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Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles has had a busy couple of days.
The snow globe enthusiast has been on a whirlwind tour of Washington DC for a series of meetings, including with his opposite number US Vice President JD Vance at the White House, Trump’s deputy chief-of-staff Stephen Miller, and with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
But it sounds like Marles was finally able to enjoy a little DC downtime on Wednesday evening.
The deputy PM was among the headline attractions at an “Aussie BBQ” hosted at the Washington DC residence of Greg Moriarty, Australia’s ambassador to the United States. About 500 people went along to the knees-up, put on to mark the 75th anniversary of the ANZUS treaty.
Among guests were Queensland Premier David Crisafulli and about a dozen members of the US Congress, including Democrat Joe Courtney and Republican Ryan Zinke. They got to mingle while helping themselves to plenty of Australian lamb, Australian wines and whiskey.
Marles even got up to address the function, CBD was told, leaving guests impressed by his knowledge of the US-Australia alliance after speaking for about 15 minutes without notes.
Earlier that day, Marles and Hegseth discussed expanding the US military presence in Australia. The Pentagon announced in a statement the pair had “agreed to accelerate force posture initiatives at Australian bases”. It was only one of a couple of diary items flagged by Marles’ office before the trip.
Also on Marles’ itinerary was a visit to San Francisco, where he was scheduled to join Assistant Science Minister Andrew Charlton in trying to seduce US tech firms to think of Australia as a “partner of choice” for investment in AI infrastructure. We interpreted this as the pair pitching Australia as a home for data centres Americans increasingly don’t want in their own country.
Next on the roadshow is Britain, where Marles is expected to meet Wes Streeting, the UK’s new Secretary of State for Defence, for some obligatory AUKUS grip-and-grins.
Ardern and Abbott lunch for charity
Every year, the charity known as the Cauliflower Club of Australia brings together members of the rugby community for an annual fundraising lunch. The charity was co-founded by our fellow Herald columnist Peter FitzSimons, who also is the chair. But his role is of zero interest to us today. (Sorry, Peter.)
Instead, it’s those expected to attend the lunch this year who caught our eye – former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, who also happens to be Fitz’s old rugby coach. Tradition has it the charity gets two people to make toasts each year. This year, we’re told it’ll be Abbott and Ardern. (We look forward to the wash-up.)
The lunch is at the Fullerton on October 16 and is being pitched as the “rugby lunch of the decade”. Word is the function is set to sell out at 800 guests, with funds raised to provide equipment for those with disabilities and sports-related injuries, particularly in support of The Sargood Centre, North Shore Spinal Unit and NSW Wheelchair Sports.
Among key guests are famous former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw and independent Senator and former Wallaby David Pocock, who are billed as the headline act in conversation with FitzSimons.
This year, the charity is inaugurating a new prize, the Tim Wedlock Memorial “Servant of the Game” Prize, after the late insurance broker who was the victim of a fatal car crash while crossing an intersection in Nashville last month, and who had deep ties to the Gordon Rugby Club.
All for a good cause.
Fright at the museum
On Thursday, we brought word of the blowback in art circles to intense criticism of Lisa Havilah, who stepped down from her role as Powerhouse Parramatta CEO last week, pending an investigation into “governance and procurement practices”.
Much of this criticism has played out on social media. Much of it has been fair, given the political controversy engulfing the project and July revelations in this masthead it had burnt through more than $70 million before its November opening. Some, though, has been vicious.
Now the Australian Museum has been forced to take action against one of its employees, who we will not name, after they suggested Havilah should receive “the full Mussolini”.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the museum said the staff member has “expressed regret” and has apologised. The spokeswoman said the museum does not endorse or condone the comment. She said the post constituted a breach of its code of conduct and it would take “appropriate action”.
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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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