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Veteran writer Gideon Haigh always seemed a little too erudite and independent-minded for Murdoch-owned broadsheet The Australian.

Gideon HaighCredit: Melanie Faith Dove

So we were hardly surprised when Haigh, whose columns stood out amid the usual reactionary bluster that stains the paper’s opinion pages, quietly parted ways with The Oz, effectively spelling an end to the popular Cricket, Et Cetera podcast co-hosted with Peter Lalor.

Haigh, who was the paper’s senior cricket writer, hasn’t held back on his thoughts about life at Holt Street, in a very candid podcast with the boys from satirical publication The Betoota Advocate.

“Loyalty’s a one-way street at The Australian,” Haigh said, telling hosts Clancy Overell and Errol Parker he’d recently cancelled a subscription to the newspaper he’d taken out despite being employed there.

Haigh said his departure came after feeling disappointed that the paper had “siloed” him as a cricket writer and wasn’t giving him room to explore other opportunities. He said he’d wanted to continue the podcast with Lalor independently, but The Oz had forbidden his former co-host from doing it.

“It’s a little bit like, you know, dealing with a toddler that wants to break a toy rather than share it with somebody else,” Haigh said.

As for what those new opportunities might involve, Haigh winkingly said he “couldn’t possibly comment” on whether he was writing a book on former treasurer Josh Frydenberg. We hope the rumours are true because it sounds like a cracking read.

So what did the bosses at Holt Street do to celebrate Gideon’s excellent innings? Well, as the man himself puts it: “F— all. My last day came, and I didn’t hear a word.”

Nor did we after approaching News Corp for comment.

AUNTY BOOTS CONSERVATIVES

The ABC’s announcement of “new” Radio National programming for 2024 was likely music to the ears of the public broadcaster’s shrinking rusted-on listenership of progressive inner-city Boomers, whose favourites are all returning in 2024.

Credit: Shakespeare

Fran Kelly is back! More lecturing from Norman Swan! Another show with Geraldine Doogue! Who needs under-50s hey?

Even more good news for the ABC luvvies was buried at the bottom of Aunty’s media release on Monday. We’re talking about the quiet, unceremonious retiring of former Liberal senator and Howard government immigration minister Amanda Vanstone, whose politics tended to anger the public broadcaster’s base.

“I’d like to thank Amanda Vanstone and Benjamin Law for their contribution to RN, and for bringing their ideas and perspectives to RN’s audience and wish them both the very best for the future,” was the official quote from RN manager Cath Dwyer.

According to the media release, Law is off to focus on his screen commitments. Aside from a brief mention that Vanstone’s Counterpoint would not be returning, no other explanation was given for her departure.

Vanstone recently attracted unsavoury attention, after getting caught calling a guest a f—wit after a pre-recorded interview, thinking the mic was off. But we’re none the wiser about whether that incident played a part, as neither she nor the ABC responded to our requests for a chat by deadline.

The only other program getting the boot is Between the Lines, fronted by fellow Tory Tom Switzer. But at least Switzer got a nice little farewell post from the ABC, and on his way out the door, dropped a line to CBD on the importance of intellectual diversity.

And whatever your thoughts on Switzer and Vanstone’s politics, their departures leave RN a more ideologically samey place.

MUP MOVEMENTS

It’s been a rocky few years in the top ranks at Australia’s oldest university press, Melbourne University Publishing. It’s hard to forget the tumultuous resignation of its well-known former chief executive, Louise Adler, and five board members in 2019, who were outraged by the university’s decision to shift its direction away from commercial titles to focus on “purely scholarly” work.

Appointed to fill Adler’s big shoes was former director of Monash Publishing Nathan Hollier, however he exited at the end of March this year, citing “personal reasons”.

Louise Adler.Credit: Eddie Jim

Now, a decision has been made by the MUP board to split the role of chief executive and publisher. The CEO gig has been handed to the former chief operating officer, Deborah Jenkins, while industry veteran Foong Ling Kong – chair of the Feminist Writers Festival and current wrangler of Hansard reporters at the Parliament of Victoria – will return to MUP to take on the role of publisher.

Meanwhile, Adler, the outspoken leader who put MUP on the map, this week has waded into the controversy swirling around the Sydney Theatre Company. The STC was plunged into crisis after three actors in its current production of Chekhov’s The Seagull took curtain calls wearing traditional keffiyeh scarves as a gesture of solidarity towards the people in Gaza.

Mabel Li (left), Harry Greenwood (right) and Megan Wilding (middle) wearing keffiyeh in the STC’s production of The Seagull.Credit: Instagram

Adler, now the director of Adelaide Writers Week, told ABC’s 7.30 on Monday night that it seemed from media reports that STC management wasn’t taking great care in supporting their actors, and were more concerned with pacifying donors (STC was approached by CBD but did not respond).

“The attention seemed to be on donors taking their chequebooks and walking away, and I think arts organisations need to have some clarity about the moral compromises they are prepared to make when they take donor support or funding. That comes with contradictions and compromises that need to be made. And I didn’t see in the STC media reports a great deal of attention paid to the artists and their right to have an opinion when they took a curtain call.”

Adler said there was a long history of artists holding political views and incorporating them into their work. “I’m not sure what we expect from contemporary theatre, if we don’t expect artists to engage with the issues of the day,” she told the program.

It’s not the first time Adler has waded into similar territory.

Earlier this year, the inclusion of two Palestinian authors who had been accused of antisemitism in the Adelaide Writer’s Week program saw some sponsors and high-profile writers withdraw from the event. Adler did not budge, saying writers’ festivals must engage with complex issues, and the event went ahead.

PLEASE EXPLAIN

We all know that sometimes when a crucial administrative staff member is on leave, the wheels on a business can start to fall off. Even global ones that are listed on the stock exchange.

So spare a thought for Lendlease, which while employing thousands around the world forgot to backstop someone in their “reward” (read: bonuses) team when they went on leave.

The oversight led to Lendlease failing to properly report the shareholdings of its chief executive officer Tony Lombardo and a small spanking from the ASX which issued a please explain letter to the global builder.

Lendlease, which has had a rough year with its shareholders, assured the market operator it wouldn’t make such a silly mistake again.

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