From the Crikey grapevine, the latest tips and rumours …

‘Too many documents’. Earlier this year it was revealed that the government had done so little planning when it came to a $30 million handout to Foxtel to broadcast women’s sport that no correspondence existed between the Department of Communications and the broadcaster. The ABC reported:

“A Freedom of Information (FOI) request filed by ABC Radio Melbourne’s Mornings program, seeking correspondence between Foxtel and the department, was declined on the basis of no such documents existing.”

As was noted at the time, it looked like the $30 million was just a sop to the pay TV company, which had missed out on the coup awarded to the free-to-air networks in the budget, with their licence fees cut after the government quashed a major source of revenue through gambling ads during sport broadcasts. AFR Rear Window’s Myriam Robin even speculated that the Foxtel decision could have been made at a dinner in New York with Rupert Murdoch. Just to ram home the point, a freedom of information request by Crikey for similar documents relating to the licence fee discounts for the free-to-air channels was rejected because too many documents existed. How things change.

Joyce to the world: ‘No worries, I’m good to nominate.’ We’ve already had a bit of a look at just what our pollies knew when they ticked the box to say that they were eligible to run for Parliament. But now, Barnaby Joyce’s nomination form for the 2013 election has been released under freedom of information, as well as the information that was given to candidates at the time.

The Australian Electoral Commission’s Candidates Handbook had the following info, that wasn’t in fine print (and probably should have been read more closely by the deputy prime minister):

There was also a checklist:

And this is where Joyce signed that he was all good under s44 (even though the signature itself was redacted):

 

Avo on toast up in lights. Demographer Bernard Salt has reached a level of success even he could never have dreamed possible, and maybe should consider retirement as it is unclear whether this peak will ever be reached again. A well-heeled Crikey tipster on a sojourn in the United States spotted this Christmas decoration in homewares chain store Sur La Table — yes, that’s avocado on toast as a bauble. Before Salt used the breakfast option as a symbol of Millennials’ aversion to saving for a house deposit, the humble avo on toast has taken on a cult life of its own — now it can be seen on Christmas trees.

 

Scout’s dishonour. A regional Victorian Scouts leader has resigned after commandeering a email list of parents and encouraging them to vote note no on the upcoming marriage equality ballot. Fred Merlo made a number of arguments including ‘“same-sex marriage would promote unethical commercial surrogacy and the commodification of children”. Scouts Victoria had to respond to angry parents, apologising for Merlo’s comments. “Personal views are personal and no one is entitled to use Scouting to promote their own position,” region commissioner Alan Harding said, according to 3AW.

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