Buyers in Crown's Barangaroo casino and hotel tower are combining apartments.

Buyers in Crown's Barangaroo casino and hotel tower are combining apartments.Credit:Wolter Peeters

There aren't your average flats. One buyer has asked that"one of the terraces associated with the apartment at Level 64 is proposed to be extended ... accommodating a small pool,"according to documents filed with the City of Sydney note.

The amalgamation of so many apartments might cause planning headaches for Crown team given there won't be a corresponding reduction in the 157 car spaces for residents. Indeed,Crown is trying to assure City of Sydney planners there won't be any traffic snarls.

"Given the high-end apartments within the Crown Sydney Resort and the large proportion of'collectible cars',residential car spaces will only generate trips occasionally and be on a discretionary basis mostly outside of commuter peak periods,"Crown wrote to the city's sustainability bossKristjan Young in May.

Another report submitted in August provided more compelling detail.

"These[residents] commonly typically own three different vehicles … a family 4x4,a luxury vehicle for general use and a'weekender'sports car,"the report read.

It also noted Crown buyers tend to be"members of car enthusiast clubs such as Sydney Harbour Concours D'Elégance as well as being clients of … McLaren,Mercedes,Ferrari,Porsche,Rolls Royce and Bentley. These purchasers therefore require adequate spaces to store those cars."

For the record Packer's mega-apartment comes with six spaces.

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BACK AT THE CREASE

It was last December that Immigration MinisterDavid Coleman took indefinite leave from his portfolio for personal reasons."I look forward to him returning to his ministerial role when he is in a position to do so,"Prime MinisterScott Morrison said at the time.

Since then the federal member for Banks in Sydney has forgone his ministerial salary but continues working as a local MP. The reasons for the personal leave have not been made public. Coleman and wifeDotte sold their home in Lugarno in Sydney's south a few weeks ago and returned to their original family home in Cronulla,in the neighbouring electorate of Cook,which they've owned since 2007.

Nothing more has been said about the matter by any federal Liberal. But suggestions Coleman is planning to retire from parliament are off the mark.

A deadline is looming in December with a ministerial reshuffle triggered by the resignation of SenatorMathias Cormann. Coleman has told friends he wants to remain an MP and contest the next election. But he is less certain about resuming his ministerial duties.

A spokesman for Coleman did not comment on his personal leave from the ministry but said that he continued to work on a daily basis on electorate matters. Before entering parliament in 2013 Coleman was Director of Strategy and Digital at Nine Entertainment (now the owner of this masthead).

JUST GOOD MATES

Bill Shorten and Jim Chalmers.

Bill Shorten and Jim Chalmers.Credit:John Shakespeare

Last week numerous Labor MPs were spooked after hearing about a dinner hosted by ambitious opposition treasury spokesmanJim Chalmers and a cross-factional team of about 20 includingBill Shorten,Tanya Plibersek andBrendan O'Connor. This week MPs have been even more unnerved to learnAnthony Albanese's chief of staffTim Gartrell read staff in the Opposition Leader's office the riot act,ordering them to ditch the schoolyard cliqueness and work as a team.

But it's great to see a relationship between Chalmers and Shorten continues to flourish.

Members of Shorten's electorate have this week been invited to the second event of his newly formed Maribyrnong Ideas Forum. Next week's event gathering is titled:"Post COVID Recovery:the Future of the Economy". And the special guest?Jim Chalmers. Of course.

BILL AND HILLARY CAMPERDOWN

Big things were expected when high-profile Sydney University studentsGabi Stricker-Phelps andLachlan Finch hooked up. And they haven't disappointed.

Finch,who is doing a Masters in Commerce,is treasurer of the NSW Young Liberals and works at Commonwealth Bank while Stricker-Phelps is independent political royalty as the daughter of former Wentworth MPKerryn Phelpsand partnerJackie Stricker-Phelps. Gabi,who studies economics and law,has also been elected to the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.

And this week the couple notched up another win,securing the only two student positions on the university's 15-member Senate. It is an august body that includes former Foxtel bossRichard Freudenstein,Perpetual chairmanPeter Scott,former Origin executiveKaren Mosesand theHerald'sownKate McClymont.

The student power couple ran on a joint ticket called"Demand a Better USyd"with the tagline,"a united team with a plan".

Missing information? The fact they are dating.

"Our relationship is no secret,"Finch said on Thursday."Gabi and I campaigned together because we have a shared vision for the future of the University of Sydney … While we ran a joint campaign,we were separately elected from different constituencies - Gabi from the undergraduate student body,and myself from the postgraduate body."

Jackie Stricker-Phelps was every bit the proud parent this week."So proud,"she wrote in a Facebook post."Watch out world".

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