Psychedelic drug advocates call in the lobbyists for help

For campaigners trying to get psychedelic drugs prescribed for clinical use in Australia,the last few months have resembled a bad trip. The main charity leading the push to get MDMA and psilocybin (the ingredient in magic mushrooms) rescheduled for clinical use by the Therapeutic Goods Administration is a mob called Mind Medicine Australia,run by investment bankerPeter Hunt and his opera singer wife,Tania de Jong.

With a board that boasts former trade ministerAndrew Robb,Ethics Centre boss Dr Simon Longstaff,and investment bankerNicholas Smedley,the group looked well placed to give shrooms and pingers the old legitimacy they so badly needed to get the typically risk-averse pointy-heads at the TGA on board. So far,those pointy heads have resisted.

Then along cameFour Corners. An episode aired on Aunty’s flagship investigative program in July alleged harassment and legal threats made against former employees,plus the small matter of a convicted drug cook acting as a scientific adviser.

MMA immediately went on the defensive,denying claims in the story before it had even gone to air,and hitting out at what it called “unsubstantiated,misleading and disingenuous claims” made byFour Corners.

With MMA now battling the ABC’s complaints process over the episode with one hand,and unfriendly bureaucrats with the other,the group has turned to lobbyists for help,retaining traditionally Labor-aligned government relations and strategic advisory firm Hawker Britton last month.

CBD hears Hunt has known Hawker Britton’s bossSimon Banks from his banking days,and the group hopes his lobbying prowess will help open doors in Canberra,and get them in the ear of federal and state ministers.

Meanwhile,MMA is also reaching out for donations – it’s set to host its inaugural annual dinner at Melbourne’s exclusive Australian Club later this month,with tickets setting you back only $500 a pop,or $5000 for a corporate table. That’s quite the sesh.

Industrial Relations

The Albanese government’s determination to ram through its Secure Jobs Better Pay industrial relations overhaul before Christmas hasn’t gone down too well with business lobby groups.

Neither did a hastily constructed Senate inquiry,put together to appease the crossbench but done in such a rush that many key stakeholders hadn’t yet had a chance to comb through 249 pages of legislation and get their submissions in order.

It wasn’t just business groups struggling on that front,with the Australian Council of Trade Unions also yet to get a submission out. The union did manage to book out a room right next to the hearing at Sydney’s Stamford Plaza hotel next Friday,which we’re told was just a spillover room for those appearing to dump their bags while proceedings were afoot.

CBD’s spies also spotted ACTU bossMichele O’Neil tucking into breakfast with Labor senatorTony Sheldon,who chairs the education and employment committee examining the bill,before proceedings got under way.

We bet the Business Council was thrilled.

Libs look east

With the clock ticking down until the March state election,bothDominic Perrottet’sLiberal government – hit by a string of high-profile ministerial exits – and the Labor opposition are still trying to find candidates for must-win seats.

Over in Coogee,one of just two electorates Labor won off the Coalition in 2019,the Liberals have locked in speech pathologist and law firm office managerKylie von Muensteras their candidate. CBD hears she got the nod after two rival candidates,Brendan Roberts (who is Local Government MinisterWendy Tuckerman’s policy adviser and a former chief of staff to ex-Bennelong MPJohn Alexander) andSophie White,dropped out of the running.

Next door,in Vaucluse,former TV journalist Kellie Sloane has,as anticipated,won preselection to contest the seat vacated by outgoing veteran MPGabrielle Upton,beating out former NSW Liberal vice-presidentMary-Lou Jarvis and local businesswomanRoanne Knox.

Sloane will face a tough challenge from teal independent candidateKaren Freyer,who’s hoping to build on the success of independent Wentworth MPAllegra Spender in turning the eastern suburbs Liberal stronghold teal.

And you can tell just how much Vaucluse means to the Liberals – Sloanewas unveiled by Perrottet in Double Bay on Sunday,and was plastered all over the premier’s socials.

It’s a very different vibe from May,when former prime ministerScott Morrison wouldn’t go anywhere near the blue-ribbon seats that rejected the Liberals at the federal election.

Booth Delivers

CBD brought wordrecently about former British American Tobacco spinnerNick Booth,who decided to make amends for that past life by driving thousands of dollars worth of medical supplies from London to help Ukrainians resisting Russia’s invasion.

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Since then,Booth’s fundraiser has gone into overdrive,smashing his original $10,000 target and raking in $25,000 worth of donations.

That was enough to stockpile plenty of medical supplies getting increasingly scarce in Europe – including field-dressings,bandages,painkillers and tourniquets,which have now hit the frontlines in besieged Mykolaiv.

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