh, to dream a dream.
asserted
it → say → dream
But ASIC documents show that on September 9, Space Centre Australia changed its name to A.C.N. 651 009 737 PTY LTD.
asserted
Australia → show → LTD
And on September 17 Hensoldt lodged in the West Australian Supreme Court action to wind up the company known as Space Centre Australia but now listed under the company number.
asserted
Hensoldt → lodge → number
CBD reached Hensoldt’s Perth law firm, Jackson McDonald, where a wary sounding lawyer declined to comment.
asserted
lawyer → reach → firm
WA court documents include an affidavit from Nadine Baertl, who is head of finance and control new business and global operations at Hensoldt.
asserted
who → include → Hensoldt
Morrison and Palmer were approached for comment, but did not respond by deadline.
The WA court application is listed for October 29.
asserted
application → approach → October
On Wednesday, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was seen sauntering down George Street in Sydney’s CBD, near the Four Seasons hotel in The Rocks, flanked by an entourage and security.
asserted
Hanson → see → entourage
The following afternoon, Hanson’s man in Farrer, David Farley, was seen several hundred kilometres south of his NSW border electorate, outside Melbourne’s historic art deco National Bank of Australia (Western Branch) building, which is now commercial office space.
asserted
which → follow → building
Who said One Nation was just for the outer suburbs?
asserted
Nation → say → suburbs
Its representatives are occasionally spotted in the big smoke.
asserted
representatives → spot → smoke
Heading into Thursday, most people wouldn’t have known much about Brent Thomas, the Australian-based global affairs executive at OpenAI responsible for working with the federal government.
asserted
people → head → government
No doubt he’ll have better name recognition now, though.
asserted
he → have → recognition
Thomas, who is one of the artificial intelligence behemoth’s most senior local executives, has had a whirlwind 24 hours.
asserted
who → have → whirlwind
There were the bombshell revelations made by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of a rogue OpenAI agent infiltrating Medicare.
asserted
agent → be → Medicare
Then NSW Premier Chris Minns came out and said there was another incident involving an OpenAI agent accessing information held by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
asserted
Minns → come → Statistics
On Thursday, the power of CBD prevailed once again, when we became the only reporters in the country to get Thomas on the phone.
asserted
we → prevail → phone
The substantive issue we sought comment on was the new $90,000 swimming pool he was granted local council approval for in his humble Sydney suburb of Mortdale.
asserted
he → seek → Mortdale
Our luck ended shortly after Thomas picked up the phone, at which point he politely told us where to go.
asserted
he → end → us
The Aporia
