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Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro has had a lot on his plate in the years since he walked away from state politics.
Earlier this year, of course, CBD reported that the restless former Nationals MP was back on the tools working as a building and pest inspector on Sydney’s lower north shore, after reportedly missing out on a job at Griffith City Council last year. But something told us then that life as a small business owner wouldn’t be enough to satiate Barilaro, despite what he was telling us.
Well, it turns out Barra is officially (sort of) back. The former NSW deputy premier was formally elected to the central council of the NSW Nationals at the party’s annual general conference in Albury earlier this month. Which is to say Barra now has a seat on the governing body of the National Party of Australia.
Barilaro was one of 10 new councillors appointed to the party’s governing body at the conference in Albury, alongside former federal Nationals MP Dr David Gillespie and a string of others. When asked what made him put his hand up for the role, Barilaro said he was encouraged by a gaggle of members and former colleagues, and said he still felt he had a contribution to make.
“The Nationals have been my political home for many years and I’m proud of what we achieved during my time in government for regional NSW,” Barilaro told CBD on Sunday. “Remaining involved allows me to continue contributing my experience and supporting the values and communities I’ve always cared deeply about.”
Barilaro has kept a relatively low profile in life after politics, notwithstanding his controversial appointment to a $500,000 trade role in New York from which he swiftly stood down. Or his appearance at the Mosman home of conservative lobbyist Michael Kauter and his then-husband David Gracey, living his best life celebrating the “No” vote at the Indigenous Voice to parliament referendum.
For the avoidance of any doubt, though, Barilaro said his “focus remains firmly” on his business, which he said he’d continue to run, after acquiring the Resicert “building and pest inspector” franchise servicing Sydney’s inner north. When we last caught up with Barilaro he said that giving home buyers clarity and confidence has given him “a real sense of purpose”.
“Post-politics and now in semi-retirement, rather than returning directly to what I did before, I chose a different path,” he said back in February. How quickly things can change.
Jerome Laxale, the Seattle mayor and RFK Jr
When we heard the Albanese government’s one-man World Cup contingent Jerome Laxale was eager to mix it up with his foreign counterparts on his trip stateside, we were naturally sceptical.
But it turns out the trip wasn’t entirely politics-free. In the lead-up to the Socceroos’ 2-0 group-stage defeat to the United States over the weekend, CBD got word that Laxale was expecting to be seated in the vicinity of none other than Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the Trump administration’s anti-vax secretary of health and human services.
Word is the football-fanatic member for Bennelong didn’t end up sitting next to RFK, who reportedly said in a 2012 deposition that he believed a parasite ate part of his brain. The Trump official was, however, seated in the same area.
Instead, we’re told Laxale was busy chatting to Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, and also spent a bit of time mixing it up with Andrew Giuliani, who’s serving as the executive director of the White House FIFA World Cup Task Force. He’s also the son of Trump’s former lawyer and consigliere Rudy Giuliani, perhaps best known for that infamous hair dye incident.
Laxale was expected to be joined on the World Cup trip by four of his Liberal Party counterparts, including senators Anne Ruston and Richard Colbeck, along with the baby-faced South Australian Liberal MP Tom Venning. Also planning to go was Simon Kennedy, who was once Laxale’s opponent in Bennelong.
Reality TV plot twist for Victorian MP Wayne Farnham
As someone who has publicly declared he cannot stand reality TV, it was a bit of a surprise to see the Victorian MP Wayne Farnham urging people to watch a dating show on the Seven Network in state parliament last week.
But it was a very personal reason that had him spruiking The Farmer Wants a Wife – a sort of MAFS-lite reality-TV offering where a handful of lovelorn farmers are matched with singles.
Farnham’s sudden interest in the show, it turns out, comes because his daughter Gabbie is one of the single women taking part in the reality romp this season. Gabbie, a Gippsland-based marketing manager, was paired with Alex, 28, a beef and mushroom farmer from Queensland who writes poetry.
Gippsland and mushrooms … what a match! We won’t go down that path. Farnham’s call-out to his parliamentary colleagues to watch the show even made it to Hansard, the official report of the proceedings and exchanges in the Victorian parliament.
“I hate reality television – I cannot stand it – but I am going to set the rumours straight. Gabbie, who is on Farmer Wants a Wife, is, in fact, my daughter, so you can all tune in and you can find out what happens,” Farnham, no relation to John, was recorded as saying.
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John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
Fiona Byrne is the CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.From our partners
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