Last Thursday,Waugh was arrested after allegedly posting online threats to kill members of a Canberra church by,err,cutting off their heads.

(Allegedly,this would have occurred with the use of a one-metre long scimitar-style sword Waugh had purchased and was carrying around.)

So we were pleased to hear that on that very same day,the Press Gallery decided to inform Parliament House security it may be a good idea to cancel his clearance.

His was last spotted at Parliament on the night of Morrison’s rise to the Liberal leadership,waiting in the Blue Room as the Coalition turmoil unfolded.

Shorten brings in old hands

Meanwhile,off to Canberra to wrangle the Press Gallery during the election campaign for Labor leader Bill Shorten’s campaign:former Morris Iemma and Julia Gillard advisor turned Hawker Britton lobbyist Eamonn Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick was last on hand helping Labor MP Susan Lamb win the tight Longman by-election and in Michael Daley’s office during his failed bid to oust Premier Gladys Berejiklian last month.

Lunch (and dinner) watch

Last week we sighted former police ministerTroy Grant with his one-time Nationals colleagueLeslie Williams lunching at the Continental Deli on Phillip Street.

Grant may not be many things,but a trendsetter it seems he is.

Spotted yesterday at the same establishment:former NSW Labor leaderLuke Foley (newly a consultant,as revealed in this column),and mere metres away,new Finance MinisterDamien Tudehope withThe Australian’s state political editorAndrew Clennell.

Meanwhile at the Canberra residence of French AmbassadorChristophe Penot in Yarralumla,a farewell toast and a thank you for a $50 billion cheque.

We hear outgoing defence ministerChristopher Pyne was in attendance,for a dinner or party (or as one Liberal quipped -- “a dinner with Christopher is the same as a party”) along with his Labor counterpartRichard Marles.

That seems fitting. It was under Pyne that France’s Naval Group,previously DCNS,won the lucrative contract to build a new fleet of submarines for the Royal Australian Navy.

Literary mystery

It’s the red-painted battle cry for an evolving union movement,but how many hands went into the writing of ACTU headSally McManus’ tome On Fairness?

The February release was brought into being and printed under the watchful eye of former Melbourne University Publishing chiefLouise Adler,shortly before she quit the publisher.

But,as it turns out,novelist and playwright turned Guardian columnistVan Badham also played more than a hand in the union leader’s book.

McManus in the acknowledgements thanks “Vanessa Badham ... who poured her creativity,politics and time” into the skinny tome.

The ACTU said McManus wrote the book. A union spinner said Badham had provided input and advice and other help on the book but denied she was the ghostwriter.

The fact that she also “shares the values of the Australian union movement” positioned her well to help too,they said. Sources close to the process reckon it’s a mild description.

Badham did not return calls or emails yesterday.