On your Marks: Former Nine man’s name aired in race for top ABC job

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ABC chair Ita Buttrose’s recent announcement that she won’t seek reappointment when her term ends next March means time is ticking for the Albanese government to find a new leader for the public broadcaster.

Given the ABC’s years of indifference to anyone under the age of 60, CBD hopes the government goes for younger blood. And while that’s a view even Ita seems to share, the names in the mix thus far look just a little pale, male and stale.

Former NIne CEO Hugh Marks.Credit: James Brickwood

As this masthead has reported, Gilbert + Tobin law firm founder Danny Gilbert, a key backer of the Yes campaign, looks an early frontrunner. Also in the mix is former News Corp Australia chief executive Kim Williams, famed for a spectacular falling out with Lachlan Murdoch, and being the late Gough Whitlam’s son-in-law.

Both were part of the (all-male) shortlist, along with former Fairfax boss Greg Hywood, presented to the Morrison government when it was trying to replace Justin Milne in 2019. Those names were ignored when Ita become the captain’s pick.

Another fella whose name has started getting tossed around is former Nine chief executive Hugh Marks, although he was in no mood to entertain CBD’s speculative imaginings when contacted on Monday.

SMOOTH OPERATOR

We’re delighted to see former premier Ted Baillieu’s return from injury going from strength to strength, with the Liberal leader lending a hand to wife Robyn Baillieu’s online influencing operation.

Former premier and current ice cream fan Ted Baillieu.Credit: Simon Schluter

Robyn has been flexing her considerable culinary skills in front of her Instagram following on behalf of Euro cult kitchen appliance Thermomix, for which she acts as a consultant.

The stand-out effort for us is the video in which Robyn is preparing a smoothie for the former Liberal leader – something of a smooth political operator in his day – when the man himself reminds his wife not to be skimping on the ice cream.

All is well in the end though, with Big Ted declaring himself satisfied with the result.

“Now, that’s a smoothie,” he says, and he ought to know.

We gave Baillieu a heads-up on Monday that we were going to write something about this influencing activity. All good, he told us, as long as we buy a Thermomix.

RACING FAVOURITE

CBD likes to keep readers updated with – futile – attempts to launch Sydney horse race the Everest into the same league as our very own Melbourne Cup.

Credit: Illustration: John Shakespeare

This year, the northern upstart, which will be run on Saturday afternoon and is Australia’s richest race, faces an interesting challenge: going head to head with the biggest thing in Australian democracy since, well, last year – the Voice referendum.

But Racing NSW chief executive and chief Everest booster Peter V’landys was displaying all his trademark confidence when CBD came calling on Monday, suggesting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese knew what he was doing when he selected the date for the vote.

“The reason they put it on that day is because the prime minister was hoping it was an omen that in 2019 a horse won called Yes Yes Yes,” V’landys said,

But the NRL Commission chair, whose spat with interstate racing authorities over a bunch of things, not least the non-group 1 status of the Everest, is anything but light-hearted, laughed off the notion that Saturday’s big vote might hurt the turnout at Royal Randwick, where he expects a 45,000-strong full house.

“It would have no impact at all, because 2½ million people have already voted and booths open early in the morning … and I noticed the Electoral Commission was telling people that if they’re going to the Everest, there are going to be booths nearby,” he said.

Local Labor MP and Yes campaigner Matt Thistlethwaite, who’s a bit of an Everest booster in his own little way, won’t be among the punters at the track, planning instead to spend the day on the hustings in a last-ditch effort to get the Voice over the line.

However, he did have a little more detail for us on those local voting options.

“I am encouraging locals to vote early, vote often, vote “Yes” at one of the pre-poll centres in our area before you head to the track on Saturday. If you can’t get to a pre-poll centre, you can vote at Kensington Public School on Doncaster Avenue across the road from the track,” Thistlethwaite told us.

PHONE A FRIEND

The Senate inquiry into the Albanese government’s blocking of Qatar Airways’ request for extra flights into Australia has provided us with no shortage of entertainment. And it has also shown how public servants were roped into helping the government kiss the Qantas ring.

In responses to questions on notice from the inquiry committee, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet revealed its bureaucrats provided “factual background on Qantas” to Albanese’s office ahead of a private farewell dinner hosted by outgoing Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce for select politicians in the Parliament House members’ dining room in August.

Albo’s attendance was reportedly brief, and you’d think given his close relationship with Joyce, he wouldn’t need lanyard-toters helping to come up with dot points on the former boss’s career.

The department also worked on a speech Albanese delivered at Qantas’ 100th birthday gala dinner in March this year, where Kylie Minogue entertained a star-studded gathering at a Sydney Airport hangar. The department revealed it had sent a draft speech to the Prime Minister’s Office which included this killer line:

“I was the minister responsible for aviation for many years. I learned whenever there’s a crisis, you pick up the phone and Qantas will be there.”

We wouldn’t be in a hurry to admit to that one either.

Meanwhile, answers submitted by Virgin show it beating its bigger rival in the transparency stakes. The Bain Capital-owned airline confirmed that two of its employees – corporate affairs chief Christian Bennett and government relations general manager Todd Reynolds – had Parliament House access passes.

Sponsorship for the Virgin boys came from former Liberal minister for failing upwards Alan Tudge, and Labor MP Graham Perrett.

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