Malcolm's beach party

Whispers has been privileged to attend a shindig at Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull's exclusive Point Piper mansion (pictured above) . It was charity fundraising event and well before Malcolm was Prime  Minister, merely the local MP.

It's a splendorous house with magnificent harbor views and it's own tiny beach at the base of the garden. Now a small group of protestors have taken up residence on that beach to agitate about the controversial proposed Adani coal mine in Queensland which it's claimed will do untold damage to the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef.
The freezing weather has driven off the protestors for the moment but I'm reliably informed that they have more plans to enliven life in genteel Point Piper- the most exclusive and expensive suburb in Australia. Meanwhile Mal & Lucy are residing at The Lodge (above right) in Canberra. It's freezing there as well. Not in the Lodge itself but Canberra. Winter in Canberra is something else. Life is just tough sometimes.

Malcolm Turnbull is not who you think he is !

Whispers has come across all manner of odd tales but this one really caught our eye. The Internet is awash with conspiracy rumours and we love this one : our newly minted prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull is not who you think he is. 'Crisis actors' is one of the weirder conspiracy claims of the "truther " movement (they also say the Earth really is flat & the Moon Landing was faked) : these are actors who pretend to be 'victims' of the so-called 'false flag' events where the truthers claim every terrible action is a staged secret government plot as they lead us onto the New World Order, take away every citizen's gun in the USA and so on. Part of the grand conspiracy is that actors play the part of world leaders.
Our favourite was the claim that HM Queen Elizabeth was actually the Golden Girl star Betty White (they do look similar in a low light) but now it has been revealed : Malcolm Turnbull is in fact the star of Hannibal Lecter films Anthony Hopkins. Not only that, former PM Julia Gillard is in reality the Hollywood actress Jodie Foster !
Whispers has encountered all 4 of these personalities in person including being a guest at a dinner at Turnbull's Point Piper mansion, a book launch hosted by Julia Gillard, a small reception at Sydney's Fox Studios for Jodie Foster and 2 movie premiers with actor Hopkins.
Crucially : we have never seen all four at the same time in the same room !. We report, you decide.

Seen at The Silver Party

400 packed into John Symond's $60M Point Piper mansion -plenty of room- which was transformed into A Midsummer Night’s cocktail scene for the Silver Party's 9th annual bash to raise mega bucks for the Sydney's Children's Hospital.Amongst them - retired cricketer Stuart McGill and Julie Singleton, Skye Leckie, Karin Upton Baker, Nicky and Troy Tindill, Blainey North, Peter Overton, Lisa Wilkinson, Jesinta Campbell and a Wiggle or two, all shown in our snaps below.  Left is some of art-lover John's garden art.

Masked Man

When Whispers first encountered the amiable make-up supremo Napoleon Perdis many moons ago it was at the opening of his Parramatta salon on a Thursday afternoon. A small coterie of locals had gathered by the red carpet to watch the celebrations including 2 senior citizens who politely inquired of us whether the 2 tall elegant ladies ascending the salon stairs were "soapie stars". Alas we didn't have the heart to inform them that were actually drag queens, albeit fairly glamorous ones.

Napoleon has risen to giddy heights of stardom with salons all over the world including Beverley Hills (California!) where he is in huge demand especially by movie stars on the night of the Academy Awards but now he has turned his back on "high maintenance celebrities " according to this article.
Fortunately our home grown celebrities are still in favour as evidenced by society favourite, hair dresser Joh Bailey who wore what was acclaimed as the most superb mask of the evening created by Napoleon for the Silver Ball last week at John Symonds' Point Piper house.

A Tale of Two Cities:

Our favourite, sometimes loathed (it's really the very best & worst of the tabloids in the world) the UK Daily Mail and Mail Online has differing thoughts for each country where it appears. Thus the terrible aeroplane accident involving superstar Harrison Ford was reported somewhat differently in the UK and Australia. Perhaps they perceive us colonials are made of sterner stuff  when they described Ford's injuries as "moderate" in the UK but "serious" in Oz!

Julia is all Smiles

 It is without a doubt, one of Sydney's most elegant mansions in Wolseley Road Point Piper with the most commanding views of the harbour. Ville del Mare was the home of employment agency entrepreneur Julia Ross and had been on the market for some years as Ms Ross relocated her headquarters to London where she originally came from.
Last year the palace finally sold for a whopping $39M to 55-year-old Hong Kong property developer Hui Ka Yan who is listed as China's  15th wealthiest person.
Alas there are problems with the sale and Treasurer Joe Hockey has decided that the sale of the house breached Foreign Investment Review Board rules on foreign ownership. Hockey has given the new owner 90 days to sell or risk having it confiscated  by Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions.
But what news of the former tenant Julia Ross?. We can report that Julia is safely ensconced in grand premises in London's Belgravia and is loving life back in England. With (at least) that $39M.

Jesinta Unmasked

Jesinta Campbell attended last night's Silver Party at the splendid Point Piper house of Aussie Home Loan's boss John Symond. Whispers had exclusive access to the grand party (more tomorrow).

Jesinta opted not to wear a mask at the themed masked party and masked little else as well as our snaps show

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

Something stinks and Russell Crowe isn't happy

Tweeted by Russell Crowe :

  from Woolloomooloo to past Stanley St up to hyde park,the whole area pongs of diesel fuel. Apparently a spill at Garden Island. about 1 hour ago via web .

Russell's view

Wooloomooloo Wharf

Russell's new view ?

It's one of the drawbacks of living on the Woolloomooloo Wharf as north facing residents discovered long ago. Directly opposite is the Garden Island naval base and when the ships are in the smell of diesel wafts over. And it's not healthy for the kids either.

spotted at Seven Shillings Beach

Via Veneta

Perhaps that's why Crowe and family were spotted checking out this 1950's Point Piper mansion on Seven Shillings Beach on Monday.

Despite a rumour that swept the property market, Crowe did not purchase Via Veneta in the same suburb that sold for a record $60M this week.

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Prize for packing the most product placements into a series of daily tweets goes to our favourite celebrity spruiker Max Markson  with these :
  maxmarkson
  Had grt day today ... Did I ever show u the 3 bikini girls ? about 3 hours ago via web 

 maxmarkson
  Check out the uber sexy uber model Emily and get Boca Lupo energy drink  about 11 hours ago via Twittelator
  maxmarkson
  Having hot choc at Guylian with the fully clothed bikini models and Spiderman... Want to join us  about 11 hours ago via Twittelator
  maxmarkson
Crikey this is hard ... 3 bikini clad girls+ Alain Robert and only one can of Boca Lupo energy drink! about 12 hours ago via web 


We thought we should show a pic of spiderman Alain Robert as well. He and Zoo Magazine are clients of Max !

exclusive-Mel's fire sale

Mel & Bruce Davey

What is behind Mel Gibson's disposal of so many properties ?.

He has sold off his New York house and a beach house in Malibu is on the market.

Now there is a rumour from a reliable source that Mel's partner in Icon Films, Bruce Davey may be putting Craigend  up for sale. Craigend in Point Piper is one of the elite suburb's most iconic properties with a commanding view of the harbour.

Davey and Gibson purchased Craigend  in 2001 for $16M and announced it was to be the headquarters of their burgeoning film production company Icon which has produced 3 box office success- Apocaypto, The Passion of Christ and. Braveheart. These 3 films pushed Mel into billionaire status and has made him one of the richest of Hollywood stars. The 2 producers announced last year that Icon was going into a production hiatus.

Craigend

Tales of the demise of Mel's career are of course greatly exaggerated. As an actor/director who has total control over his career, Mel calls the shots. But he has taken a thumping on property prices as he sells up just at the wrong time. The Sydney market has also gone quiet for high end properties.

As we exclusively reported earlier actor Russell Crowe and wife Danielle Spencer viewed Altona, on the market for $45.5M but owners Deke & Eve Miskin have rejected an offer from Crowe  of $36M. It's doubtful the Miskins will get their asking price in today's market.

It's a buyer's market. What has spooked Mel ?

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While Gibson and Crowe can play the property market with ease, things go from bad to worse for budding property developer Gary Baker and his wife, Chanel boss Karin Upton Baker as their property empire collapses under a sea of debt.

The Bakers are heavy duty social scene members but have gone quiet recently with a Supreme Court battle over money lenders and loans on their sumptuous pride of joy, an Elizabeth Bay duplex that has been the locale of many parties for visiting celebrities.
The duplex has a 3 car garage with a turntable that housed their series of black autos with XXX number plates- a Rolls Phantom, a Bentley Continental and a vintage pagoda style Mercedes. The Merc is regularly put up for sale and withdrawn-it's Karin's favourite car and she is finding it hard to part with.

Now it seems Gary is finding it hard to part with some of the properties that have been his financial downfall. After a finance company took hold of 3 Bondi Beach apartments that were once owned by the late singer Peter Allen, an auction on the weekend of one of his Bellevue Hill apartments saw Baker hovering around the auction, pulling funny faces at prospective buyers and generally acting slightly odd.

Gary is also said to have photographed a member of the press who had been "stalking him for 20 years".