Former premier Daniel Andrews rubs shoulders with a billionaire and a former prime minister in Sydney
After months of protests and whispers about his health, a sighting of the former Victorian prime minister has been confirmed. Dan Andrews.
Andrews arrived in Sydney on Tuesday and befriended a billionaire, a former prime minister and the current prime minister. It’s a very difficult and influential circle for the old Pollie to be in.
Polarizing Andrews, last seen in Victorian parliament for MP for Pakenham Emma Vulin His emotional farewell speech to his Spring Street colleagues has been the subject of intense speculation in recent years about everything from his health to his business interests and golfing outings. Throw in a few conspiracy theories and you’ve got just about any headline.
Anyway, on Tuesday Andrews was moving in very good circles, attending an annuity credits roundtable convened by Visy’s chief executive Anthony Prattand hosted by Australian Financial ReviewIn Sydney.
The high-level forum brings together pension fund chief executives, banking leaders and policymakers.
A photo published on X Fin‘s Mark Di Stefano It shows Andrews sitting next to Pratt. Anthony Albaneseformer Australian treasurer and deputy prime minister, currently chairman of the Cbus Fund, Wayne Swanand former prime minister Paul Keating also on the table.
Andrews and Pratt have been working together for a long time Age In 2024, Visy’s boss reportedly appointed Andrews to work as a consultant. Keating is also a consultant and recently confirmed Pratt was on his payroll. Have a nice weekend It will be featured in Cardboard King in May.
After detection in Sydney, eyes will be peeled to see where to spy next. We hear he still likes to play golf occasionally.
Fed Square big screen is closing
This is very convenient. Federation Square managers have decided to revamp the big screen in Melbourne’s unofficial town square, meaning it has now been out of action for six weeks.
And how long does it take for this to be out of action?
There’s nothing going on in the world of sports that people might want to gather in Fed Square to watch, like the football World Cup final or the unpopular Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
It’s not as if the games are in the hands of the decision-makers in Melbourne.
Suffice it to say that Victoria invested $200 million to host the Games in Glasgow; This was derived from the $380 million in compensation the state had to hand over to the Commonwealth Games Federation, Commonwealth Games Federation Partnerships and Commonwealth Games Australia after the then-premiere in 2023. Daniel Andrews He tore up the agreement on staging the 2026 Games.
It was announced that this $200 million raised in 2024 will be used by the Games organizers to organize an “innovative, cost-effective and sustainable” event in Glasgow.
When the CBD last week asked the Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation, which operates Federation Square, if there were plans to show the Games at Fed Square, our inquiry was hand-delivered to Spring Street and returned a no through the premier’s office.
MAP Co confirmed “works have just begun” when the big screen turned off and brightened at 3.30pm on Tuesday. Timing, as they say, is everything.
In a family with rights
It may be too early to say whether the Albanian government has taken a step in this direction. Take action to rob top politicians Increased carte blanche to fly spouses and children across the country has had a material impact.
However, the data provided to the CBD by the Independent Parliamentary Expenditure Authority shows that the Minister for Communications Anika Wells and Attorney General Michelle Rowland MPs are not the only ones doing this I was doing most of the rights.
According to the official, both the number of tickets booked by MPs and the total value of travel increased in the last financial year. About $1.3 million was spent in the 2025-26 fiscal year, a 38 percent increase from the $954,000 spent the previous year. Meanwhile, the number of reserved tickets increased from 1282 reservations to 1725.
“Two travel budgets were provided to parliamentarians before 1 July 2026, one being a dollar budget for travel to Canberra and local areas and the other being an Australia-wide budget for a total of three trips per financial year,” a spokesperson for the authority told CBD.
The data includes costs and tickets for both budgets, the spokesperson said.
Start your day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Fiona Byrne is the CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
John Buckley is the CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
