Join the Billionaire's Club!

Dress to Oppress ! Twiggy Forrest

It was a sight to warm the hearts of Capitalists everywhere-Australia's richest woman Gina Rinehart demonstrating against the proposed mining tax that will be increased to 40% on future profits.

 Never have the well heeled  battlers come out in force and together for such a common cause. Billionaire's and the nation's 3 richest people-Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest, the corpulent Clive Palmer and our Gina, daughter of the late billionaire Lang Hancock who married his Filipino nurse Rose-in twin set and pearls shouting herself hoarse on the back of a flat bed truck on the well manicured lawns of Perth's Langley Park, screeching about PM Kevin Rudd's proposed tax that will kick in 2012 and replace a royalty system currently paid.

No Tax Gina Rinehart

Gina's ex-step mum Rose

 'Twiggy' Forrest is one our favourites-hovering between the richest and second richest man in the country depending on share price and always pictured at these events in a worker's orange flouro jacket and miner's helmet-sparkling clean-before clambering into his chauffeured Beemer and speeding off to the boardroom.

The idea of this tax is the more the mining corporations make-most with their headquarters based in Geneva or the Cayman Islands, the more the government will make on minerals dug out of the ground  and the more the government will raise in taxes on a finite resource that will run out one day. 

Whilst China booms so do we and with building programs there that will see Aussie mineral deposits that have kept the country afloat for 2 decades , sought after for years to come , the government reckons the common people should be getting a bigger share of what basically belongs to the nation. The billionaires aren't having any of that nonsense and reckon the Mandarin speaking Rudd is on the way to become a full blown Communist (while China is well on the way to becoming a capitalist giant). 

Clive Palmer

Of course mining actually does little to improve the country. No infrastructure is built-just bloody great holes in the ground from which the precious minerals are extracted and then these mining giants  just move on

Someone has badly planned this PR cock-up. The miner's union wouldn't have a bar of it so it was left to the bosses to pitch in a few hundred million dollars for a TV advert campaign. But having a handful of mining corporation bosses-with US , British and European accents weeping over lost billions in profits was always going to end in tears and having one corporation which wasn't stock market listed (hence it's share price wouldn't be affected) announce it was upping stakes and moving out only to discover it was actually expanding it's drilling operations soon backfired.

Not only will these corporations  be able to deduct all investment in their mineral searches , they will only pay tax on super profits at 40% which is reckoned by the Treasury to raise an extra $9Billion a year.

As a flushed Gina led a chorus of mine managers (on about $250K a year) in a rousing chant of-

"Axe the tax..axe the tax"..she paused for a minute and shouted "what do want for Australia again?"...one impertinent sod shouted "the Wallabies  to win on Saturday !".( the rugby team  are playing the English team at Subiaco oval in Perth).

The Shuttle has forwarded Gina, Clive and Twiggy's and names to be entered in the Roll of Honour at the prestige USA organisation Billionaire's For Wealthcare who regularly turn up in limos at anti-Barack Obama parades against socialised health care.

Motto : Appearances Are Everything-Dress to Impress and Oppress !

Alastair Campbell's "hate lessons" from Paul Keating

In his new book The Alastair Campbell Diaries Prelude to Power 1994-1997, released in the UK on Thursday the man regarded as the mastermind behind Tony Blair says he travelled to Australia in 1995 to get some tips from then Labor Prime Minster Paul Keating on how to handle Rupert Murdoch and how to "hate" the Conservatives.

Keating was PM from 1991 to 1996 when he was defeated by John Howard who set about on a 10 year campaign to return Australia to the 1950's before he was finally booted from his own seat in 2007 by Labor's Kevin Rudd.

Paul Keating : 'hate lessons'

Keating's defeat in '96 sent him into a huge mental decline where he disappeared from public view for a  year. Not because he lost but he hated Howard so much. Keating's quips and put-downs in Parliament  were legendary. Parliamentary Question Time has been dull from the day he left.

On John Howard :

"What we have got is a dead carcass, swinging in the breeze, but nobody will cut it down to replace him."  

"He's wound up like a thousand day clock..." 

"He has more hide than a team of elephants." 

On former Liberal leader the perma- tanned Andrew Peacock who was dating actress Shirley MacLaine:

"...what we have here is an intellectual rust bucket." 

"I suppose that the Honorable Gentleman's hair, like his intellect, will recede into the darkness." 

"It is the first time the Honorable Gentleman has got out from under the sunlamp."  

 On the Liberal Party when they were in Opposition:

"I'm not running a seminar for dullards on the other side."

"Those opposite could not operate a tart shop"

"These intellectual hobos"

Our favourite was during the 2007 General Election when the Murdoch media was getting stuck into Kevin Rudd on the campaign trail and printed a facile story about Rudd having lunch with 2 political  lobbyists  -the former premier of West Australia Brian Burke (who spent time in jail) and his partner Julian Grills .

"the Arthur Daley of WA politics"

The controversy raged for days ramped up by Murdoch's tabloids until it was defused by Keating  when he described Burke & Grills as the

" Arthur Daley and Terry of West Australia politics-no-one takes them seriously"

 He then went on to describe the flailing Howard as like a " little desiccated coconut under pressure and attacking anything he can get his hands on". 

 Howard lost the election 2 months later in a massive swing to Labor.

P.J Keating on the attack:

Famous courtesan freaks out !

 Sucessful publisher Todd Tai networks at First Thursday

OK so we hooked you with a headline-go to the story below for the tale of Madame Lash. 

Off the luxury car home in  Kings Cross of the amiable Tony Graziana's  Scuderia Graziani where one can pick up a Lamborghini, Porsche or Mercedes. Each month he is holding a bash to raise money for the Fred Hollows Foundation with his  First Thursday parties. This is a great cause-the Fred Hollows Foundation goes to places like Afghanistan and Africa looking after the sight of desperately poor people.

First Thursday is a sort of 'networking' party for young business people which is just what they were doing on Thursday night like crazy with silent auctions for all sorts of luxury goods like Tancredi jewelry.

Entertainment included the Irish comedian Paul Martell who is one of those old fashion joke tellers but he really is hilarious as the act builds up as you can see in the clip below. With a few celebrities and good looking folk, these regular nights are going to become popular very fast so you should consider booking tickets early.

Next month the guest comedian will be Austen Tayshus- one of the very very best. To attend you should contact Helle@RazorBrandAgency.com.

Adpro Management supplied the gorgeous beauties at the party-they are also a model agency -and that's another reason to attend. Business and beauty should always be combined, is our motto !. Fast cars, beautiful women, wine and song and all in a good cause.

What more could you want ?

                                 
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Where was Gretel on her big night ? 

 Hundreds turned up at The Kirk to celebrate the birthday and book launch for Madame Lash except the lady herself. As far as we can ascertain, the fetishist has fallen out with the author of the book, Sam Everingham.

The Kirk (it has a dungeon)

The Shuttle received a rousing cheer when we assisted up the steep stairs of the Kirk in a gentlemanly fashion, the ex-fiancee of private investigator Frank Monte- Sharon Sargeant who arrived at the same time as we did.

Sharon Sargeant

As the crowd parted  on the red carpet they assumed it was Madame Lash making a grand entrance.  Sargeant has received an extraordinary amount of publicity recently and been flooded with offers from the USA -for what we aren't quite sure yet but presumably it's something to do with the revelation she is the boss of the RedVelvet Escort and Model Agency.

Madame Lash's "autobiography" is the highly entertaining tale of one of Australia's most colourful women  (we've read it) and dominatrix.  Wowsers beware! Gretel Pinniger, aka Madame Lash artist and courtesan to the rich and famous has been shocking and outraging Australia for decades. Never shy of publicity, this daughter of a handsome war hero and philanderer from the Melbourne establishment once wanted to become a nun.

Instead, she threw her leather-clad body into a wild world of sex, drugs and riotous parties. She danced with Elton John, catered to Kerry Packer's brother Clyde's more creative sexual fantasies along with the successful transport boss and newspaper owner Gordon Barton and knocked around with Sydney underworld boss Lennie McPherson.

She also found herself a fabulously wealthy patron, who bequeathed her a generous stipend so long as his name is never disclosed by her .
Which doesn't stop us revealing the world's worst kept secret-that patron was the English publisher Paul Hamlyn who made millions when he and his family settled in Britain after escaping Germany before WW2. Hamlyn spent 4 weeks of every year with Madame Lash. We'll leave it to your imagination what  they got up to. But she does have dungeons in all her homes.
There was a tale that she one locked publisher Gordon Barton in the dungeon of her Melbourne house, hanging from a rack and went on a cocaine bender leaving him there for 48 hours before she re-called he was shackled in the basement. Fearing what she would find when she returned,  a delighted Barton tripled the agreed fee, as he was so pleased with the service.                                                 

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Comedian Paul Martell who was at the premier of the First Thursday charity parties at Scuderia Graziani in East Sydney.

Will the Duchess of York's Oz sister survive the scandal?

Footballer Mark Bosnich & Jane Ferguson

Much muttering amongst PR ranks this week whether the  public relations business of  Sarah, The Duchess of York's Sydney based sister Jane Ferguson will suffer over  the battering of her sister's merry quip that half a million  pounds will do nicely thanks, her tears of joy at the sight of $40,000 in cash and her sensible request for a spare fifty quid for the driver of her loaned Bentley.

Jane has a thriving Australian PR business looking after all manner of prestige clients from Peugeot cars to the famed English fabric designers Osborne & Little. She was also the go-between for the glossy Australian Woman's Day magazine that scored exclusive pics of Sarah's 50th birthday celebrations at the Lanesborough Hotel in London where HRH Prince Andrew obligingly posed for snaps with Sarah and their children. At a fee of $50,000 it was a steal with the pics on-sold world-wide for 6 times as much ( does Sarah just need a better agent ?).

Jane also co-hosted, along with Britain's favourite ex-Royal butler Paul Burrell the TV reality program Australian Princess , said to be inspired by the "fairy tale" romance during the 2000 Sydney Olympics of HRH Prince Frederick of Denmark and Tasmania's Mary Donaldson who was swept of her feet in a Sydney pub as Frederick purchased a round of drinks for the crowd with his platinum Amex card. In a few decades, our Mary will become the Queen of Denmark which is far more exciting than the job she had when we first met her -in a Kings Cross real estate agency flogging expensive over-priced apartments.

One of the guest judges on Australian Princess was  the  daughter-in-law  of an ex- Archbishop of Canterbury, Diana Fisher who started life as a BBC commentator before moving to Oz in 1964 with her husband Sir Humphrey Fisher. Diana  described her experience on Australian Princess as  the low point in a media career which has spanned 60 years that included covering the state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill. But she said it had to happen sometime.

In the introduction to Australian Princess ( which we are sure included at some stage London PR Liz Brewer and that darling of the aristocracy Lady Colin Campbell), Jane helpfully informed us that she had been "brought up around royalty !". Which is no lie, what with her dad, the late Major Ronnie Ferguson being the head of the stables at Windsor Castle . Whether she actually ever got into the big house is a mystery.

Before you scoff, we should point out that some historians  claim both Princess Diana and The Duchess of York (and Jane Ferguson) are distant, be it ever so remote, descendents of Georgina Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire and may well have far more aristocratic blood in their veins than the present occupants of Buck House who so cruelly threw them both out to the wolves.

We digress. Jane wasn't taking calls from the media last week as the ghastly News of The World sting video was broadcast worldwide . There had already been some sort of mix-up when her gorgeous daughter Ayshea  a cousin to Prince's William and Harry had inadvertently spoken out of turn, innocently to a media person, of her recent visits to the rellies in London and, as it is with that family, was banished for a certain cooling period (which could be decades) before being invited back to a family barbeque  at Windsor Castle.

It's claimed today in a Sunday tabloid  that  Jane Ferguson had been "disinvited" from a black-tie charity event last week that she had helped organise.
Absolute tosh. Jane had purposely stayed away knowing that the event  would be crawling with reptiles (like us) and had no wish to draw attention away from the very special cause. Sadly, it actually meant the charity was completely ignored. No Jane, no press.

Instead, she and 2009 Masterchef finalist Lucas Parsons were giving cooking lessons to a select few at the luxurious Point Piper home of American born designer Charlie Brown and her husband, the ex-Israeli paratrooper Danny Avidan.    

Will her clientele list suffer? Good grief no.
Each Sunday millions of viewers are devouring  the TV series Underbelly which is based upon the sordid underworld characters of Kings Cross (many still alive and operating) with one of the main stars often featured on these pages, the handsome John Ibrahim, nightclub owner and security consultant-although the police describe him as a "serious crime figure" -almost achieving hero status and who is on every guest list in town.

 At the same time Rupert Murdoch's beloved Daily Telegraph has hired our favourite ex-detective Roger Rogerson who admitted shooting a few people dead (all in the line of duty) and who was run out of the police force for corruption and jailed, as an expert commentator on the series and the interested can blog with him on Monday mornings where Roger will set you straight on who was a bigger crook than who.

Jane Ferguson, always charming, can look forward to a fabulous year with new clients battering down her door when the clamour dies down !

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In the next few days-a full report on the party to launch the autobiography of our favourite dominitrix Madame Lash which is being held at The Kirk, the former Presbyterian Church she purchased many years ago and where all manner of spooky events take place.

Gretel, as she is know to her friends  who was once featured on the TV show Eurotrash, also owns the rather splendid Florida House at Palm Beach where snootier residents have complained to the local council over 'renovations' she has in plan. They have no idea who they are dealing with !

Will Royal watering hole feature in new TV drama?

Sharon in Las Vegas

Following our exclusive set of photographs supplied from our Las Vegas operative showing the fiancee of private investigator Frank Monte, the buxom Sharon Sargeant dancing with a US porn star at an adult industry convention, the 2 have split within days of the snaps being featured in a double page spread in the Daily Telegraph. The following day the editor of the Tele's Sydney Confidential, Annette Sharp  revealed that Sargeant was the marketing manager of an escort agency Red Velvet Models

Whilst the escort business is entirely legal, Monte has issued an announcement that because of his high profile in the investigation business both here and the USA, he didn't feel he could be associated with an escort business as his mainly corporate clientele demand complete discretion.

Frank Monte interviewed by Larry King

The pair have now split with Sargeant moving out of Monte's Potts Point Ikon apartment to stay with a girlfriend in Mosman. Monte has said the affair is on hold until Sargeant divests herself of her business and seeks alternative employment. Today Monte flew out to Los Angeles.

                                
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Next Tuesday the new program Australian Druglords premiers on Channel Nine and already many of the residents of Sydney's exclusive Eastern Suburbs are trembling with fear.

The first show concentrates on the cocaine dealer Richard Buttrose who was arrested in 2009 and sentenced to 16 years this March.

Buttrose is the nephew of high profile TV and publishing identity Ita Buttrose and came from a well off Vaucluse family and attended the elite Cranbrook school. He would drink at the Woollahra pub, the Lord Dudley, a favourite of several of Britain's younger royal family members including Prince Harry and Peter and Zara Phillips. When in town the young royals stay with James Erskine the boss of Sports & Entertainment Ltd who look after a host of personalities like Michael Parkinson, Shane Warne and tennis ace Todd Woodbridge, Erskine is an old friend of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips.

Richard Buttrose

Buttrose would wait at the Lord Dudley for clients to call on his mobile phone and then arrange to meet them directly across the road in a parking lot to do his drug deals. When police stopped him in his Mercedes shortly after a deal, they found 300 names in a little black book, thought to be clients and 6 kilos of cocaine. Later searching his several properties they found nearly $1.3M in cash.

The Druglords film will show police footage of the arrest and the search of his house and it's claimed, at least 6 names who may have been his customers. They are said to include a politician and lawyers.

In fear of his life from drug suppliers said to be connected to the Russian Mafia, Buttrose is serving his time in protective custody.

                                 

The outrageous Mr Simon Napier-Bell

A Shuttle staffer has drawn our attention to an interview in the UK Sunday Express with Simon Napier-Bell published in February. The same staff member introduced our team to Simon when he visited Sydney in 2007 for a series of radio and TV interviews.

It seems the bon viveur, pop impresario and songwriter and lately, best-selling author has verbally seduced another journalist over a fine dinner. Our colleague reckons that is Napier-Bell's stock in trade and it works extremely well. He dazzles and hypnotizes over the dinner table with words and a fine bottle of vintage red.

Simon's website is a must to visit and full of anecdotes and the history of his musical successes from the Yardbyrds, Dusty Springfield, Marc Bolan and T-Rex to Wham with a few of the biggest chart topping songs penned along the way. He lives most of his  time in Thailand now and is writing another book-the last 3 having been best-sellers with 'Black Vinyl White Powder' regarded by critics as possibly one of the best books ever written on the music industry. I recommend "I'm Coming To Take You To Lunch" about Napier-Bell's  successful scheme to get Wham to be the first western band to ever appear in China. At times it reads like a thriller and is one of those books you find difficult to put down.

Our Shuttler says he went on a few adventures with Mr Napier-Bell to foreign parts and has some very saucy tales to tell but is keeping them for his own tome. He did let us in on one episode though when the pair visited Rome for a weekend.
Being our Shuttlers first and only ever visit to the glorious city, the 2 set out for a stroll along the beautiful Villa Borghese gardens on a perfect Roman spring day. 

Within minutes they spotted an extremely handsome young Italian stud who sent all the right  gaydar signals. Our Shuttler wheeled around and insisted upon following the young Italian. He says it was like a scene out of Death in Venice - the young man would stop occasionally to allow them to gain traction and then speed off again. All that was missing was the black hair dye running down our Shuttler's face in the heat.

In a two hour trek at lightening speed our Shuttler whisked past sights he had dreamed of one day visiting, seen only out of the corner of his eye in a blur. Down the Spanish Steps, along the Via Veneto, past the Trevi Fountain, the Vatican City, the Coliseum and so on.  Ten yards behind Mr Napier-Bell did his best to keep up pleading for a cultural  interlude but ignored.

On a hill high above Rome with our Shuttle staffer believing success was soon to be his and his own Roman Spring of Mrs Stone was about to blossom, the young Italian turned around, laughed, gave a sporty wave and sped off to disappear forever into a labyrinth of alleyways.

He remembers little of Rome from that weekend except a later visit to a disco to drown his sorrows whereupon  he rounded on Napier-Bell and accused him of wrecking what was destined to be a romantic love tryst, by lagging so far behind.

In a huff he walked off in high dungeon and out the door to return to their hotel - and straight into a broom closet. Where he waited a full hour before he emerged in embarrassment.

Ever the perfect host, Mr Napier-Bell was patiently waiting with  a fine bottle of white wine on ice.

Years later our Shuttler was dining with mutual acquaintances who had recently  met with Mr Napier Bell in Singapore and they commented on how entertaining he had been. Which included recounting the tale of the race through Rome !

Now a Top Murdoch reporter admits visiting gay sauna

Gay sauna visitor Paul Kent

Whilst his comrades are laying into the hapless former Transport Minister David Campbell for paying a visit to a gay sauna-an entirely legal act without any parliamentary rules broken, a Daily Telegraph reporter Paul Kent who won the 2009 Features Editor of The Year award at the News Awards has admitted he has also visited Kens Karate Klub the now famous gay sauna bath-house in Sydney's Kensington. (interested readers who feel they would like to partake in activities at Kens-just drive along Anzac Parade and look for Peters Of Kensington the glitzy bridal gift store. It's right next door)

In a piece wittily entitled 'All Bets and Towels Were Off" Kent gives us an account of his visit to the 'Roman orgy swap meet' as he describes it including a dungeon room with chains hanging from the roof and a bondage rack against the wall (a colleague emails me that surely Kent is confused and was  describing Rupert Murdoch's office), cell like rooms equipped with rubber gym mats and a relaxing visit to the pool room with it's perspex roof so visitors on the floor above could witness what was happening in the pool below in which Kent ominously says "much had happened". What can he mean ?. Had someone unkindly deflated the water wings , let out the air from the rubber ducky lilos?. Annoyingly, Kent leaves out all the saucy parts we want to hear.

He also peeked into the video room where someone was watching a film called Hombres! (possibly waiting until the credits rolled so he could catch the film's title.

But it's Kent's visit to the sauna room where he gives information that could be of great use for our many gay readers. Kent entered the sauna and sweated away with 2 other men in silence. Just as the heat got to him-one man stood up and left. According to Kent this is an invitation to follow the man to one of those gym mat cubicles so he was forced to stay much longer in the sauna. But he doesn't say why.Too shy ? Didn't fancy him?. I wish he had been more specific

Kent says he was identified as a 'newbie' but only spent 45 minutes at the sauna. He's certainly a fast learner in gaydar.

As for Ken 'Candy' Johnson the owner of Ken's, I tried to get him on the phone today for a  comment but his assistant said he wasn't available. I'd say he's at St Mary's Cathedral lighting a hundred candles and thanking the Lord for the million dollars worth of free publicity.

For more News Ltd froth and bubble, visit  their on-line lightweight 'Punch' magazine where former Daily Telegraph editor David Penberthy offers up an article :

"David Campbell has a lesser right to privacy than an ordinary citizen, for a number of reasons"

Penberthy was the editor of the Telegraph up until a while ago when he ran the disastrous front page saucy pics reputed to be of a young Pauline Hanson, the ex-politician, in frilly underwear, supplied by the paparazzi Jamie Fawcett. The pics turned out to be of  a lass from a Russian dating site.

Being relatively young Penberthy may like to research back to a former era when the Labor Party's Paul Keating was facing the so-called 1993 "unwinnable" election (which he won) against a right wing Liberal Party leader John Hewson whose policies included driving out of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory the plethora of sex supermarkets that dominate the landscape. (Porn cannot be sold in states but only the 2 territories), The Conservatives abandoned the policy when the Eros Association in Canberra that represents the sex industry threatened to expose the hundreds of politicians -from all parties-who visited Canberra's dozens of brothels and porn shops.

We all know Rupert has thrown his weight behind the Liberal Party and has PM Kevin Rudd in his sights. I doubt an expose on the intimate lives of politicians, including the married Federal Liberal Party senator who also frequents a city gay sauna and the half dozen married closeted gay conservative MPs we know of, will go down well with the boss. Especially if he really does have those chains and bondage rack in his office.

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.

The return of Steve Strange, King of the post Baby Boomers.

A story comes courtesy of Britain's most feared blogger (by tabloid editors and writers ) Madame Arcati. Madame has received an invitation to the birthday party of the legendary Steve Strange, famous as the leader of the 1980's New Romantics and who first gained attention running a small club in Soho called The Blitz.

The birthday bash is at a pub called the Green Carnation which describes itself as "the latest destination de decadence for the Soho set looking to add some sparkle to their Saturday night. ".Oh dear.

The very idea that there is still one square inch of Soho that now could lay claim to 'decadence' could only come from the mind of a PR firm. Decadence was beaten out of Soho years ago by property developers and those interminably boring barista expresso bars that are popping up on every corner from  Delhi to Reykjavick. Perhaps the only person who frequents Soho and may lay claim to decadence is the permanent fiance of Madame Arcarti, that delightful millinery challenged,  Molly Parkin.

The youngsters who flocked to The Blitz in the late 70's, early 80's wore weird and wonderful outfits, acres of make-up were a reaction to the Punk Rock movement. Stars were soon checking out the club including David Bowie, Bob Geldorf and Paula Yates, Yves St Laurent and it's said the late Lord Longford even stopped by.

Steve Strange au naturel

Steve was the King of The Kids.Whatever Steve wore, those kids appeared in their own version the following week.

Strange went on to run a series of one nighter clubs in various venues with his best mate Rusty Egan. And it was just a matter of time as his other pal Boy George became spectacularly famous with his "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me", that Egan and Strange would form a band, Visage.They soon had their own a hit record "Fade to Grey'.

Unfortunately long time success eluded Strange. Drugs and dramatic events such as a fire in his house took their toll as Steve went into a downward spiral and he retreated to his home village in Wales. He recountered his life, warts and all in his autobiography Blitzed! published in 2002.

One of our Shuttle staff was a regular at The Blitz and allowed many of those who would party on the regular Tuesday nights to crash on his Notting Hill apartment floor. Most came from the outer suburbs of London and would plan their one night of the week out, Tuesday for days. Getting home at 4 am was just impossible. Steve Strange was one who found the occasional corner to bunk down in.,

new New Romantics

Now we must go back in time to another Shuttle pal, old Etonian Nicholas Shand, heir to a printing and publishing fortune from Shropshire. Shand had forsaken the family business and taken off for the hippy trail ( with a huge inheritance) to places like Goa and  all points beyond before finally landing in the the magical Australian resort of Byron Bay, then a sleepy village and the country's most easterly point and living down it's former life as a whaling station.

With a gorgeous rolling hinterland and beautiful beaches, schools of whales now safe from the spear gun could be spotted daily ambling by the coastline accompanied by flocks of dolphins. The whole area  was God's gift to those seeking an alternative lifestyle.

 Byron Bay is now the most expensive resort in the country full of mega million dollar houses owned by the rich and famous but Shand then was able to purchase a few hundred acres and set up a small newspaper which the town lacked. With ink in the blood, so successful was his Byron Echo newspaper chain that after 10 years he refused a fortune to sell out to the Irish newspaper baron Tony O'Reilly seeking a foothold in Australian rural newspapers.

In 1979 Shand decided to return for 2 years to Shropshire where he opened a successful restaurant 'Mad Jacks' named after Mad Jack Myton, a local legend, and in between serving the local gentry like the Ormsby Gores, frequently travelled to London to stay with our Shuttle staffer. On one such visit he left behind his Peruvian poncho, a souvenir from his hippy days.

Upon awakening one morning Steve Strange seized upon the poncho and that Tuesday night appeared at The Blitz wearing it and looking like a Spaghetti Western cowboy, albeit complete with the usual layers of pancake, purple eye shadow and a bit of lippy. The following week, no less than 20 kids turned up wearing ponchos and cowboy hats, some even munching on cigars and looking like the cast of an Ennio Morricone production. They were afterall was said and done, just kids playing dress ups !

But it was all lost on the young female journalist trainee from the Independent newspaper who had been sent that night to get a handle on the new youth cult craze. She fled dazed and confused.

There's a lesson there about fashion, style and trends or some sort of moral. I think.

NB: Sadly Nicholas Shand died in a car accident on the notorious treacherous roads of Northern NSW. Outside the Byron council chambers sits a statue of him on a park bench, popular with the hundreds of tourists who flock to the area and have their photo taken with his cast-iron likeness, most of them having no idea who he is.

A study in contrasts : Visage & Steve Strange with Fade to Grey followed by Nicholas Shand.

Is it Art ?. We report,you decide.

To the grand opening of the Art Bar, owned by the former boyfriend of designer Peter Morrissey, Karim Gharbi ( who amusingly calls his company KGB) in the ritzy boutique hotel, The Kirketon, favorite home away from home of visiting actors like Keanu Reeves when filming at Fox Studios.

Karim Gharbi

The Art Bar has had a chequered history under a variety of names. First opened  by celebrity chef  Matt Moran as 'Salt' who shortly after opening flew to Denmark to supervise the wedding feast of Crown Prince Frederick and his bride Tasmanian born Princess Mary in the toytown Christianborg Palace in Copenhagen (regular Shuttlers may recall we told the tale in a previous incarnation of how Mary's no nonsense Scots born kilt wearing dad Professor John Dalgleish Donaldson almost caused a diplomatic incidence as he sat in the Copenhagen Cathedral, legs akimbo opposite HRH Queen Margarethe  and later at the reception, pint of beer in hand lunged for the sausage rolls and knocked King Gustav of Sweden for six)

4 months after Moran returned Salt closed due to lack of customers. Whilst Moran now operates a highly successful restaurant in the Hilton Hotel, the Salt premises have  been through a number of re-inventions with each one collapsing after about 6 months. Now it has twist-walls lined with the works of artist Charles Billich.

For he uninitiated Charles Billich, a highly likable man, is controversial to put it mildly. As a painter he has an enviable record. Just check his Wikipedia entry. He has works in the Vatican Collection, Rome, the United Nations Heardquarters, Geneva, the White House Collection, Washington D.C.,Ferrari Collection, Milan,the Shaolin Temple, China, the International Red Cross Museum, Geneva and so on.

Elle McPherson's mum Fran & Charles Billich

But many art critics have been most unkind including the Sydney Morning Herald's John McDonald who in a scathing piece re-published in The New York Times said of Charles' work that it was"a slippery form of graphic design backed with a high-powered marketing strategy” and likened it to kitsch which "would be fine if it was 'fun' kitsch' but it isn't". 

Christa Billich, Matt Brown MP & Charles

That high powered marketing strategy is down to his German born wife Christa Brunhilde Ostermann who, as they say, could sell ice to Eskimos and a few Billich prints to boot. Christa often features in Charles' nude portraits in erotic poses. His paintings bring amazing prices from $50,000 up to $200,000 and has made the couple extremely wealthy. Last year they sold their Bentley Turbo after their much loved chauffeur Hector who wore a floor length leather coat passed away. Today they drive a vintage Daimler convertible worth about half a million. Which they did to the opening of the bar, just a few doors from their apartment.

Billich was born in what is now Croatia and spent nearly 7 years in jail for anti-Communist activities when he was dobbed in by a girlfriend, He taught himself to paint in jail and how to speak 7 languages. After travelling the world he ended up in Melbourne working as a morgue attendant, taxi driver and waiter before his successful art career took off. Now he lives in Sydney. tSS likes Charles and the fact he often lent us his Bentley and driver and has flown us to exotic locations and luxury hotels for art exhibitions is entirely incidental.

A masterpiece-yours for 200 grand !

Guests at the opening night party for the Art Bar were divided on Charle's art. Supermodel Elle McPherson's mum Fran is a big fan. Racing identity Victoria Coppleson has a huge Billich painting opposite her bed given to her by her late husband John Moorish who died in a shooting accident. She says she keeps it there out of  loyalty to John but says sometimes waking up in the morning, especially with a hangover to be confronted by Christa's pussy can be a challenge.

MP Matt Brown who was sacked as Police Minister last year when it was claimed he danced on a table top in a Wollongong restaurant in his underpants and "titty f*cked"a colleague Nora Hey MP wasn't giving an opinion. He doesn't like the media.

One of critic John McDonald's biggest gripes is that collectors pay huge prices for Billich's work believing they will increase in value over time and hopefully pay for the collector's pension. We don't have an opinion. Although tSS did notice 6 months ago at the regular Lawson Menzies art auction we attend every Friday, a Billich print sold for-$1 !

When two tribes go to war over rogered gerbils

Catherine Deveny

Sad news as the columnist Catherine Deveny is fired from The Age, the Fairfax newspaper which is one of the oldest broadsheets in the world and was once considered one of the finest. Her crime was to 'tweet' a message from the interminably boring Logies, Australia's version of the Oscars.

Included in the list of the 100 most influential people in Melbourne, Deveny was twittering amusing messages on 'celebrities' as they arrived on the red carpet for the glitzy night of yawns at Melbourne's ghastly Packer owned Crown Casino (Gordon Ramsey has just opened his first Oz restaurant there which says it all !).

 Her crime-one on the daughter of the late Steve Irwin : "I do so hope Bindi ( Irwin) gets laid". In these days of pedo hysteria and the fear that there is a perve behind every bush or newsdesk any such talk is verboten. After a day of  the rampaging shock jock Neil Mitchell and phone calls from "shocked" listeners The Age's editor Paul Ramadge finally caved in and sacked Deveny. There is a lesson here. In the legendary rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne, it hasn't dawned on those in power in the southern city that the day of shock jocks is well and truly over.

It's been nearly five years since NSW's ruling Labor Party finally realised that the supposed king of shock jocks Alan Jones who they pandered to, really only had a listening audience at best, of around 50,000 people in a city of 4.5 million and a state of nearly 8 million. And most of them were either living on the leafy North Shore or the redneck Southern Suburbs now famous for the Cronulla riots. They were conservative voting strongholds. Why appease the pink shirted parrot ?(as his co-workers call him behind his back). From the day they decided to deny Jones interviews and concentrated on the government run Triple J yoof station with the highest audience listernership, their stocks began to rise.

And now a delightful piece of schadenfreude has come back to bite someone on the bum. The fragrant right-winger Miranda Devine of the Age sister publication the Sydney Morning Herald who castigated Deveny (they are are about as opposite on the political spectrum as possible) on her shocking Bindi tweet, Miranda has been caught out herself.

Gerbil

Devine

After Devine's series of anti-Deveny tweets and a column devoted to attacking Deveny, 20 year old reader Justin Barber tweeted Miranda :" you've had enough of attacking gays for now I see. Great, Thanks" . And Miranda's replied : "you've had enough of rogering gerbils now I see. Great thanks". Unfortunately for Devine, the tweet went out to 2500 people and she was forced into an humble apology to Barber.

Anyone who knows Miranda will know she would rather eat broken glass than apologise. The tale hasn't ended there. A new topic is raging amongst thousand of twitterers under the tag #rogeringgerbils.

# Prediction : Fairfax Publications will wait a suitable time-say 6 months and re-employ Catherine, one of the best writers they have ever had, just as they had to re-employ the superb Mike Carlton who was sacked in similar circumstances. Deveny has said "I'm sure I'll be back. But in the meantime, could someone write me a CV!"

Pope's redemption for one of our favourite sinners.

Former high flier and jailbird Rodney Adler has been granted an audience with Pope Benedict XVI in  a meeting arranged by the late Michael Jackson's friend Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.

  

Michael and the Rabbi

Adler was released from jail in 2007 after serving nearly 3 years for his part in the largest corporate collapse in Australia when the giant insurance company HIH went belly-up owing $5 billion . Until then he and wife Lyndi were two of the leading lights in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs social scene.

Adler's connections were far and wide. Guests at a charity gala in a circus marquee in Rose Bay in 1998 were startled when Adler arrived with Mikhail & Raisi Gorbachev on his arm after flying them into town in his corporate jet.

In 2000 he and Lyndi Adler hosted a turn of the century bash at their Bellevue Hill mansion (tSS attended and whisked visiting actress Sarah Michelle Gellar off to the Opera House gala for the fireworks display) .In 2002 Rodney hosted a dinner in his Waldorf Apartment  in New York for Bill Clinton. 

Lyndi & Rodney Adler

Adler has know Rabbi Shmuley for years and once stayed with  him and his family at Jackson's Neverland Ranch for a week.

3 months into his jail sentence Adler was reprimanded after it was discovered he was conducting business from his cell. During the last 18 months of his incarceration he says  he found peace teaching young Arab inmates how to control financial matters. Adler had said he feared being jailed as a high profile Jew.

He's kept a fairly low profile since leaving the St Heliers Correctional Centre in the Hunter Valley and now concentrates on charity work and is on the board of the Raisi Gorbachev Foundation. He has also set up a charity to assist displaced Palestinian families.

Adler was part of Rabbi Shmuley's delegation to the Vatican to garner the Pope's assistance in his 'Turn Friday Night into Family Night'' initiative which aims to get parents of all faiths to spend Friday nights at home with their family. 

On his website the Rabbi says "Rodney emphasised to the Pope the importance of partnering with me on creating an international family dinner night and how much he believed in the idea and The Pope ''warmly agreed''.  You can also purchase some of the Rabbi's work there including The Michael Jackson Tapes, his lecture on  Desperate Housewives given in Melbourne in 2005, an interview with the first Jewish Playmate Lindsey Vuolo, The Kosher Sutra sex instruction manual, or our favourite-a Rabbi Shmuley booblehead!.