The killing season has come for the Liberal Party.
In Canberra, Sussan Ley is scrambling to keep her job after less than six months as leader. On Macquarie Street, Mark Speakman faces a terrifying final parliamentary fortnight as rumours of his impending demise grow ever louder.
Liberal MP Eleni Petinos and Opposition Leader Mark Speakman have had their differences.Credit: Wolter Peeters
In the Sutherland Shire, Liberal frontbencher Eleni Petinos is facing a battle to hold her seat of Miranda, with local branch support evaporating ahead of a potential challenge from former federal MP Jenny Ware.
Ware is hoping for a shift to state politics after losing her safe seat of Hughes in May, with a preselection imminent. Local Liberals reckon the only way Petinos survives is if Speakman falls. Despite the pair representing neighbouring electorates, and belonging to the same faction, we hear they have their differences. In fact, Petinos voted for Speakman’s rival Anthony Roberts in a 2023 leadership election.
As for who might replace Speakman, some Liberals are increasingly warming to first-termer “Caviar” Kellie Sloane – a nickname which has caught on in party circles courtesy of her very Vaucluse order at a recent lunch interview with News Corp. Despite years of speculation, Sloane is still unsure whether she wants the poisoned chalice just yet.
There’s also been some momentum around Manly MP and shadow environment minister James Griffin. He is, after all, the last Liberal standing on the northern beaches.
Scots castle sympathiser
Well, we found it.
An outspoken fan of Scots College’s $60 million faux-Scottish baronial castle who isn’t the school’s headmaster Ian Lambert has finally reared their head above the parapets.
The John Cunningham Student Centre, which finally opened in April after years of delays and looks like the unholy bastard child of a Mormon megachurch and suburban McMansion, left more than a few parents disgruntled.
But it won gushing praise from Tony Abbott’s former international advisor and handpicked ambassador to the European Union Mark Higgie.
Architecturally divisive… Scots College John Cunningham Student Centre.Credit: JCA Architects
“Great call by Scots College Sydney replacing its modernist monster of a library with a building in Scottish baronial style,” Higgie wrote on X.
“Increasingly around the world, people are defying the modern architecture lobby with traditional designs that most people prefer.”
While we at CBD sympathise a little with Higgie’s animus toward the shapeless utilitarian blocks that have polluted our cityscapes for decades, the Scots castle simply ain’t it. A 12-year-old’s idea of what a cool building is meant to look like.
But hey, let people enjoy what they enjoy, we guess.
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