Prime Minister Update

 We like to keep tabs on the Prime Ministers of the world. They're very busy. In the above snap former Oz PM Kevin Rudd interviewed- as he called him..the Comeback Kid of Malaysian politics, 93 year old PM Mahathir Mohamad.

In New York where New Zealand PM Jacinta Arden is wowing the United Nations, former Australian PM Julia Gillard interviewed her for the New York Times.

Ms Gillard gets about- she was in Berlin yesterday meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

 And last but not least, our newly minted Oz PM Scott Morrison partied this week with celebrity hairdresser Joh Bailey at the beautiful Southern Highlands' property of David & Skye Leckie.
And Malcolm Turnbull?. We'll let you know shortly as we are sure to encounter him next week somewhere around the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney.

Wolf of Wall Street ?..or just a Rat

The Wolf                                   The Rat                      John McGrath                    Liz Hayes                     Neil Jenman

Real estate advocate Neil Jenman has savaged the con-man Jordan Belfort turned "motivational speaker" who is due in Australia this month for a speaking tour.
On Monday evening Media Watch ripped into the man the film the Wolf of  Wall Street was based on and in particular some of the countries vacuous TV shows that presented gushing interviews with Belfort who ripped off thousands of Americans of their life savings in a classic boiler room scam.

But it's Jenmen who has scathingly shredded the scamster labeling him The Rat of Long Island as well as questioning why popular real estate identity John McGrath is sponsoring the crook who will be telling 100s of would-be Aussie moguls how he committed his crimes.
It's a mystery why Mc Grath who also a hosts several TV shows would link himself to this unrepentant crim who walks out on interviews when asked difficult but pertinent questions as Liz Hayes did on 60 Minutes. Watch the video below.
A gut feeling here: this will not end well for John McGrath and he could seriously dent his integrity by associating with Belfort. And that's if Belfort actually gets into the country : Jenman is petitioning the Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to get the Wolf Rat's visa revoked on the claim he is coming to Australia to profit from his crimes which in itself, is a crime.
Read Neil Jenman's fact filled expose of the Rat of Long Island here.

Knives Out After Oprah Winfrey Trip

She held the country in the palm of her hand for 10 days. (Or should that be the local media ?)
Oprah Winfrey's tour of Australia and the recording of what will be her final 2 shows at the Sydney Opera House was treated by the Aussie media like the second coming.

When the Social Shuttle reported that 12 of her security detail had been sacked without pay because one had the temerity to enter her hotel room to check that it was secure, only 2 tabloid reporters followed up the tale.

Despite us being unable to give our source (protected) we did hand them on to the local law firm acting for Winfrey's Harpo company. They denied the tale but within a day the 12 guards were told they would be paid after all. The Shuttle witnessed documents that confirmed the story.

Now an American who has been living in Cairns and operating two successful tour boats around the Great Barrier Reef is hopping mad.

John "The Yank" VandenHeuvel  says he approached Tourism Australia 6 years ago with an ambitious plan to bring Oprah Winfrey to Australia. And the outline of his plans were basically identical to Oprah's tour as it unfolded over her 10 day visit. VandenHeuval proposed tying in Oprah's visit with Qantas and their ambassador, actor John Travolta and rewarding a number of Oprah's regular audience members with the "trip of a lifetime"

Backing VandenHeuval's claim is the Opposition Immigration spokesman Scott Morrison who was the head of Tourism Australia at the time. Pilot Dennis Wallace says he flew Morrison to Cairns to discuss the project which was common knowledge amongst the majority of local tour operators.

 “Tourism Australia has done the wrong thing, it is very un-Australian,” says Mr Wallace.

“It is not about the money, this is about Tourism Australia blatantly lying,” says VandenHeuval

“They reneged on the deal, cut me out of it and cut Cairns out of it and Cairns ended up getting screwed as bad as I did.”

VandenHeuval says he spent $200,000 on the project and while Tourism Australia acknowledged to the Shuttle that they had met with him in 2004 they declined to discuss details.

VandenHeuval has instructed high powered solicitors Slater and Gordon to issue proceedings against the government body and is claiming  $2Million in damages.