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July 7, 2026 — 5:00am
The role of the federal Liberal Party presidency has long been carried out with a relatively low profile. But not so for Tony Abbott, who, since he was appointed to the role in May, has appeared to relish his return to public life.
It’s fair to say the former prime minister has been busy. Since his appointment, Abbott has offered views on all manner of policy issues, from the national immigration debate to matters more local, such as when he threw his support behind a Mosman community campaign to block the sale of HMAS Penguin.
So it was only going to be a matter of time before Abbott, perhaps the only person on the Liberal Party leadership anybody seems to want to hear from, started leveraging his public profile to help the Liberal Party’s state divisions raise some cash.
Next month, the NSW party faithful will get a chance to rub shoulders with their high-profile party president, when Abbott is wheeled out as the headline act alongside Wendy Lindsay for a state election fundraiser in western Sydney called Bling it On! (their exclamation mark).
The flier, which carries a garish diamond-encrusted font, has tongues wagging in rank-and-file Liberal Party circles for the role that AI appears to have played in its creation. A party spokesman declined to comment.
But perhaps even better than the grand sandstone facades pictured on the invitation, which we would guess stand a long way from the electorate of East Hills, is the party’s venue of choice: The Grand Vaudeville.
For those wondering, the World Mime Organisation has handily posted an excerpt of the relevant Wikipedia page to its website.
“Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States, Canada and parts of Europe from the early 1880s until the early 1930s,” the excerpt reads.
“Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Vaudeville developed from many sources, including the concert saloon, minstrelsy, freak shows, dime museums and literary burlesque.”
Single tickets to the fundraiser are $200 apiece. Tables of eight tickets cost $1500, while tables of 10 are $1700.
“Join Wendy Lindsay & The Hon. Tony Abbott AC, Australia’s 28th prime minister, for a three-course dinner and drinks to celebrate all things East Hills!” reads the invite. “There will be plenty of special guests to meet and mingle with as we prepare for the fight to win back the seat of East Hills! Bling it on and wear your sparkles!!!”
Spinning out
It’s not uncommon for politicians and big companies to try to get ahead of major news events by briefing journalists to try to secure friendly coverage, particularly when they expect to get flayed.
Enter the spinners at Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram. On Sunday, the flacks were reliably available to remind journalists of all the stuff that the company run by free-speech-loving Mark Zuckerberg was doing to curb antisemitism on its platforms ahead of its appearance at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion the next day.
“Meta takes the issues of Antisemitism and Social Cohesion seriously, and acknowledges the important role of the commission in these matters. As a result, we have: Produced approximately 650 documents within two weeks of being given a Notice to Produce, [and] Provided three statements and committed two witnesses to appear,” read the self-congratulatory briefing memo shared with journalists, who were instructed to treat the information as background “not for direct quotation or attribution”. (Conditions we never agreed to, of course.)
“Meta Platforms Inc’s participation, including the witness statements of Ben Good and Jordana Cutler, is voluntary. The commission does not have an inherent statutory power to compel foreign persons or entities. Meta Platforms Inc chose to participate as a demonstration of good faith and its commitment to assisting the commission.”
Meta went on in the briefing note, as it did in the royal commission the following day, to cover off all the steps the company has taken to curb hateful content on its platforms, and how it’s a good corporate citizen. Left out, of course, was the Holocaust denial content that remained live on Instagram for four years despite the company’s policy changes, as the royal commission heard the next day.
Spotted: Michelle Rowland’s public transit
Last week’s Midwinter Ball fell on the second-last day of the parliamentary sitting week, with the nation’s MPs – well, the thinning contingent who actually showed up for the fundraiser – already looking forward to heading home for the July break.
Among those who it would appear didn’t stay in Canberra a moment longer than required was Attorney-General Michelle Rowland. On Friday, the A-G was seen hoofing it through Sydney’s CBD – on the light rail, no less – for what we hear were some events scheduled ahead of the Australian Labor Party’s national conference this month.
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