Sporting an awkward look … a Murdoch leans left … conference beyond the pale

Gladys you and not me Ah, the big sporting occasions. The perfect time for a politician to make a huge effort to appear human and in so doing come to resemble an alien wearing a poorly thought-out flesh disguise.

So it was last night when New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejilkian watched the State of Origin like any red-blooded sports fan would — standing completely alone in the middle of a nondescript room watching a TV affixed halfway up a wall holding an unopened can of Coke No Sugar a full four hours before the game starts.

Of course this is always the case when politicians provide photographic evidence that they are willing to pretend to be into sports for us. Who can forget Malcolm Turnbull’s bizarre inability to orient himself towards a television in anything approaching a normal way?

Or Paul Keating posing with a footy and a Collingwood jersey looking so unnatural as to render every element in the image as uncanny and disturbing as the “name one thing in this photo” image.

Correcting the record The Aussie Parl&Gov WikiEdits Twitter handle collects anonymous edits to Wikipedia from Australian parliamentary and government IP addresses and thus offers a tantalising glimpse of what public servants and parliamentarians deem an important correction to public record. Which is interesting, given as often as not it concerns itself with extremely specific old popular culture.

Just why a member of the Department of Human Services was anonymously updating the entry for Dan Hill’s syrupy power ballad Sometimes When We Touch is a mystery that might not be answered in our lifetime.

If you’re unfamiliar with the song, this is the thumbnail that appears when you search for the music video, which probably tells you everything you need to know about the tone:

Murdoch In August last year James Murdoch quit News Corp, the departure due in his words to “disagreements over certain editorial content”. But clearly the drift away from the family business had been in motion for quite some time. Murdoch, it’s been revealed, “quietly” spent nearly $130 million on various left-leaning and non-partisan causes in the lead-up to the 2020 election.

We already knew he supported US President Joe Biden’s election, but these figures (based on the tax returns of Murdoch’s non-profit Quadrivium foundation) show just how far James was veering from the Fox News line, even before he left.

Out of Africa Crikey has long kept an eye on Australia’s involvement in the mining of African resources. Frequently an important focal point for the industry is Perth’s annual Africa Down Under Conference. This is usually a place where local miners and the resources ministers of various African countries are able to meet and strike deals. But of course in the era of COVID-19 this isn’t possible, giving the list of speakers and panellists a distinctly … how shall we put this … European feel? Here’s a slice:

We’re sure it’s not that high on its list of priorities, but did anyone considered the symbolism of a group whose greatest diversity appears to be where they schooled getting together to discuss the opportunities afforded by Africa’s resources?