Missing In Action

On Wednesday November 5th (one day after the Melbourne Cup) a memorial service will be held for the late Gough Whitlam the former Prime Minister who died at age 98.
                                               

Word is buzzing around town that the venue, the Sydney Town Hall will not be nearly big enough for the crowds expected from former PMs, the current PM Tony Abbott , a host of show business faces and business names to ordinary members of the public including a large contingent of Indigenous Australians.
Former Fairfax scribe Mike Carlton has been on the blower to some Labor Party heavies and is  trying to organise a live TV link to the old Parliament House in Canberra to host an expected few hundred more mourners.
While Gough's extended family will be attendance one family member will miss the service Andrew Esteban Romero Whitlam is Gough's "adopted" son although it's never been confirmed by the late Whitlam if he actually adopted the Argentinian.
Baci as he is known to pals whipped up dresses in a Double Bay boutique for society ladies for a number of years before joining his family restaurant business in Rushcutters Bay.
It was there as we reported back in February that Baci was busted in an undercover sting while attempting to sell cocaine to police. He was sentenced to two years jail. Above is the only photo taken of the late Gough Whitlam and Baci together.

David Frost : " A Towering Intellect"

When the Shuttle interviewed the late Sir David Frost in 2011 he responded to a question about former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam : "a towering intellect, possibly the most intellectual politician"'
Friday was Gough's 98th birthday and he celebrated with his family at his nursing home Lulworth House. Sadly Gough has lost his great Labor Party ally and fellow resident, former NSW premier Nevile Wran who died in April this year. But another mate and resident Sir Laurence Street was there to wish Gough all the best. In our picture is Gough and son Tony Whitlam. Gough's wife Margaret died in 2012.
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Next Friday the winner of the Archibald Prize for portraiture will be announced at the Art Gallery of NSW. Watch this cool video of every winner from 1921 to 2013 morphed into one.

Courtesy : ABC and Art Gallery of New South Wales

Society falls apart..

Following the jailing of Andrew 'Baci' Whitlam, for supplying drugs-a close friend and the 'godson' of former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam  - now  the Eastern Suburb's local magazine Latte Life has a story on the arrest of the owner of the on-line social website Urban Life Lisa Stockbridge for allegedly dealing in cocaine.

read it here.





## Sydney's most expensive harbour side mansion Elaine is on the market for around $100M . The original property on which Elaine stands comprises of 8 separate titles but the building itself is not  National Trust listed so there is every chance the property will end up being divided up into smaller lots

Downfall of a Society Figure

Andrew Baci Romero-Whitlam & Gough Whitlam in happier times

Born in Argentina, 58 year old Andrew Esteban Romero-Whitlam was regularly seen around Sydney at society shindigs. When 'Baci', as he is called by friends, and his family emigrated to Australia they had a powerful figure in their corner as a sponsor- former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

So close was Baci to Gough that he often attended official functions with the ex-PM. He even changed his name in honour of the Whitlam family and was often referred to as Whitlam's 'adopted son' or godson. Now Baci has been jailed for a minimum of 15 months after pleading guilty in a drug supply charge.

Whitlam was busted at his tapas restaurant in Rushcutters Bay, Resto Bar last year in an undercover  police sting. In his heyday Baci owned an upmarket fashion boutique in Double Bay and dressed many of Sydney's society matrons.

In the past few years he has regularly visited Gough Whitlam for lunch at his home in Lulworth House, a luxury nursing home in Rushcutter's Bay. Romero-Whitlam's barrister Phillip Boulten SC told the court on Friday that his client " was depressed  and a chronic user of cocaine and had been for some time".

Shuttle history on sale

A photograph taken by a Social Shuttle contributor is for sale on Ebay and currently stands at $660  $810. It's a snap of former Prime Minsters Gough Whitlam, Paul Keating and Bob Hawke with the then Labor Opposition Leader Kim Beazley and it's signed by all four leaders. 25 signed copies were produced and many have re-sold for much higher sums
You can bid here : http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261277166245

Vale Sir David Frost

David Frost has died of a heart attack at the age of 74 while travelling on the QE2.
Frost was in Sydney 2 years ago to appear on a stage chat show with Michael Parkinson.
At a press conference Sir David practically gave a full show as he chatted for over 40 minutes to the assembled media.

Some of the most fascinating people who he had interviewed ? (apart from Richard Nixon) : John F. Kennedy, Julian Assange and a man he considered the most intellectual politician in the world , Gough Whitlam.

Sir Laurence Street Joins the Team in Elizabeth Bay

Sir Laurence & Lady Penny Street

He is one of the Shuttle's favourite legal eagles and one of Australia's most respected jurists. At 87 years of age, Sir Laurence Street has moved into the uber smart nursing home Lulworth House in Elizabeth Bay.

Sir Laurence joins a veritable smorgasbord  of Sydney's most well known faces including entertainer Jeanie Little. promoter Harry M.Miller , Dame Leonie Kramer , former NSW premier Neville Wran and former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

Harry Miller * Jeannie Little * Gough Whitlam

Sir Laurence Street & Rachel Finch
       at a party in 2008

Sir Laurence Street was the Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court and comes from a distinguished family of lawyers. His father Sir Kenneth Street was also NSW Chief Justice and his mother Jessie Street a tireless worker for Aboriginal and women's rights. It was largely her efforts that led to indigenous Australians finally getting a vote in 1967 (at one stage she was called Red Jessie in the media and a Conservative government refused to re-new her passport whilst she was abroad).

Nevile Wran (right) with
 artist Martin Sharp

Like Miller, Little , Whitlam and Wran, Sir Laurence was a regular on the social circuits in Sydney and Melbourne before ill health saw him hang up the gold embossed velvet Gucci pumps he often wore to parties.
Wife Penny Street is a great pal of Prince Charles and the pair always dined with Charles on his Australian visits.
Meanwhile a claim late last year by a former nurse that Lulworth House residents were "under-nourished" seems to have vanished from the ether.

Saucy Pics of Deborah Hutton

Womens Weekly has a nude photographic of TV personality Deborah Hutton on it's cover. Deb is looking pretty hot for someone who has just turned 50 (despite the claims the snap may have been airbrushed).

Hutton hasn't stop working since the 1980s when she was the cover girl for the Grace Bros emporiums (now Myer). At that time the speculation was that she was girlfriend of promoter Harry M.Miller. The two were often seen arm in  arm at social events.

But it was all a cover. Harry was Deb's manager for many years and steered her career from success to success. Deborah has never married and now shares an apartment with a gal pal Danni Roche. She's also become a property investor and has snapped up two flats that are being built in the old Harold Park site at Glebe.

Harry & Siimone

Sadly Harry M's health has been failing over the past two years since a stroke downed him and he spends more and more time in a Potts Point nursing home where other residents include former PM Gough Whitlam and TV star Jeannie Little.
Miller was the agent for the stars and once dated singer Shirley Bassey. His clients have included Lindey Chamberlain and Gae Waterhouse and in the 60s he brought some of the world's top acts to Australia including the Rolling Stones and Louis Armstrong.

In his 2009 autobiography he revealed how Prince Charles had confided over dinner that he always believed Australia would and should become a republic one day. Two or three times a week Harry lunches with long time partner Siimone Logue at her Potts Point restaurant. Sadly the two rarely make it to red carpet openings these days,

Big News at News Ltd

It was an announcement that caught everyone by surprise today - the resignation of the boss of the Australian arm of News Ltd, John Hartigan.

Kim Williams

Even more surprising was Rupert Murdoch's following announcement in Melbourne today, that the Foxtel boss who also runs Fox Studios, Kim Williams will take Hartigan's place. Murdoch will now takeover as CEO of Australian operations.

It's a sure sign that no matter what happens with News Corp in the USA or UK, Murdoch is ensuring that the highly profitable control of his Australian operations is under his command. A court case in the Melbourne courts is currently tarnishing the image of Murdoch's most beloved publication The Australian, the countries only national newspaper set up by Rupert in 1964.

Gough & Margaret Whitlam

And the choice of Kim Williams who has never worked on a newspaper is an extraordinary departure from standard Murdoch practice. Williams is a no-nonsense boss and considered not only articulate and clever but bordering on the intellectual and certainly not a 'right winger' like most of News Ltd's major executives.

He is also married to Catherine Dovey, daughter of former Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam who broke the Conservative stranglehold on Australian politics in 1972 when the Coalition was finally defeated after 23 years in power.

Whitlam swept into office on a wave of enthusiasm for change and for Australia to get out of the Vietnam War with the backing of the Murdoch media. Three years later Murdoch was to turn on Labor and give his support back to the Coalition.

Malcolm : Call Your Cousin Angela Lansbury Now

Malcolm & Lucy Turnbull

Former Federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has been having a hard time lately with Liberal Party supporters of the leader, Tony Mad Monk Abbott out to ensure Turnbull never becomes leader again.

Turnbull was never popular with the hard right. The self made millionaire, former barrister and banker (estimated worth : $300M) is seen as a bit of a latte sipping elitist probably more suited to the Labor Party which it's reputed he once tried to join.

The problem for the party is that Turnbull is  popular amongst the rank and file members who see Malcolm as their best bet to return to power, if only he could act like a politician. He does have a tendency to cut to the chase having come lately to politics.

Perhaps he should turn to his cousin  the legendary actress Angela Lansbury for acting lessons on how to present himself as a politician rather than a man in a hurry to get to the top job so he can show the country just how it should be done.

Lansbury was out last week in New York and attended the Actors Fund Annual Gala at the New York Marriott Hotel. As our picture show, she is remarkably fit looking and as large as life at the fabulous age of 87.

Angela Lansbury & Hunter Ryan Herdicka (Rob Rich)

Turnbull's mother was the academic and actress Coral Lansbury who is Angela's cousin. She split with Malcolm's father when he was nine and went to live, like Angela in the USA.

Turnbull is not only the richest politician in the country, he's probably one of the smartest as well. He worked for a  number of years as Kerry Packer's personal lawyer before taking on the might of Margaret Thacher's government in the famous Spy Catcher trial when he successfully defeated the British government's attempts to block publication of the memoirs of the former MI5 officer Peter Wright.

He made a motza with the merchant bank he started with Nicholas Whitlam, the son of former Labor PM Gough Whitlam and then sealed his fortune during the dot.com boom. As chairman of the Republican Movement Turnbull really felt the loss of the referendum when the country voted in 1998 to keep the British royal family as head of state.

Turnbull blamed the loss on the machinations of then PM John Howard  but he joined Howard's Liberal Party as a minister which most perceived as Howard's attempt to 'keep his enemies closer'.
When Turnbull produced an excellent paper on housing affordability recommending the adoption of European style housing associations and co-ops plus spending more on government housing, the paper was quietly shelved by Howard.

Turnbull is clearly in the wrong political party. He should ask his cousin for some tips. The Lansburys have long been on the left of the political spectrum. Angela's father was a politician and member of the British Communist Party and her grandfather was the leader of the British Labour Party.

Angela now lives in a New York apartment having returned from Ireland where she lived for a number of years. She starred in the film Gaslight when she was just 19 and went on to make a string of Hollywood films co-starring with the leading Hollywood stars of the day. She's probably most famous for the long running TV series Murder She Wrote.

At the Actors Fund Gala Bebe Neuwirth was honoured while Al Pacino received The Lee Strasberg Artistic Achievement Award

exclusive : Jeanne Joins Gough

As we exclusively reported several months ago, Gough Whitlam the former Labor Prime Minister of Australia who broke the conservative stranglehold on power in 1972 when he was elected after 23 years of Liberal/National Party dominance, has moved into the luxury retirement home Lulworth House in Elizabeth Bay.

Now we hear that the 93 year old -who the famous British interviewer Sir David Frost described to the Social Shuttle earlier this year as: "probably the most intellectual of all world leaders I have interviewed"- has been joined at the home by Jeanne Little , the much loved TV personality who is suffering from a severe form of Alzheimer's.

Lulworth House which is part of St Luke's Hospital is considered to be one of the finest retirement homes in Sydney with it's beautiful leafy gardens and superb views of the harbour.

David Frost : 'most intellectual world leader'

Ironically, Whitlam who gave Australia it's Medicare system of free public health care which is regarded as the best in the Western world is a private patient as is Jeannie who in her heyday would have been the ideological  opposite of Gough.

Wheelchair bound Gough still makes it out almost every day to lunch with old political pals and foes- former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser who defeated Gough in 1975 after Whitlam was dismissed by the Governor General Sir John Kerr, is a visitor and friend.

Sadly Jeannie no longer recognises her family and friends. Her family have asked people to donate to the Jeanne Little Alzheimer's Research Fund.

Sir David Frost on Julian Assange and Robert Kennedy

 David Frost spoke today of the most impressive person he had ever interviewed in his long career: The former US Senator Robert Kennedy who was assassinated in 1968 .

Robert Kennedy

"He was forthright, honest and had a keen intellect, one of the most truthful people I have ever interviewed" said Frost at a press conference he gave today in Sydney with the former British talk show host Michael Parkinson.

Parky & Frost

The pair are doing 2 shows at the Sydney Theatre this week where they interview each other and reveal some candid moments  interviewing some of the most famous people during their respective careers.

Both said Nelson Mandela was a interview subject they had both greatly admired. Frost who has concentrated on world leaders said that he found former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam to be a "towering intellect, possibly the most intellectual politician"' while Parkinson said that both he and Frost were fond of cricketer Shane Warne who he described as "a life enhancing force".

Of all the people he had loathed David Frost described the former head of the Hitler Youth League
Baldur von Schirach who served 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity as a "particular loathsome person".

von Schirach "loathsome"

"He had absolutely no regrets about his time as a Nazi and I shivered after the interview when he put his hand on my arm and with a twinkle in his eye said 'at 23 you were in charge of your own television show and at 23 I was in charge of the Hitler Youth-you see we really aren't so different! ' "

On Julian Assange who Frost has just interviewed and Wikileaks he said: "I was expecting a fairly soul-less person but I was pleasantly surprised and liked him by the end of the interview".

Asked what he thought about Assange's release of secret cables Frost said:
"it hasn't been proved that anyone has been harmed by them and they have exposed serious crimes. It's the sort of thing journalists should be doing".

Parkinson and Frost said that research and preparation was the most important aspect of interviewing any person with Parkinson giving the ABC interviewer Andrew Denton as a great example of a young interviewer of today who gets the most out of his subject.

And they weren't giving much away about what their two man show will be about :
"I'm still working out things to ask Michael "said Frost."In fact this press conference has given me some new ideas".
"I think David will turn out to be my favourite interview subject of all time " responded Parkinson.

To book for Parky And Frost. Two Nights Only Tues 8th Feb & Wed 9th Feb go to this website.

Here is David Frost and part of his famous interview with Richard Nixon:

Polo Champs Miss the Big Match



Jean-Paul & Nina Clarkin at Windsor last week



The annual Paspaley Polo takes place today in Centennial Park and with the world's largest supplier of cultured pearls celebrating it's 75th year it promises to be an extra special event.

 Sadly two of the world's great polo players will miss the day.

Carina Clarkin, the UK's top female player and her husband , the handsome and debonair Jean-Paul Clarkin have left Sydney for New Zealand after playing at the Windsor polo match last week.

Carina, known as Nina is the niece of the beef baron Lord Vestey and the Vestey family connections with Australia are deep and varied.

Lord Vestey was once the largest single land owner in Australia until 1966 when dozens of his Aboriginal stock men went on strike demanding equal pay with whites.

When Gough Whitlam was elected Prime Minister in the early 1970's he forced Vestey to hand back traditional lands to the Gurindji tribe.

Vestey also owns several cattle ranches in Venezuela-or did until President Hugo Chavez sent in troops to occupy them. In 2006 he settled a dispute with Chavez by handing over 2 of his best properties to the Venezuelan government.



Lord Vestey & The Queen

 Jean-Paul's late father Paul Clarkin was a mentor to both Princes William and Harry and Nina's mother Rosie dated their father Prince Charles and was part of his inner circle.

Nina, a good friend of William's is expected to be a guest at the wedding of William and Kate Middleton.





Lord Vestey visited Australia earlier this year on behalf of St John Ambulance ( HRH The Queen is patron). He holds the lofty title of The Lord Prior of St John. He also attended the Royal Easter Show with the Social Shuttle's resident landed gentry and contributor Bill Ranken.

And Lord Vestey and Nina Clarkin have another claim to Oz-Sam Vestey's great grandmother was the opera singer Dame Nellie Melba.

Media's Role in Politician's Downfall !

There must be something in the water in the southern NSW city of Wollongong. Labor Party MPs are falling like ninepins.

steam lover David Campbell MP

Today poor David Campbell , the former Minister for Transport is splashed across the tabloids pictured emerging from the famous / infamous Ken's gay steam baths last night where he spent 2 hours.

It isn't apparent what Campbell's "crime" is that forced his resignation that came after a heated argument in his parliamentary office late last night with Labor bigwigs. We thought the days of gay bashing were over

Gay sex is legal and although he drove himself there in his government provided car, having given the chauffeur the night off, that is still within MP rules. In fact as far as anyone knows, Campbell could have just been taking a healthy steam bath.

The point of the Campbell travesty is that the people of NSW generally gave up any misgivings about whether their representative's sex orientations years ago and the leader of the Greens, Dr Bob Brown is openly gay and the Australian electorate have never judged him on his sexuality-just his policies. Likewise former Minister for the Environment in the Gillard government Penny Wong is a lesbian and it's obviously a matter her electors couldn't give a toss about-to coin a phrase.

Shock jocks and prudish journos were quick to accuse the man of living a 'double life' and 'betraying' his family. As though they knew the intimate goings-on within the Campbell's household. All without the slightest bit of proof. Campbell's family and wife were quick to jump to his defense and express their love for him.

We feel a Gay Rights demo will emerge from this tale and a backlash for the cowardly Labor heavies.

instant update : our psychic abilities are still in top form. As we blog the excellent Sydney Morning Herald political writer Andrew West has ripped into the reporting on Campbell's gay life and resignation. Campbell had committed no crime or sin even though he is a married man. He was pushed by increasingly desperate Labor Party heavies. This will backfire in spades.

Ken 'Candy' Johnson

For the naive, Ken's has had a long and varied life beginning in the late 1960's as the Purple Onion featuring spectacular drags shows that drew huge audiences on a Sunday night including any visiting international celebrity.

Ken 'Candy' Johnson the owner was the first to cash in on the gay steam bath business changing the premises to Ken's Karate Klub and eventually just Ken's featuring various steam rooms, plunge pools and cubicles where folks could meet up with a stranger , perhaps a 'bear' (in gay parlance) like Mr Campbell to discuss Ugandan politics.

Campbell was the former mayor of Wollongong before he became the local member. 3 years ago. Wollongong's council came under the attention of the Independent Commission for Corruption as bribes and all manner of rorts where uncovered between property developers and the local Labor Party dominated council (there is no suggestion Campbell was ever involved or knew).

Older readers may remember that a former Labor mayor of Wollongong Frank Arkell was accused in parliament by fellow Labor MP Franka Arena of being a paedophile and shortly after in 1988 was murdered in a brutal slashing in his home. Arena went on to similarly name a judge who gassed himself the following day in his garage. Under constant fire from her own party for anti-gay and witch hunt style statements, Arena retired when gay rights groups threaten to expose her twin sons who they claimed were active gays at the then illegal age of 17. Both boys fled abroad and have never returned.

In our last story we spoke of the MP for the neighboring electorate Kiama, Matt Brown who put in an appearance at the opening of the Art Bar in Kings Cross last week. He smiled warmly for the cameras at first and then curled his lip as he realised our snapper was from the media.

Brown's first career as Housing Minster collapsed 3 years ago as he stared into the TV cameras at a news conference and snarled that "public housing is a privilege not a right" to put the fear of God into public housing tenants and within the fortnight was discovered to own a few luxurious apartments in the docks area of Pyrmont where he had packed in visiting Asian students from floor to ceiling at outrageous rents,.

Briefly re-instated as Police Minister, further misery followed for the handsome MP when it was claimed he table topped danced at a Wollongong party in his underpants and "titty f*cked" MP Nora Hey. He has always denied it happened.

Where this leaves Labor Party heavy Nicholas Whitlam who moved to Wollongong after flogging his share of the merchant bank Whitlam Turnbull which he owned with Liberal Party MP Malcolm Turnbull (the nephew of British actress Angela Lansbury) to operate a luxury pub and pull a few political strings is a mystery. tSS knows Whitlam's wife Judy isn't fond of the working class city of Wollongong and perhaps this will give her the chance to convince Nick to move back to Sydney as the entire Wollongong shire will surely fall to the Liberals at the next election.

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Which leads us nicely into the small tale we related 2 days ago to Murdoch's Daily Telegraph that the great Labor Party hero and saint, former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, Nick Whitlam's, dad who broke the stranglehold of the conservatives 23 year rule federally in 1972, and now wheel chair bound, had moved into a luxury Potts Point retirement home at the age of 93. What was meant to be a column filler was soon shunted to page 2 and was picked up be every TV news broadcast that evening.

No news yet whether Gough's "adopted son", the very handsome Argentinian Andrew 'Bacci' Whitlam visits his benefactor at the nursing home, just as the Great Gough regularly visited Bacci in his Rose Bay flat to seek relief away from the stress and rigors of politics and knowing Mr Whitlam's huge intellect, no doubt indulged in fascinating discussions on Argentinian politics.

Claudia Marie & Sharon Sargeant

Even more pleasing was the picture spread sent to us by our Las Vegas operative of up and coming marketing executive and fiancee of the world's most famous private eye Frank Monte, Ms Sharon Sargeant which we kindly supplied the same Daily Telegraph.

Run as a double page spread in Annette Sharp's Sydney Confidential, the pneumatic Sharon had suffered a similar wardrobe malfunction as she had in a tale a few months ago.

Whilst Frank was doing PI business with a client, she and 2 friends crashed a party at the luxury hotel they were staying at only to discover it was an Adult Industry convention. The fun loving Sharon was soon dancing with gay abandon with all and sundry including a busty blond who we discovered is one of the USA's most famous porn stars Claudia Marie. Her website is here but not recommended for the feint of heart,

The on-line picture feature which is fairly tame compared to the print published version had gone mental and the hits had reached a staggering 800,000 by 4pm that day and over a million by 8pm.

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And do they ever listen ?. No. Five months ago Malcolm Turnbull announced his retirement from politics and said he would not stand for the seat of Wentworth at the next election when in a party room coup he was exchanged as leader for Tony "Mad Monk" Abbott. We predicted Malcolm would return to politics.

"Your predictions are useless" cried our critics. With smug satisfaction we raised a flute of excellent Nicholas Feuillatte champagne (proud sponsor and now the 4th biggest selling champagne in the world) as 2 weeks ago Turnbull announced he had changed his mind and will now remain as MP and when the Federal Liberals, despite their current hysteria over a few polls are trounced later this year at a Federal election, Turnbull will be elected as party leader again but have to wait until 2015 before he becomes Prime Minister. Put your money on it.