exclusive : Golden Tonsils Comeback !

The powder blue Rolls Royce Drop head Coupe  blasted it's horn yesterday as the Shuttle waited for a ferry at the Rose Bay marina. The driver gave a cheery wave.

It was retired radio legend John Laws heading for Catalina Restaurant. Accompanying him was his long time manager John Fordham.

On Melbourne Cup Day at Otto's Ristorante on the Cowper Street Wharf where Laws usually lunches-it's just a short drive in the golf cart he keeps at the end of the pier where he lives in one of the two sumptuous penthouses, next door to Russell Crowe- I asked him if he was planning to return to radio.



Laws with Kerrie Packer



"No-one has offered me a job !" he replied.

Yesterday afternoon Fordham's office confirmed that Laws will be back in 2011 at 2SM when the 3 year non-competition clause in the retirement contract he signed with 2UE runs out in December.



Fordham & Laws



And he'll be taking his gold mic with him. Laws loves gold. Everything he has is gold-his spectacles, sunglasses, rings, cuff links, the dials and buttons on the Roller-even the spurs on his riding boots.



John will back in the morning slot that was his domain up against 2GB's Ray Hadley who dominates the time slot. And he will syndicated to 90 stations nationwide on the network owned by Bill Caralis.



Laws never made any secret of his contempt for former stablemate Alan Jones who he called "the parrot". Jones eventually bought 2GB with partner John Singleton and Laws is bound to take exceptional delight in attacking the 2GB ratings. Will all those truckers and working mums and dads return to Laws ?. Time will tell.



In the meantime the one-time highest paid radio star in the world will be taking his 'princess' Caroline off in early December to spend Christmas in his usual haunt-a leisurely Mediterranean cruise followed by 2 weeks at the Gritti Palace in Venice.

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One man who will welcome John Law's return to the airwaves is budding Upper House MP Frank Monte who was a regular on his radio show when Laws would interview Monte while the gumshoe was in New York.

Today Monte's election website went up : http://www.electfrankmonte.com/ with the logo - Reliable Mature Honest Independent. I fight 4 your rights & protection.

With some of his policies that are very anti-Lord Mayor Clover Moore he should find himself welcome on Alan Jones show as well given Jones intense dislike for Sydney's dog collar wearing mayor and state MP.

The Shuttle gave up reading Monte's extensive list of media mentions-it's quite amazing. No wonder he is referred to as "the world's most famous private eye".

There is also a package of bumper stickers to buy. It looks the PI has learnt a few tricks during his time in the USA and picked up some electioneering tips there. With the current ruling state Labor Party on the nose with voters and the Opposition Liberal/Coalition Party not exactly exciting the electorate, a hand full of independents like Monte may well hold a balance of power after the March 2011 ballot, just as they do at a Federal level.

Hamish & Andy interview Hillary Clinton

Match of The Day





Getting up close and personal at last night's Pure Blonde beer launch at The Ivy was owner Justin Hemmes and Natalie Imbruglia. A rumour has been going around for a week now that the two were an item and the body language said it all.

Any snapper who neared the pair were soon shooed away-you can do that when you own the place and just about every other smart Sydney nightspot. No-one wants to run foul of Justin.

The couple spent about 40 minutes at the launch before retiring upstairs to Ivy's Italian eatery Uccello along with a small entourage.

John Malkovich for Casanova role in Sydney

Actor John Malkovich will be the star attraction at the 2011  Sydney Festival in The Giacomo Variations, portraying Casanova to the tune of Mozart at the Opera House.

Opening night on January 8th draws up to 250,000 to the Domain and the central business district for the numerous free star acts which this year include Emmy Lou Harris and her Red Dirt Boys and hip hop group Arrested Development .

Los Angeles rock legends Los Lobos will play at Summer Sounds in the Domain on January 15, and the actor John Bell joins the Sydney Symphony and Sydney Philharmonic Choirs for the Symphony in the Domain: Midsummer Shakespeare on January 22 along with Kneehigh Theatre's rendition of The Red Shoes at the Seymour Centre and the singer Paul Kelly over four nights at the City Recital Hall.



Emmy Lou Harris



Over 1000 local and international artists will descend on the city in January to deliver more than 300 free and ticketed performances. Music, dance, film and theatre all feature heavily in the program.

Director Lindy Hume said at the launch today :
"the festival was a celebration of Sydney itself. It would be contemporary, diverse and ambitious, but also ''welcoming, whimsical and slightly eccentric''.''It's for the entire community to just get out there and really live life large,''

Deep Thoughts with Georgia May Jagger in Melbourne

Most people think their parents are daggy. Did you?

Georgia May Jagger :

I totally did and I still think that! People say all the time, 'Your dad is so cool,' but I'm like, 'But they're my parents and they cringe me out all the time.' For me, they are not super-cool because, like, mum is really obsessed with, like, nerdy stuff. She loves her chicken farming, she even reads books about chickens and raising chickens and I always poke fun at her about that. My dad is actually a bit of a history buff.

I always cringe when my parents are on the dance floor. . .

Yes, it's pretty funny when dad gets on the dance floor because he has got such a, like, I don't know how to describe his moves but let's just say he doesn't go unnoticed, you know what I mean?

News Corp a Step Behind the Shuttle



Americain

 4 days after the Shuttle reported that restaurants on the Finger Wharf at Woolloomooloo had been raided by police on Melbourne Cup day, the Sunday Telegraph has caught up to speed.

In a piece titled The A-listers, the bookies and the cops, a reporter repeats the tale of how bookmakers working the wharf were busted by the Gaming Squad and told they would be arrested along with punters if they didn't cease gambling.

The SP bookies were made to return all their takings and informed punters they would have to walk half a mile to a local betting shop to place a wager.



 One punter who missed the action but not the betting was marketing executive Sharon Sargeant (left) who was lunching with ex-fiancee Frank Monte at Ottos Ristorante alongside ex-radio Golden Tonsils John Laws and his wife 'Princess' Caroline Laws.

Sharon was powdering her nose when the coppers struck and the bookies fled. Sargeant had placed a wager but never saw her $500 again.

 Even worse, the bet she placed was on Americain , the American horse that romped in first in the Cup ridden by a French jockey. Her potential winnings that vanished with a bookie-around $6000 !

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Notts Ave, Bondi



The Notts Avenue , Bondi Beach house gifted to Kate Fischer when she and billionaire James Packer split has been passed in  at auction after it failed to reach the $8M asking price.




The Packer compound in Bellevue Hill

 

With a prime position overlooking the sweep of the beach, Kate sold the house for $2.8M in 2000 to the New York based Lochtenberg family. .

Kate has forged a new life in Los Angeles where she has converted to Judaism and goes by the name T'ziporah Malka bat Israel.



James & wife Erica



Across the road in Campbell Avenue James still lives with wife Erica

and his burgeoning family in the 3 story apartment he built in 2002

But plans are well underway for the $30M mansion he is building in Bellevue Hill where he purchased 2 houses to knock down

And in country Scone at the Elleston property he inherited from father Kerrie all manner of refurbishments are underway from a new pool to a resurfaced polo field.

French Accused Murderer at the Playboy Mansion



Peter Ikin

A video has surfaced of accused murderer Alexandre Despallieres partying at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles with his co-accused Jeremy Bilien.

A French magistrate is currently investigating the death of much loved, former Sydney based Warner's Music boss Peter Ikin who died in 2008 after falling down a flight of stairs in a Paris hotel.

A good friend of Ikin's and the former manager of Elton John and dancer Michael Flatley, John Reid  hired a French lawyer to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding Ikin's accident.

In July Despallieres and his former French-American wife Laetitia Nail, Bilien and an associate Vincent Bray , were arrested by French police on suspicion of murdering Ikin to claim his fortune. Bray has been released whilst the others languish in Paris's Fresne Prison.

For his defense Despallieres has high flying French lawyer Olivier Metzner on his side.

The Hacking Scandal that Will Not Die

Andy Coulson

2 days after the Shuttle wrote about the News of The World newspaper phone hacking scandal that refuses to die, it's been revealed that the former editor of that newspaper has been grilled by British police over persistent claims that the illegal hacking into mobile phones was far more prevalent than previously claimed.

Andy Coulson who was editor of the NoTW between 2003 and 2007 was questioned on Thursday.
Coulson now works as the communications manager for British Prime Minister David Cameron.

In 'Allo 'Allo 'Allo broadcast on the ABC's Foreign Correspondent program, former features editor of the NoTW , Paul McMullan demonstrated how easy it was to hack into a phone and claimed Coulson must have known of the illegal practice.

 The scandal originally came to light when Royal minders noticed very personal stories about Prince's William and Harry appearing in tabloids

Singer Robbie Williams also revealed during the program that his phone had been hacked into by a tabloid and that he hadn't carried a phone for over 2 years because of it.

                                                   

                                                       

Perhaps the British parliament should hire Sydney and LA based private eye Frank Monte who was interviewed on the Channel 7 program Today Tonight a week earlier on new Internet programs that allow people to hack into phones and read text messages.

 Monte says the applications are proving very popular among housewives looking to catch out a cheating husband, cutting him out of potential work.

Perhaps that's why he may be headed for the Upper House in NSW. He intends to stand for election in the March 2011 state election.

The announcement of his election bid was first featured on the Shuttle. Rupert Murdoch's Mx newspaper followed our lead with a story about Monte's election bid on it's front page in Friday's late edition.

exclusive: TransGenders, Gays and Lesbians new hero: Frank Monte !

Private investigator Frank Monte has announced he will be standing for election to the NSW Upper House in the March 2011 election.



Frank Monte at NSW Parliament House

 Monte says lobbying for equal rights for same-sex couples will be high on his agenda if he's elected.
He will run as an Independent for a seat in the State Legislative Council.

It is a political return of sorts for the former policeman and businessman, who in 1973 and 74 stood for Liberal Party pre-selection for the seat of Coogee and the now-abolished seat of The Hills.

Mr Monte was also involved in the political campaigns for the Fraser, Howard and Greiner governments.

Although on the conservative side of politics, he said he wanted to "push for the NSW parliament to get with the times and legislate equal rights for gay and lesbian couples" - one of several key platforms of his election campaign. He also wants to do away with Lord Mayor Clover Moore's controversial bike lanes that have taken over the inner city.



Clover Moore & Bill Clinton

The Shuttle did a straw pole today amongst residents of the inner city and found the bike lanes that run through Surry Hills, Darlinghurst and along Macquarie Street are one of the most unpopular decisions of the usually popular Clover Moore who is also the Independent MP for the seat of Sydney.

Local businesses have been scathing of the lanes that have separated the roads from pavements and have seen around 400 parking spaces disappear over the past few months.

 Monte also says he wants to make it easier for Sydney's burgeoning night clubs and entertainment venues to obtain the required government licenses, cut red tape and work with police and security personnel in solving problems with troublemakers rather than punish venue owners with restricted drinking hours as the present Sydney City Council is advocating.

Monte's campaign manager released some  of the talking points  Monte will be discussing over the next few months which include :

•Equal gay/lesbian family law and all rights.

•The abolition of bicycle lanes in Sydney and the implementation of bicycle registration.

•More Police presence and higher wages for Police, nurses and ambulance personnel.

•Wider personal rights and civil liberties.

•Less government and restriction of over-legislation.

•Less city and shopping centre parking restrictions.

•Curb the big banks' autocratic attitude re; rates and foreclosures.



unpopular-bike lanes

 Clover Moore has  basically ruled unchallenged now for several years in her dual roles as a State MP and as the Lord Mayor of Sydney with popular support amongst the estimated 500,000 gay and lesbian population but some of her latest decisions have angered even her most ardent supporters.

With an election quota of around 170,000 votes needed to gain a seat in the upper house, the dog collar wearing MP may find her supremacy challenged by  private eye Monte.

Robbie Williams revelation-Jason Donovan the Wimp

The ABC TV's Foreign Correspondent on Tuesday night in  a segment titled 'Allo 'Allo 'Allo, delved into the scandal still brewing on the Murdoch newspaper News of The World's hacking of well known figure's mobile phones.

The newspaper's Royal Correspondent and a private investigator served jail terms over the affair back in 2007 but some in the British parliament are agitating for a full judicial enquiry.

The program interviewed former top British policeman Brian Paddick, once the most high profile openly gay policeman in the UK, Max Clifford an agent to the stars and a former Labour government minister all who say their phones were bugged, a highly illegal act.

Most informative was when interviewer Eric Campbell asked actor Jason Donovon as he arrived at a red carpet  premiere if he was concerned about phone hacking- "Mate I’m not here to talk about phone hacking. Come on. It’s a film, I mean, come on” was his reply.  Perhaps the current batch of celebrities who rely on tabloid publicity are fearful of upsetting those who provide the exposure.

More forthcoming was singer Robbie Williams who was asked the same question as he arrived at the BBC.

Robbie Williams told the ABC his mobile phone was hacked into by a tabloid newspaper.

And he said that he wasn't worried about any further hacking as he had not used a mobile phone for two and a half years now "for that very reason".

One odd interview was with a former News Corp boss Kelvin McKenzie once editor of the tabloid The Sun who claims there were no more hacking incidents despite News Corp apparently paying damages to more and more people presumably to avoid matters being heard in a court.



McKenzie

 “Where is the proof? They’ve had six years to look at it." said McKenzie.

Max Clifford who reputedly received a million pounds from the NoTW after threatening to sue  thinks differently.

 'Allo 'Allo 'Allo can be viewed here where you can also read the transcript of the show.

Mick Jagger's Big Dick and Rats !



Jerry & Georgia in Melbourne



Mick Jagger is has a big dick  !.

That's according to Jagger's ex-wife Jerry Hall in response to Keith Richard's claim in his autobiography life- that the Rolling Stone's front man has a "tiny willy".

She didn't quite put it like that to our Shuttle operative in Melbourne today.

"Mick has nothing to complain about, nor would anyone with him be disappointed in the slightest ! " said the 6' Texan.





Jerry was attending a cosmetic launch at Myer along with her gorgeous daughter Georgia Jagger who has inherited the best aspects of her parents. Tall and languid with Micks big sensual lips.

Jerry says she hasn't resorted to plastic surgery-or face designing-but is very into yoga.

"I like to change things from the inside" she said.

On her extended visit to Australia she said: 

 "I love this country. Everything is better here. " (mind you, they all say that). She is a regular visitor having been to these shores 6 times now.

" I think I'll be spending a lot more time here " presumably referring to her current beau, Perth businessman Warwick Hemsley (pictured right).

On Mick :"he's the most wonderful father to our children".

Jerry still lives in Jagger's Surrey house which is divided into 2 sections and where she keeps a menagerie of pets.

On the subject of animals we specifically asked our Melbourne mole  (who chickened out at the last moment)  to remind Jerry of a Shuttle tale that appeared in a UK newspaper a few years ago.

Mick had already collared the Shuttle at a Sydney party and chided your scribe over our claim that the Jagger house on Cheyne Walk in Chelsea had a cellar that was a seething pit of huge rats.

As a regular visitor to a friend who lived opposite on  a barge on the Thames, we once spotted one of those horrendously huge foot long rodents that appear at low tide, scuttle across the road and disappear into the Jagger garden and duly reported the fact, as one does, to a Fleet Street tabloid in exchange for a generous financial consideration.



former Jagger householder

Mick remonstrated with your scribe and said Jerry had not only read the tale and believed it but had ordered in the exterminators who fumigated the entire house and grounds whilst the  family retired to a country retreat for the weekend.

On returning the fumigator's report stated no rats had been found, but any number of cockroaches had been destroyed and a dozen tiny mice had bitten the dust.

Apparently Jerry said Mick, had worried for weeks that the deaths of so many insects and mammals may affect her karma !

Amazing isn't it ?. Some old boozy hack can completely upend a celebrity's life no matter how famous they are !

# Jerry has also taken the opportunity to introduce daughter Georgia to some of her Australian cousins. Mick Jagger's mother originally emigrated to the UK from Australia and Jagger, a family man has always maintained contact with the Aussie side of the Jagger family.

Ritzy Restaurant Raided !



partying on the wharf



Much consternation today during a Melbourne Cup lunch at the uber smart Otto's Ristorante on the Cowper Street Wharf in  Wooloomooloo

.
Every restaurant on the wharf strip was packed to the gills with party goers. Inside at the Blue Hotel a   Cup lunch for the Pink Ribbon breast cancer charity was underway.

The Melbourne Cup really is the 'race that stops a nation' as the first Tuesday of November becomes a defacto public holiday. But one girl doing a rousing business on the wharf today was stopped in her tracks by the police.





The leopard print clad lady was a bookmaker-or so the punters thought. She had taken thousands of dollars before the cops appeared at Otto's and demanded she cease doing business or be arrested for illegal gambling along with those placing bets. She was soon returning bets placed while the startled punters were told they would half to walk half a mile to a TAB Betting Shop if they wished to place a bet on the great race.

For a while we thought we had plunged back to the heady days pre-1980 when illegal SP bookies ran the show and operated at your local pub or from the back seat of a car.

In those days the only police involvement was when a senior cop phoned ahead to the bookie to tell him what time a raid would occur. For a tidy donation to his retirement fund of course !

A Gay Farmer & His Dogs

All eyes tonight will be on the ABC TV's Australian Story and The Farmer Wants a Life.

It's about country boy David Graham who came out of the closet so publicly on Big Brother and shocked not only a nation but his own family. It's a heart warming tale not to be missed. David's very conservative father, a Queensland farmer openly embraced his son after the show even though the revelation rocked him to the core.

David who became a regular on the Sydney social scene for a time and found plenty of work as a male model is now back in Queensland working the land and has entered politics in the once conservative National Party which has also accepted him.

You can catch the show for the next 2 weeks on ABC IVIEW.

Dame Edna Shines!

The Victorian racing season is in full swing although somewhat soggy with 2 days of rain now. It peaks with the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday and lasts until Ladies Day the following weekend.

Guests have included ex-Spice Girl Mel B (the Daily Mail in the UK reports Victoria Beckham asked for too much money to appear), Jerry Hall and daughter Georgia Jagger and Kelly Osborne.



Dame Edna at Derby Day



But it's Dame Edna Everage who has stolen the show. Last night at Luminere Club at an after races bash she got stuck into Brynne Gordon , the ex-fitness instructor from Las Vegas who married medical entrepreneur Dr Geoffrey Edelsten.

Brynne is known for her colourful frocks and Edna spotted her in the crowd from the stage :

"What  a gorgeous outfit my dear " said the Dame. " It must be suitable for a special occasion. What a shame it isn't suitable for this one !"

"Who did you come with ?" she continued "that little senior citizen beside you ?" referring to hubby Geoff.

And this is just the beginning!

News Corp Watch



Rupert today !

Possibly the most pleasing thing at last night's gala dinner was the fact Rupert Murdoch has abandoned that dark hair dye and returned his locks to a respectable grey.

The occasion was the News Awards at the Museum of Contemporary Art and a swag of Murdoch children attended : James Prudence, Elisabeth, and Lachlan. Missing was wife Wendi and his 2 youngest daughters.

 Son-in -law Mathew Freud ( married to Elisabeth) was also spotted.

Rupert's all time favourite publication The Australian received a Newspaper of The Year award presented by the great man himself.

News chairman John Hartigan presented his Chairman's Award to the editor of Adelaide's The Advertiser, Mel Mansell, while journalist Anthony Klan won the major prize for his investigation and features on the "waste and mismanagement in the $16.2 billion schools stimulus package".

The Oz says today :" While the BER story was largely ignored by other media outlets, The Australian published more than 200 articles about the program, shifting public opinion and forcing the federal government to launch a $14 million inquiry into the scheme by businessman Brad Orgill."

That inquiry found the whole thing was a major beat-up- possibly a complete waste of the $14M cost but hey-it nearly help deliver the reins of government into the hands of the Coalition and Tony Abbott, something the News Corp media would have desired.

Associate editor Cameron Stewart received the award for the Scoop of the Year for his " expose of counter-terrorism raids by Victorian and Australian Federal Police in Melbourne last year on"

A scoop indeed !

Especially when the tale of the raids was published in The Australian several hours before they actually took place.

Following a Victorian Office of Police Integrity investigation, a  Federal Policeman was charged with misconduct in public office , unauthorised disclosure of information and attempting to mislead the Director of the Office of Police Integrity. Maybe Rupert will pay his legal bill.



Rupert last year !

 You can read more on these in-house awards here where Rupert is quoted saying :

"quality journalism doesn't just happen".

"It takes a company committed to bringing the public the stories that no one else will do - and the talented men and women like you who are willing to do them."

"In contrast to the doom-and-gloomers who are always telling us that our industry is dying, we believe the public is hungry for high-quality news and opinion."

Let's hope this purveyor of quality journalism doesn't come across the website of his top tabloid the Daily Telegraph with it's headline today :

Drunken Cop : jailed 17 years ! 

That's a pretty stiff sentence for being in the grip of the grape, even for a walloper. The sentence the hapless policeman received was in fact, 17 months.

Locking up a Murdoch

Catherine Overington of the Media Diary on Rupert Murdoch's personal favourite publication, The Australian newspaper reports on a  happening today at the Surry Hills News Ltd headquarters :

A rather cute thing just happened in the foyer ...

A dapper young man approached the glass security doors. He was already inside; and wanted to get out.

He didn’t have one of those electronic passes you need, to make the doors open.

He motioned to one of News Ltd’s famously happy and extremely strict security guards, saying: ``I’m sorry, I want to get out. I don’t have a pass.’’

To which the security guard said: ``Well, how did you get in?’’

To which the dapper young man replied: ``I came in with my Dad?’’

It was, of course, James Murdoch.

Rupert Murdoch is in town and the word from the Surry Hill's bunker is that fear and loathing are spreading as sackings are expected. There is one rumour sweeping the building that the much feared New York Post editor Col Allan is to return and take the helm.

In fact rumours are sweeping ahead of him wherever he goes. He visited both PM Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott in Canberra a few days ago over talks about new media laws that are predicted to give free-to-air TV stations much more sport's content. Rupert only owns shares in the cable TV network Foxtel under laws that prevent owners having both newspaper and broadcast coverage in any one city. News Corp publishes the main dailies of every state capital except for the Fairfax's Canberra Times.

One person Murdoch won't be visiting is Bruce Guthrie who has just published his book Man Bites Murdoch about his 40 years in publishing.

Amongst a host of newspapers and magazines Guthrie edited was Murdoch's top Victorian tabloid  the Herald Sun before he had a spectacular fallout with his boss.

2 weeks ago Guthrie was spotted meeting with Julia Gillard in Melbourne. Priming her for her first meeting with Murdoch or a mere co-incidence ?

Also in town and spotted at this week's christening of Sarah & Lachlan Murdoch's baby Aerin Elisabeth Murdoch-Rupert's ex-wife Anna Murdoch Mann and her husband William Mann. Anna attended the christening with her brother Hans Torv, the Gold Coast disc jockey and radio station owner.

Britain's Labour Party Heavy outed as Billich Fan !

We feel sure you will come to the same conclusion.

In this tale in Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, the reader's attention is drawn to the painting hanging in the living room of David Milibrand the brother of the UK's new Labour Party leader, Ed Milibrand.

It shows a series of naked ladies a'gamboling and a'frolicking with gay abandon.

The work is by New Zealand raised painter Michelle Dovey. Did she perchance slip over to Sydney and Melbourne for inspiration from the Croatian born Charles Billich ?

One should study our example here of a Billich masterpiece for similarities.



Charles meets a Pope.



Perhaps the last word should go to David Lee of the art newspaper The Jackdaw who is quoted in the article : ‘There is no way I would have that on my wall. It is a bit smutty and sleazy and looks like it ought to be in a pole-dancing club rather than the home of the British Foreign Secretary.’

We've heard similar unkind words about Billich works.