When is a promotion not really a promotion?
In the case of Corio MP Richard Marles, maybe it’s when the step up involves forsaking the lush beauty of tropical islands for the war-torn landscapes of the Middle East.
Federal Labor’s shadow defence minister managed to keep smiling this week in images from a recent trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he donned flak jacket and helmet to meet diggers on scorched-earth wastelands. At least it looked like he was smiling.
It sure was a long way from his Gillard government gig as parliamentary secretary for South Pacific Affairs, when his itinerary sounded more Love Boat than Black Hawk Down.
Back then, the man himself once revealed, the biggest threat during tours of duty was obesity from the roast-pig hospitality of islander hosts.
At least now he can walk it off in the deserts of the Middle East and South Asia!
True or false: Barwon Water has installed hair straighteners in women’s toilets at the new HQ opening soon on Ryrie St?
That’s the gripe from one male employee who snuck a look. But does a bloke in the water industry even know what a hair-straightener looks like?
And, if it’s true, do the blokes get beard-trimmers?
Well, new CEO Tracey Slatter did promise a focus on diversity – maybe it extends to toilet amenities!
Double Take will make some enquiries, hopefully to report back next week.
Possibly with straightened hair.
A stone’s throw away at City Hall, council administrators chair Kathy Alexander was a notable absentee from this week’s big monthly meeting (it’s easy to notice a missing administrator when there’s only three of them).
With controversial decisions aplenty up for voting, not least the fate of two Geelong libraries, Laurinda Gardner and Peter Dorling were left to make the fraught official calls before a packed, simmering public gallery.
So where was the chair? On “leave”, was the answer from City Hall.
Fair enough, she’s been in the job for 12 months – on an annual pay packet of more than $250,000 for two days a week.
Nice work if you can get it!
Meanwhile, a familiar face actually at work last Friday certainly made a good impression.
Veteran sports broadcaster Bruce McAvaney was preparing for a busy night at Simonds Stadium, with the opening of the new stand and the big match between Geelong and the reigning-premier Bulldogs.
Rushing through Simonds Stadium to make it in time for the cameras, Bruce was asked to stop for a photo with fans.
He happily obliged, smiling all the while before rushing off again for his national broadcast.
And what did his fans say? Speeeecial!
