Go, West The Australian has gotten a hold of transcripts that show that, having appointed Jenny West to the plum New York trade commissioner role, Investment NSW promptly went digging for dirt on her, thus clearing the way for her job to be given to former deputy premier John Barilaro.
According to the Oz, “Transcripts show Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown outlined an extraordinary list of grievances against West at an in-camera parliamentary inquiry held on June 29, accusing her of inappropriately wasting department resources and embroidering her resume.” It was “important to relay this to create the full picture,” Brown told the inquiry.
It put us in mind of the interview with Eternity News we dug up last week, where Brown confessed, “The way I maybe approached ambition early in my career was I’d always be trying to manipulate and engineer the situation. So let’s just say there was a promotion opportunity, I’d be trying to … big-note myself, or even plant seeds of doubt in decision-makers’ minds about people who might also be being considered for the opportunity.” Those days are over, she says: “I’ve realised that God’s plans are perfect. He has me exactly where he wants me and I don’t need to do anything to try and influence the situation.” Looks like sometimes God’s will still needs a bit of a push here and there.
We also had a quick look at her profile on LinkedIn, just to make sure there was none of that big-noting that was so fatal to West’s chances. And to be fair, nothing stood out. But we did find the speech she would have given if she’d won the Telstra Businesswoman of the Year in 2017, in which she was a finalist in the corporate category in 2017:
… we will come up against obstacles along the way. But, instead of viewing these as blockers, we need to see them as ‘road markers’ that are simply letting us know that we’re making progress. That yes, we are shaking things up. So instead of making us stop short, these obstacles are something to go over, around or through (and, in my case, sprinkle with glitter on the way past, just so people know I was there).
Maybe Jenny West should check her back for glitter?
A question of timing Following our report on the mid-July cut off for temporary humanitarian stay visas, the Department of Home Affairs got in contact with a few further details — including the point that the July 14 termination point actually represents an extension. “Further,” a spokesperson told Crikey, “the government will work closely with the Ukrainian community to ensure permanent visa options are made available to this cohort at an appropriate time.” Which raises the question — if now isn’t “an appropriate time”, when the hell is?
Oliver’s army Rob Harris, once famous as The Herald Sun‘s singing political pundit on the 2019 Short(en) bus, moved to The Age, and to the UK, a while ago. Alas, it doesn’t seem he’s quite across the culture yet. In a report on the troubles of PM (at time of writing) Boris Johnson, Harris notes that an MP hit Bozzer with the “In the name of God, go!” speech. Echoes of Neville Chamberlain, Harris intones, who was hit with the same speech by MP Leo Amery in WWII. Except, that’s not exactly where it’s from: Amery was himself quoting Oliver Cromwell dissolving Parliament in 1653. Never mind, it’s only on the front page.
Needlessly catty Speaking of BoJo, you would think there was enough of a chorus of calls for him to resign that the press wouldn’t have to find any more quotes — but that didn’t stop one journo trying to interview Larry, the resident cat at No. 10.
While Larry remained tight-lipped, my initial analysis on his views would be: totally indifferent.
