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Over the past week or so, reaction to news that Powerhouse Parramatta chief executive Lisa Havilah had stepped aside from her role has become so intense that her husband, artist Glenn Barkley, has stepped in to defend her.
As far as we can tell, the criticism of Havilah turned into a frenzy last week following a post to Instagram by prominent art critic John McDonald. The post, which included what appears to be an AI-generated image depicting Havilah as Anne Boleyn, triggered an immediate backlash.
It also elicited public defences of Havilah, who stepped down from her role last week, pending an investigation into “governance and procurement practices”.
Havilah’s husband Barkley criticised McDonald, taking issue with the depiction of Havilah as Boleyn, who was beheaded for treason in 1536, and said it opened the door to an online pile-on.
The “attacks on Lisa have to stop,” Barkley told CBD. “There’s room for respectful debate, but when it tips over into the pile-on which we’ve seen from adults who should know better, I think they should be held to account.”
McDonald didn’t respond to a request for comment. One of the critic’s defenders online, though, argued the image was “not a call to violence” but rather an “image of hubris just before the fall, and an object of reflection”. (Surely we aren’t the only ones wondering whether the Albanese government’s teen social media ban may have targeted the wrong cohort.)
The firestorm is the latest development in the NSW government’s messy Powerhouse saga. The Powerhouse project has, of course, been hamstrung by political controversy, and in July this masthead revealed it had burnt through more than $70 million before its November opening.
But at least Havilah can rest assured that she’s still up for, uh, Sydneysider of the Year.
The Committee for Sydney announced Havilah was a finalist for the award alongside Bondi hero Ahmed Al Ahmed and David Gonski on Wednesday. Just days earlier the committee told CBD its judging panel deliberated and selected winners and highly commended candidates for each category when they met in July.
“We note that an investigation has commenced and Lisa Havilah has stepped aside while it’s under way,” a spokesman said. “It would be inappropriate to comment on an active investigation where the details are not known.”
D-day for Canberra lobbyists
There was a bit of a scramble for Canberra’s self-described influence peddlers on Wednesday, after the Parliament House security pass office reminded the capital’s lobbyists they had to reapply for passes to walk freely through the halls of parliament.
In other words, D-day had arrived. Lobbyists were told they’d now need two parliamentarians to sponsor their applications for the orange passes worn by political lobbyists and corporate representatives like scarlet letters in Parliament House.
Lobbyists now require a primary sponsor, who lobbyists were told in the email seen by CBD will be “responsible for your behaviour in APH”, as well as a secondary sponsor. The name of the primary sponsor will be printed on lobbyist access passes.
“To continue to hold access to the private areas of APH you need to reapply for a new access card under one of the new card categories by 31 October, 2026. Cards issued under the previous policy provisions will be deactivated by 31 October, 2026,” read the email sent by the security pass office.
But it sounds like some parliamentarians who’d previously been up for sponsoring passes were suddenly feeling a little shy after the changes, leaving some scrambling to renew passes. Others, CBD hears, have been waiting for their applications to be cleared for weeks.
The changes arrive as part of a major overhaul of the parliamentary pass system, first revealed by this masthead in June, following pressure from independent MPs and senators who had long pushed for more transparency around sponsored access to parliament. The changes will also include an online register set to list the names of organisations with parliamentary passes, and their sponsoring MPs.
Pallas’ next act
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from former Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas, who retired from parliament in late 2024 after more than a decade as state treasurer, most notably as former premier Daniel Andrews’ long-time money man.
So imagine our delight to see the big man is back. And, like most who spend a lifetime cultivating monetisable relationships in the public service, Pallas has unsurprisingly registered himself as a lobbyist in Canberra, according to the attorney-general’s lobbyist register.
His first registered client is Pure New World, a company that turns toxic soil into bricks, where he already serves as a “strategic adviser” along with former federal Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos, who until 2023 was Australia’s ambassador to the United States.
We tried to learn more about Pallas’ new venture, and whether he would shill for anyone else, but he didn’t get back to us. Either way, we have every confidence Pure New World is in good hands. After all, this is the guy whose government, on the day he announced his retirement, was expecting Victoria’s net debt to hit $187.3 billion by June 2028.
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John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.From our partners
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