Kanye West, Elon Musk Slide into ABC chair’s DMs

And yes, we got another hit out for the key Williams phrase “grandiloquent” – but only once.

He also took a jab at a recent series that ran in News Corp papers attacking the ABC. Williams is the only person in history to have run News Corp and been chair of the ABC.

“Generally, I do not believe in responding to News Corporation commentary on the ABC because it was fairly unhinged.

“Nevertheless, in that instance I saw the necessity of issuing a three-page rebuttal.”

He took time out of his day to craft the rebuttal and ensured it went to every MP.

Back online

Thanks to Donald Trump’s inexplicable act of economic self-sabotage, news that TikTok could be banned in the US – for real this time – in just a matter of days, unless its Chinese parent company finds an American buyer, has flown under the radar.

But as the weekend deadline approaches, Australia’s own political class seems to have warmed a little toward the app, which has been in the crosshairs of national security hawks. Case in point: NSW Premier Chris Minns, who resurrected his TikTok account on Thursday after two years offline.

The premier shut down his account shortly after being elected, while also banning it from government-issued devices over national security concerns. Now he’s back online, from a personal phone.

CBD hears Minns had a change of heart, feeling that the opportunity to speak to voters in the social media cesspools which they sadly now rely on for news outweighed potential security concerns, given the assurances from the federal government about managing those risks.

As the election campaign heats up, both parties are putting resources into TikTok in a desperate attempt to win over terminally online zoomers. As CBD reported last year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton launched a TikTok account, months after calling for it to be banned.

Minns launched his new account with a fairly vanilla video of himself talking about how his government would never privatise public services.

Then again, vanilla might be the way to go on TikTok, especially in light of Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig’s penchant for using songs with racy lyrics in his videos. Something the premier might want to avoid.

Flying high

Spotted: Nationals senator, Coalition frontbencher and Qantas tormentor Bridget McKenzie getting her campaign miles up aboard a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Perth on Wednesday.

Ensconced in the comfort and security of Qantas business class, McKenzie spent the trip to Perth audibly discussing Coalition battle plans with a staffer seated in the row behind, handing draft press releases back and forth.

“In the middle of a campaign on a five-hour trip, there’s not a lot of time to watch movies!” McKenzie told CBD.

It’s been a chaotic start to the campaign from the opposition front bencher. On Tuesday, McKenzie, Peter Dutton and Liberal candidates spruiked the Coalition’s plans to scrap Melbourne’s suburban rail loop and redirect funding to building a train line to the airport. But the photo op took place a long way north of where the line would actually run because, as McKenzie told journalists, “that’s what our advancers told us to do”.

In the ring

Since leaving Channel Nine, former A Current Affair reporter Seb Costello, son of former federal treasurer and Nine chair Peter Costello, has been busy.

Project one is a podcast with man-about-town journalist Allan Raskall, a former colleague at Nine, called – wait for it – Raskall & Costello.

“Alan and I recently entered the Guinness World Records as the first two TV journos in history who actually like each other,” Costello said.

“A lot of people talk to me around town, and I’m looking forward to telling Melbourne what’s really going on”.

The podcast launches on Sunday.

Costello resigned from Nine last month while the network was reviewing an incident reported by CBD where the reporter chased an Oak Capital executive into the women’s toilet at the Intercontinental Hotel on Collins Street, spraying him with questions.

Regulator ASIC is suing Oak Capital for unconscionable conduct. The company denies the allegations.

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The other project is boxing. On August 23, promoter Team Ellis will present Costello in a bout at Melbourne Pavilion.

“I’ve always valued truth, and boxing is a very honest sport. It’s not easy, and I want to prove to myself that I can do it.”

In preparation for the bout, Costello has lost 19 kilos.

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