28-05-2025
To boldly go ... Julia Gillard set to turn into a prime ministerial hologram
Gillard will be the star turn on the Women UNLIMITED Leadership Summit in September, along with Hillary Clinton and Leigh Sales and 'some of the nation's most senior women in the Australian Public Service' as well as others 'leading the pursuit of progress'.
But unlike Clinton, who will be appearing in the flesh on stage in Sydney and Canberra and via livestream in the other states, Gillard's session will see her beamed on stage via hologram, in what sounds very much like a new frontier for our former heads of government.
The starting price to attend the two-day summit varies from state to state. Ticket prices in the ACT start from $3199 + GST, while in NSW they start from $2899 + GST, and in Victoria and the other states prices start from $2699 +GST.
John Brown pay day
During his stint in Bob Hawke's cabinet, John Brown became known as the 'minister for good times', a name that also formed the title of the 93-year-old's rollicking recent memoir.
Technically, it was the sport, recreation and tourism portfolio, and Brown certainly wishes he was better known for his policy accomplishments than for having sex with then-wife Jan Murray on his ministerial desk. Murray revealed the tale on 60 Minutes, and while Brown doesn't dispute the whole incident, he says it's not true that she left her knickers in the ashtray. The '80s were a different time.
Anyway, the good times are still rolling for Brownie. CBD recently came into possession of a picture of the former minister at Royal Randwick in Sydney receiving a stack of $50 bills from Robbie Waterhouse of the storied bookmaking family.
Turns out Brown had taken a punt on Labor increasing its parliamentary majority in this month's federal election at $5.80 and won big. A good call, seeing as most betting markets (not to mention many pundits) were still leaning toward a Labor minority government as the campaign reached its final stretch.
Waterhouse told us that Brown, who he described as 'a real man's man' had been betting with him for more than 40 years. Brown was in the mood for a yarn when CBD came calling on Wednesday, but was unusually reticent (for a politician) about boasting about the size of his winnings.
Royal tour down under
Meanwhile, here's a major event that the Victorian government really has missed out on. News that Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway will move to the Harbour City to commence an arts degree at the University of Sydney kicked off a frenzy of media coverage in Australia, and with it dozens of jokes about the slimy college boys, Mosman-born working class cosplayers in flannel shirts and irritating socialist alternative pamphleteers Her Royal Highness would have to dodge. What's wrong with the University of Melbourne, we hear you cry?
Meanwhile, the Princess' antipodean adventure is a welcome breath of good publicity for the Norwegian Royal Family which has been wracked by scandal over the past 12 months. Last year, Ingrid Alexandra's half-brother Marius Borg Hoiby was arrested on suspicion of rape, and faces additional criminal charges related to domestic violence.
And Ingrid Alexandra's aunt, Princess Martha Louise married self-described American 'shaman' Durek Verett, who believes that 5G is a tool to enslave the planet, and that he knew about 9/11 two years earlier but chose not to intervene. Oh, and he's friends with Gwyneth Paltrow, who calls him her soul-brother.
Needless to say, faith in the Norwegian monarchy has eroded over the last year, leading to a surge in republicanism. No doubt Sydney will adopt her with open arms.
