The dispute has its roots in a farcical,intemperate meeting of the Old Newingtonians’ Union (ONU),where nearly 1000 former students showed up and opponents of the co-ed move successfully passed a resolution spilling the leadership of the alumni group.
In the aftermath the old boys’ network’s ousted leadership informed alumni that it would plan to hold an election for the vacant council positions.
That hasn’t happened,and instead,earlier this month,a group of ONU past presidents wrote to former students calling for expressions of interest to fill casual vacancies on the group’s council.
Incensed that the ONU was seeking to casually appoint council members,rather than follow the democratic will of the old boys and proceed to an election,a group of seven plaintiffs,which included barristerDallas Morgan,a founding member of anti-co-ed group Save Newington,lawyered up.
And last week Supreme Court JusticeAnthony McGrathdelivered them a win by granting an injunction stopping the ONU from appointing council members on the basis that this wasn’t in keeping with the resolution passed at the March meeting.
The ONU,which appears to be in a bit of a shambles since the spill motion was passed,didn’t even show up in court to defend against the injunction. Now,the council of the ONU is separate from the College Council,which administers the school,and therefore can’t really stop the winds of change from blowing through the Stanmore campus.
But as long as the rebels can keep finding ways to whip up fury among middle-aged men who still wear their old school ties,that change might be a longer time coming.
PICTURE PERFECT
We’re going to call this the “Rinehart” effect:when the mere presence of Australia’s richest womanGina Rinehart sprinkles stardust – or maybe iron ore dust – over everything in the vicinity.
The latest beneficiary of the Rinehart magic is the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) – the subject of a recent campaign by the mining billionaire and her supporters to remove two portraits of her from display,but where attendance numbers have soared by 24 per cent since the furore broke out this month.
Gina Rinehart’s attempts to remove a portrait of her from the National Gallery have backfired spectacularly.John Shakespeare
The online punters have been pouring through the virtual doors as well,with visits to the gallery website jumping 62 per cent since the story broke on May 15,and the page spruiking the exhibition of the Indigenous artist behind the two offending works,Vincent Namatjira,is now the “top-performing” web page of the gallery,according to an internal NGA briefing.
Staff at the institution’s gift shop have been explaining to disappointed visitors that,no,they don’t have Gina-themed mugs or tea-towels in stock as managers kick themselves for not ordering them in before things heated up.
The failed campaign by Rinehart and her acolytes in the swimming world to remove Namatjira’s artworks went global when the matter was raised on the highest-rated late-night talk show in the US,The Late Show withStephen Colbert,and became a meme on social media.
CBD,maybe hoping to benefit ourselves from a little of that Rinehart magic,gave Hancock Prospecting a shout on Wednesday looking for a comment,but we got about as much joy as Gina got from the gallery.
In other,not unrelated news,comedianDan Ilic,who crowdfunded more than $30,000 to broadcast the portrait on an electronic billboard in Times Square in New York on Friday night,has pulled the pin and refunded more than 700 donors after Namatjira’s people made it clear the artist wanted nothing to do with the stunt.
“Vincent didn’t grant permission and he is not going to be in any way involved,” one of Namatjira’s associates said on Tuesday.
KENNEDY’S CREW
Seasoned CBD readers might recall how former McKinsey manSimon Kennedy’spreselection as the new Liberal for Cook caused plenty of bitterness among party hacks in the Sutherland Shire.
But now Kennedy’s ensconced in the seat,some of the key protagonists from the preselection drama gathered in Canberra to watch their boy’s maiden speech. While Kennedy’s predecessor,former PMScott Morrisonwas still busy on his adventures in the MAGA-verse,his one-time confidantScott Briggs,undone after this masthead revealed his prodigious message exchanges with ex-Home Affairs bossMike Pezzullo,turned up.
No sign of Kennedy’s beaten preselection rival,Sutherland MayorCarmelo Pesce,although one of his closest backers,state member for MirandaEleni Petinos,managed to sneak in.
And CBD’s spies also spotted a few veterans from Kennedy’s preselection campaign,includingMatt Danieland Sutherland councillorKent Johns,who stepped aside after footage circulated of him making homophobic comments about state LiberalChris Rath(who also turned up). FormerSurvivor contestantSteve Khouwwas there,too,for some reason.
After the speech,friends of Kennedy kicked on for drinks in his new parliamentary office and,later,the Canberra Yacht Club,with senior Liberals includingAngus Taylor, Sussan LeyandAlex Hawkemaking appearances.
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