Gina Rinehart spends tens of thousands of dollars to evacuate media chief from Israel
We last encountered Radford spinning for the Liberals' failed candidate, Ro Knox, in the hard-fought Liberal-Teal battle for Wentworth at the last election. And before that, he popped up at Mar-a-Lago in November as US President Donald Trump celebrated his return with a lavish event. Clearly a man with a knack of being at the centre of the news cycle.
While in Israel as stress levels rose, Radford was sharply critical of the Australian government at one point, posting 'Thank God for the private sector!' on Instagram after attacking the government for having 'ZERO plan on how to get Aussies out'.
It is fair to say this attitude and Radford's speedy evacuation rankled with some other Australians who were stuck in Tel Aviv while he made it out against Australian and Israeli government advice, which in the early stages was to stay close to bomb shelters. But Radford said he was given advice from another source to evacuate.
'I think the Australian government could have been more prepared and acted faster,' he told CBD.
Radford made his way in a convoy of black luxury minivans to the Jordanian border and then to Amman and a flight back to Melbourne when airspace was open. And judging by his Insta post of a breakfast tray of a silver basket containing heated croissants, a pat of butter and a jam pot, he clearly wasn't flying coach.
CJ Hendry does Chaddy
Chadstone Shopping Centre, aka Melbourne's Fashion Capital, is busy playing host to one of Australia's most successful contemporary artists. And here we were thinking Chaddy was just a place to enjoy a nice plate of lemon chicken.
CJ Hendry – South African-born and New York-based but a self-described 'Brissie bogan' – has grown quite the following on social media. Although she has no interest in the traditional art world or Australia's stuffy Archibald Prize, her almost 900,000 Instagram followers are serving her just fine – thank you very much!
This Lost & Found exhibition is based on Hendry's first visit to the Fashion Capital, where she grew quickly disoriented among the centre's 500 different stores. 'It's like a labyrinth,' the artist mused.
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We couldn't agree more, CJ.
On Wednesday night, the champagne flowed, costumed ladies glided around on stilts, and an ever-enthusiastic disc jockey spun some bouncy Dua Lipa remixes.
But Hendry and her team were surely weary after basically pulling an all-nighter to finish building the set pieces in time. (Some parts of the exhibition were held up at the Australian border, you see).
No sign of the centre's billionaire nonagenarian owner, John Gandel. He was getting a private viewing at a later date, of course. But in true Melbourne fashion, a gaggle of event connoisseurs flocked to the city's south-east. Former queen of the FM airwaves, Kate Langbroek, was spotted beelining straight for the caviar and oysters, and indulging in both a negroni and a glass of Moet.
Lovable larrikins Symon Lovett and Adam Densten of Gogglebox Australia fame couldn't resist being patrons of the arts – nor could fellow Network 10 Melebrity Sam Wood from the 2015 edition of The Bachelor.
And Lauren Phillips from Nova's Melbourne breakfast show was the lucky winner of a Hendry original, if social media is to be believed.
Overall, CBD liked what they did with the place. This columnist almost forgot we were sitting inside a shopping centre … As long as we ignored the giant Target logo in our peripheral vision.
CHUniverse
Potts Point Vietnamese joint Lady Chu has become an unlikely magnet for the Sydney's good and great ever since CBD revealed its outspoken owner Nahji Chu 's profane but righteous rant at a bunch of hapless council workers.
The latest customers – South Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young with her dining companion, Sydney independent MP Alex Greenwich. Gotta take the out-of-towners to the best spots.
As CBD has reported previously, Greenwich, a protegee of Sydney's forever Lord Mayor Clover Moore, took up the role of unlikely peacemaker in Chu's war with the council. Helps to have friends on both sides.
The restaurant's success – Nigella Lawson dined there last week – represents quite the comeback for Chu. A decade ago, her Vietnamese tuckshop empire MissChu collapsed with millions owed to creditors, including unpaid staff entitlements. Now, she's talk of the town.
Stela job shift
Last year, the Albanese government suddenly got very excited about quantum computers. So excited that it invested $470 million in Silicon Valley-based start-up PsiQuantum, which is planning to build a supercomputer in Brisbane. The investment was matched by Queensland's then-Labor government.
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But the Coalition has continued to cry foul about the deal, pointing to links between then-industry and science minister Ed Husic 's staff and one of the company's investors.
Last year, the newly elected Liberal National government in Queensland promised to review its predecessors' investment, claiming PsiQuantum was 'dripping with Labor lobbyists'. Naturally, the company had hired Labor-aligned lobbyists, as most ambitious corporates in Canberra have.
And now, they've picked up another Labor connection straight out of the Prime Minister's Office, with Stela Todorovic, one of Anthony Albanese 's 10 media advisers (none of whom answer CBD's calls), joining the company. And then there were nine.
Todorovic, formerly a press gallery rising star, joined the PMO two years ago when she resigned from Network 10 after being passed over to replace Peter Van Onselen (remember that guy?) as political editor. Now, she joins the classic post-election reshuffle as staffers come and go from the ministerial wing.
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