Albanese’s extra Miles
It’s come as some surprise around Parliament House thatAnthony Albanese has found a promise fromScott Morrison that he wants to honour.
The moment will be marked at Sydney’s Kirribilli House on Friday when Albanese welcomes a visitor who’s been waiting three years for drinks with the prime minister after bidding $10,000 for the privilege at the Midwinter Ball charity auction in September 2019.
The bidder,David Miles of lobbying firm Willard Public Affairs,was in touch with Morrison’s office soon after the 2019 auction to see when the prize could be delivered – but had to wait when bushfires spread that summer and Morrison disappeared off to Hawaii.
Then along came COVID-19.
Miles,once an adviser in the Howard government,got back in touch with Morrison’s office once the worst of the pandemic seemed to have passed. Then the election came and it was all too late.
Crossbenchers who expected Morrison to set up a national integrity commission – promised in 2018 – can probably relate.
It isn’t always this way. Morrison delivered on the auction item from the 2018 ball:lunch at Kirribilli House,which also went to Miles. And work is under way to deliver the auction item Albanese offered at this year’s ball:a game of snooker at The Lodge with the new prime minister.
No prize for guessing who snared this year’s item:Miles. Again. He paid about the same as the previous auction bid,$10,000.
That helped toward the $350,000 raised at this year’s ball for charities including OzHarvest,Rural Aid Australia and the Ukraine Crisis Appeal.
Miles will not be accompanied to Kirribilli on Friday by his wife,Tory Maguire,the executive editor ofThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age. “We keep these things very arms-length for obvious professional reasons,” he told us.
Red Wedding planner
The rank and file at the National Disability Insurance Agency had a good dose of the warm and fuzzies on Monday as its new chairman,Paralympian,disability advocate and broadcasterKurt Fearnley,was announced by the minister in charge,Bill Shorten.
But the choice of the agency’s new chief executive to replaceMartin Hoffman,whose resignation in June was “welcomed” by the Labor government,might focus a few minds among the NDIA’s 4000-odd workers,especially those in the executive suites.
The new boss isRebecca Falkingham,currently secretary of Victoria’s Department of Justice who in 2019 oversaw a cull of the outfit’s executives so brutal that it became known as the “Red Wedding” – a reference to one of the bloodiest scenes inGame of Thrones.
The state’s Ombudsman is still investigating the mass firing and hiring,which Falkingham defended by saying it sent “a strong signal about a change to priorities”.
Falkingham did not speak during the press conference in Canberra on Monday when the agency’s new recruits were announced by Shorten,who said the new chief executive was the standout candidate in a hiring process run by the Australian Public Service Commission and the Department of Social Services.
But the bureaucrat’s hiring might be good news for anyone looking for a job in the NDIS’ higher ranks. Since Falkingham took over at Justice in 2018,the number of executives has grown from 73 to 176 and the wages have grown from $792 million to $1.24 billion.
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