Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart has already made a significant investment in Pauline Hanson.
So, in a sense, we weren’t entirely surprised to see the One Nation leader serve as a walking hat stand for the billionaire’s clothing company, Kidman Clothing, during yet another interview with Karl Stefanovic, who seems to be running out of right-wingers to cosy up to.
But Hanson shilling for the retail venture of Australia’s richest person wasn’t all that caught the eye of one CBD spy. The hat in question appears to have been custom-made for the One Nation leader, who sat perched alongside Stefanovic at the Mount Isa Rodeo, with the orange Akubra-style headpiece placed carefully on her head, its logo in prime view of the camera.
As a result, we couldn’t help wondering whether there is a formal brand ambassadorship agreement in place, and if such an agreement may be a stipulation of Rinehart’s financial backing of One Nation. (Because we would never suggest the billionaire is angling for policy influence in exchange for her generosity.)
That generosity has extended well beyond the senator’s garb to various domestic flights, a small aeroplane, and, more recently, flights to Italy, where Hanson was pictured poolside with Rinehart at the Grand Hotel San Pietro in the resort town of Taormina.
With the next federal election still more than 18 months away, we wouldn’t blame the billionaire for wanting a little early return on her investment.
So far, the glowing recommendations made by Hanson of Rinehart’s related ventures have all been limited to the Register of Senators’ Interests. There, all of Hanson’s disclosures since at least November last year are related to gifts from Rinehart and the billionaire’s associated companies, replete with glowing ad copy.
“Very thankful to S. Kidman CEO, Adam Giles who represents the legacy of Sir Sidney Kidman, born in Adelaide in 1857 and legendary figure in Australia’s cattle industry,” Hanson wrote in a disclosure on March 17. “It’s also wonderful catching a flight that doesn’t try and welcome me to my own country each time it touches down.”
We asked representatives of Rinehart and Hanson whether the fire orange hat was custom-made, given the colourway is not available on the company’s website. But we didn’t hear back from either camp. No word from Hanson’s team either on whether Rinehart’s support of One Nation requires the senator to wear Kidman, or if she’s just a natural fan of the brand.
Kyle and Jackie O inspire new book
It turns out we weren’t the only ones caught off-guard by word of a new book on the fallout of the spectacular bust-up between Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson, to be published by Hachette in December.
The book, announced by the publisher this week, is called The Rise and Fall of Kyle and Jackie O, and is written by entertainment journalist Matthew Denby.
But it sounds like there are a few key players the author didn’t speak to. Among them: Sandilands, his team, or executives at his former employer, KIIS FM owner ARN Media. At least that’s what we were led to believe when we asked around on Thursday to get a sense of what level of co-operation the venture received. Sandilands’ manager, Bruno Bouchet, said he found out about the book when everyone else did.
“I’ve never dealt with Matthew or ever previously heard of him. He’s never reached out to either Kyle or I,” Bouchet told CBD. “We’ve invited him onto Kyle’s show, though, for an interview and to learn what he’s found out.”
It was a similar story at Sandilands’ former employer, ARN, where executives hadn’t heard about it until asked. ARN declined to comment. Sadly, we didn’t hear back from Henderson’s manager, Gemma O’Neill. But our guess is we won’t have to wait until December for more details of the bust-up, given Henderson’s wrongful dismissal case against ARN is due back in court in October.
Angus Taylor staffer lashes out
When it comes to media operatives in business and politics, they often fall into three categories: the helpful, the unreachable, and the foolish. Opposition Leader Angus Taylor’s press secretary Kane Silom seems to have fallen firmly into the latter category, with his hot-mic outburst directed at Network Ten political editor Ashleigh Raper.
The TV journalist had the temerity to ask the opposition leader whether he had engaged in a conversation with Dallas McInerney about providing donations for the Liberal Party.
“Are your ratings that bad? Seriously, that’s a fricken disgrace,” Silom said as doorstop interview wound up. “What? Asking questions about an ICAC inquiry?” Raper replied. Silom then shot back with: “He’s answered them like 500 times, seriously. No wonder 10 Plus got cut.”
If nothing else, the petulant outburst made Taylor look insecure about the issue. To say nothing of the fact we saw nothing wrong with the line of inquiry.
We asked Taylor’s office if Silom would apologise and we were laughed at. Raper didn’t get back to us. But the folks at the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, a union representing journalists, clearly didn’t like what they saw.
“The comments directed at Ashleigh Raper are concerning and reflect a broader trend of political figures and their representatives attacking press freedom and seeking to undermine journalists when confronted with legitimate scrutiny,” a spokeswoman told CBD.
John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.From our partners
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