From the Crikey grapevine, the latest tips and rumours …

Albo DJ reviews. As we previously reported in Tips, last night was the big night for Anthony Albanese, as the opposition transport spokesman took to the decks at Melbourne’s Bella Union as part of a fundraiser for Labor MP Andrew Giles. Ms Tips has been speaking to attendees, and the response has been very positive. The crowd was mostly young rank-and-file ALP members, with not too many other MPs in sight, apart from Giles, Albanese and Victorian MP (and national Labor president hopeful) Jane Garrett. At one point Garrett was pushed into the middle of a dance circle and “gave it her all”. We hear that Albo definitely lived up tp the hype.”It went beyond the hype. I was not ready for the banging tunes. He missed an opportunity to play Sandstorm, though,” one attendee said. According to another spy the night was a great success, and everyone had their dancing shoes on. “Only complaint is that it would have been better on a Thursday or Friday night. Maybe next time now we know he has form”. Giles uploaded a video to Facebook that shows the room going off to The Killers’ Mr Brightside (how can you not really?), and we hear from a source that the closing song was Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off. DJ Albo knows how to pick a banger.

Kevin Andrews meets his fans. A Crikey tipster ran into Defence Minister Kevin Andrews at a corporate function at an AFL match recently and asked him to sign a football. The well-wishing tipster then gifted said footy to Ms Tips. If you have any pollie memorabilia you think would suit the Crikey bunker, please send it our way!

First Dog v the anti-wind farm lobby. A bit of Crikey history was tabled at the Senate inquiry into the effects of wind turbines in Cairns yesterday. The Cairns Post is reporting that a First Dog on the Moon cartoon from 2012 was tabled by a wind farm developer:

“During the inquiry, Ratch Australia project development manager Joseph Hallenstein presented a First Dog on the Moon cartoon from news website Crikey that portrays the anti-wind turbine lobby as conspiracy theorists that fear wind farms could cause them to fall off horses.

“’I printed out black and white copies and I thought that maybe you could get some coloured pencils from reception and colour them in later on,’ Mr Hallenstein told the hearing.

“Committee chairman, Victorian independent Senator John Madigan, said it was disappointing the developer had attacked people’s legitimate concerns about wind farms.”

Clinton and Obama BFFs 4eva. US President Barack Obama has jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, snagging the handle @POTUS, which led to this exchange with former President Bill Clinton, who is hoping to return to the White House next year:

Johns gets a publisher. Everyone’s favourite progressive former Labor MP, Gary Johns, has another article in The Australian today on how to fix Australia’s welfare system (by forcing those on welfare to use reversible contraception). But we were most interested by the little postscript at the end, revealing Johns has a new publisher — conservative publishing house Connor Court, which will be publishing his magnum opus, No Contraception No Dole, later this year. Ballarat-based niche publisher Connor Court has in recent years carved out a small but profitable market for such works. It’s the publisher behind geologist and climate change denier Ian Plimer’s books (Not For Greens and Heaven and Earth) and and also published Cory Bernardi’s The Conservative Revolution. The publisher’s editorial board includes the IPA’s John Roskam, though Connor Court’s Anthony Cappello told The Saturday Paper recently there was no formal relationship between the think tank and the publisher.

Now that’s a return. Our friends over at Property Observer are reporting that News Corp’s Terry McCrann had a win over the weekend, with his family home selling at auction:

“The downsizing News Ltd business columnist Terry McCrann secured a stellar $2.95 million when his longtime Camberwell family home sold at weekend auction. It last traded in 1980 at $86,250, so reflected 10.75% annual price growth over the 35 years.”

Americans bite back. After Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce told actor Johnny Depp that his dogs Pistol and Boo needed to bugger off to America or face being put down, comedian John Oliver has shot off this reply:

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