Latest news with #MoonahLinks
Herald Sun
25-04-2025
- Business
- Herald Sun
Dan Andrews in the rough with Chinese business contacts over Moonah Links golf bid
Don't miss out on the headlines from Page 13. Followed categories will be added to My News. Former Premier Dan Andrews makes a quid these days from helping make connections and networking with Chinese businessmen get a footing in the state he once ran. But it seems not all of China is enamoured with his work given it was the Chinese owners of Moonah Links Golf Resort who were circling the wagons this week to put an end to his latest quest to find a coastal golf club to call home. Page 13 can reveal there have been several crisis meetings called by the Chinese bosses after the outrage and vitriol from golfers which had flooded the Moonah Links social pages when news broke that Andrews had been 'snuck in the back door' and had become a member of the Mornington Peninsula golf club. Hell hath no fury like a golfer scorned. The club — which boasts the largest golf tourism development in recent Victorian history and consists of two world class courses — copped a litany of abusive phone calls and emails from members and those in the golfing community quivering in rage at the revelation that Andrews had got in through his good friend, rich lister Max Beck. Beck – a property developer and co-owner of Essendon Fields and a Foundation Member at Moonah Links – is one of the club's 60 shareholders who have two nominated members. To get Andrews in, Beck swapped out his wife, Lorraine, and added the former politician. Page 13 understands Mrs Beck was none too pleased when she found out about the move and even though she's not a regular golfer, she wanted her membership reinstated which meant Dan was struck off. To say the club was very pleased with this development this week is putting it mildly with one telling Page 13: 'They don't want anything to do with him, if anything they are trying to work out a potential 'Dan Ban' into their rules and conditions that would vet who comes in under their code of conduct.' On Thursday they issued a statement on their social media page saying: 'Moonah Links Golf Resort wishes to address recent public speculation regarding former Premier Daniel Andrews. 'We can confirm that Mr Daniel Andrews is not a member of Moonah Links Golf Resort. 'Moonah Links continues to focus on providing a world class golfing experience and supporting events that promote sport, tourism and community development.' Moonah Links joins a growing list of 'Dan Ban' courses where the ex-Premier had been trying to get a membership at several other of Victoria's most prestigious clubs only to meet fierce opposition. Last year there was a revolt against any attempt for him to join the National Golf Club on Cape Schanck and then an uprising to stop his admission to the nearby Portsea course. Andrews is a longstanding member of the exclusive Kingston Heath Golf Club, in Heatherton, where he has also faced strong hostility from some fellow members. They have been known to exit when he turns up at the driving range and he is never sighted at the 19th hole after a round, preferring to scurry away after a round. Read related topics: Daniel Andrews
News.com.au
25-04-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Dan Andrews axed from prestigious golf club after sly plot
Dan Andrews has been busted and blacklisted. That's the incredible situation that has played out at one of Victoria's most prestigious golf clubs with the former Victorian Premier sensationally kicked out after just one week. As first reported by The Herald Sun, Andrews was reportedly able to 'sneak in the back door' of the elite club with the help of billionaire friend Max Beck. In a wild week at the elite Moonah Links Golf Resort on Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula, the club on Thursday took the extraordinary step of releasing a public statement to say Andrews is not a member. That comes after The Herald Sun reported last week Andrews, whose controversial policies saw Melbourne become the most 'locked down' city in the world during the pandemic, had found a backway to secure membership at the club. It is understood Beck, who is a Foundation Member at the club, made the venture possible by switching out his wife's name on a membership, and replacing her with the former Premier, Sky News reports. This reportedly did not violate any club rules. However, The Herald Sun reports the backlash against Andrews' membership status was so fierce that the club was forced to act. The pubication reports Andrews' inclusion at the club was met with 'frothing and feverish' condemnation. The club addressed the furore with a message shared on its Facebook page on Thursday. 'Moonah Links Golf Resort wishes to address recent public speculation regarding former Premier Daniel Andrews,' the golf club wrote. 'We can confirm that Mr Daniel Andrews is not a member of Moonah Links Golf Resort. 'Moonah Links continues to focus on providing a world class golfing experience and supporting events that promotes sport, tourism and community development.' It is not the first time Beck and Andrews have been at the centre of golf club membership storms. Andrews was in 2023 told he was not welcome to apply for membership at several other elite courses around the Morning Peninsula. Beck at the time said the backlash from members at those clubs was 'ridiculous'. 'I can't believe how small-minded people can be,' Beck previously told the Herald Sun. 'It's just all about a bloke who wants to play golf and enjoy the rest of his life. It's ridiculous. 'He's worked his guts out for the state with his beliefs.' Those comments surrounded Andrews' rumoured links to the Portsea Golf Club in November, 2023. At the time it was reported Andrews was at least considering a membership application to the club – sparking radio shock jock Steve Price to threaten to 'tear up' his membership if the potential application was approved. One week later it was reported members had sent a letter to the prestigious National Golf Club on the Mornington Peninsula calling for Andrews to be denied membership. The backlash against Andrews stems from the Covid-19 pandemic when he imposed strict restrictions on golf in Victoria. 'This is the premier who stopped us playing golf for two years during Covid,' Price previously told Sky News Australia. 'This is the premier who locked down this community even though we're 120km out of the city. 'The same premier who let people on the other side of the bay play golf. No way that should that man come into the golf club. 'If Dan Andrews is allowed to join the Portsea Golf Club, I'll quit, I'll resign, I'll tear up my membership and I'll go and play golf somewhere else.' Andrews told a podcast in December, 2023, that he was not seeking membership at those clubs. He said the saga was 'quite ridiculous'. The fascination in Andrews' golfing activities comes from his final press conference where he announced his decision to step down as Premier. He said in September, 2023, that playing more golf was one of the things he was looking forward to after ending his political career.
Daily Mail
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Dan Andrews faces a deeply embarrassing rejection from one of his final chances to do what he loves – as he is increasingly locked out of the very state he once shut down
Former Victorian Premier Dan Andrews is running out of places to tee off, after being barred from yet another golf club this week due to backlash from members over his harsh rules during the Covid period. Melbourne golfers were outraged by the Victorian government's ban on the sport during lockdown, despite it being in the open air with large distances between players and providing a rare outlet for exercise. Last week, it seemed he'd finally found a club when The Herald Sun reported that his property developer friend, Max Beck, had secured him a spot at Moonah Links on the Mornington Peninsula. Beck had reportedly removed his wife's name from his membership and replaced it with Mr Andrews'. But on Thursday, Moonah Links took to Facebook to 'address recent public speculation,' confirming that Mr Andrews is not a member. The post was met with dozens of thumbs up, smiling faces and heart emoticons, and, perhaps most tellingly, the club had switched off comments in an apparent effort to pour cold water on the firestorm. Mr Andrews resigned in September 2023 after leading Victoria through the Covid pandemic, but garnered massive backlash for his harsh stance that made Melbourne the world's most locked down city and earned him the name 'Dictator Dan'. In political retirement, he had reportedly tried to join the Portsea Golf Club last year on the Mornington Pensinsula, which prompted The Project host Steve Price to declare he wanted to 'tear up' his membership. A week later members of the National Golf Club, also on the Mornington Peninsula, banded together to write a letter to the club demanding Mr Andrews not be allowed to join. Mr Beck previously said denying Mr Andrews membership at Portsea, where he also tried to get him admitted as a member, was 'ridiculous' and that he had 'worked his guts out for the state' and 'just wants to play golf'. 'I can't believe how small-minded people can be,' Mr Beck said. 'You can't just ban people because of their political beliefs.' There remains plenty of anger on the Mornington Peninsula over the former premier's metropolitan lockdowns during the Covid pandemic, which included the region despite being 70km away from Melbourne CBD. One Portsea member previously said Andrews was at 'very long odds' to win admission to the club but they were conflicted. 'It's a tricky one because he has every right to apply to be a member but then it's up to the membership base to decide whether that person is appropriate for their club,' they said. But it seems golfers can hold a grudge. Former professional golfer Mark Allen said in 2023 that the golfing community on the peninsula was tight. 'They have not forgiven him and I can tell you this: at the Sorrento Hotel, it was the talk of the region and to the point where not only members from Portsea, but members from other clubs were saying that if he's trying to join anywhere down here, they just will not let him join.' It's not just golf clubs banning Mr Andrews. Daily Mail Australia revealed in December ex-AFL star Paul Dimattina, who runs popular South Melbourne venue Lamaro's Hotel, had banned Mr Andrews from his venue. Mr Dimattina said the former premier was 'easily the most hated person' in Victoria as it is revealed multiple restaurant owners had refused service to Mr Andrews and his wife Cath. 'No hope Mr Andrews would get a seat at my pub,' Mr Dimattina told Daily Mail Australia. 'If he walked in and sat down the Lamaro's crowd would be disgusted if they saw him. Mr Andrews is hated because of his whole anti-business stance. 'The trail of destruction Mr Andrews left is still being felt today: small businesses closed down, endless lockdowns, critical healthcare neglected, children missing out on school. He didn't help anyone. 'Mental health went downhill and now Mr Andrews has a job in mental health if you can believe that.' Mr Dimattina, who followed his 131-game AFL career by taking charge of the restaurant and produce empire founded by his father Frank, said Mr Andrews also 'absolutely crippled' the hospitality industry. He became a leading voice opposing Victoria's Covid response as Mr Andrews imposed the world's longest periods of lockdown. His attitude toward the government's Covid response was further soured when he spent time in intensive care following a negative reaction to a vaccine booster shot. 'Business was decimated, the CBD is a ghost town, once thriving restaurants are boarded up, its the same at every high street, Chapel St, Lygon St, there's empty businesses everywhere,' Mr Dimattina said. 'What Mr Andrews did is he made running a small business not an easy thing… he'd be better off leaving the state, I'm sure there's some people who still love him, lefties and that, but he's not welcome anywhere and we'll all be better off without seeing him here.' Mr Andrews' ban is a negative sign for his hopes of dining out in Melbourne given Mr Dimattina's family own, and have owned, multiple restaurants in the city including along the famous Lygon Street precinct. Restaurateur Chris Lucas also revealed he told Mr Andrews' wife Cath there was nothing available after she called up to book a table at his Windsor eatery Hawker Hall, located at the once bustling Melbourne Chapel St precinct, during the Covid lockdown. Mr Lucas said Di Stasio, a famed Melbourne restaurant group that is not part of his hospitality group, also refused Mr Andrews a booking for his birthday around the same period. Jim's Mowing boss Jim Penman also delivered the former premier a hammer blow, telling Mr Andrews he was banned from using any of the franchise king's services. He told Daily Mail Australia he had cancelled Mr Andrews and 'believes all of Victoria' should blacklist the former politician as well. 'If I was on the tools, I wouldn't work for him, and I'd encourage any franchisee or independent contractor to do the same,' Mr Penman said. 'He threw over 100,000 independent contractors out of work for two months. 'I'll be very pleased to think he may have to mow his own lawn, clean his own house and cook his own dinner but I'm sure there's someone out there who likes him who'll do it for him. 'It must be humiliating for him [getting backlisted]. He was all powerful sitting on his throne at Spring St, wagging his fingers saying who can work and who can't - but people now have the power.' Mr Penman said he thought it was 'personally a good idea' for Mr Andrews to quit Victoria after his exit from politics and his new role as chair of youth mental health trust, Orygen. 'I would hope he leaves… he's running out of options. I would recommend he leave Victoria, the amount of damage he has done to this state is immeasurable,' he said. 'It's the state that's the most hostile to do business in. The guy is a disaster. 'It's also ludicrous this business of Mr Andrews running this mental health organisation its like letting rapists run women shelters or paedophiles running childcare centres. 'Mr Andrews has done more to undermine mental health than anyone in the state's history. I've seen the affects first hand, I've seen people lose homes and families. I actually know these people.'
