One Nation’s NSW leader sparks intrigue over his parliamentary escorts

One Nation’s NSW leader Mike Newman caused quite the stir in the NSW parliament on Wednesday.

First the unelected candidate for Cessnock was kicked out of the chamber, after he went into the government’s advisers’ box, and then the opposition’s, just before question time. Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane went over to him and asked why he was sitting in the box, according to two people familiar with the interaction.

“Just measuring up the curtains,” Newman responded.

But there was also the intrigue sparked by Newman’s parliamentary escorts: Libertarian upper house MP John Ruddick, sporting an orange tie, and his chief of staff, William Jennings, who has also been known as Clifford Jennings.

One question raised by the rendezvous was whether Ruddick and/or Jennings was flirting with the prospect of joining Pauline Hanson’s One Nation before next year’s state election. Another was whether the right-wing party would be as forgiving as Ruddick of Jennings’ past.

Regular readers may recall Jennings went to work for Ruddick five years after he shot to prominence in 2018 for his involvement in a plot to stack the Young Nationals with what this column previously dubbed fellow alt-right sympathisers. He resigned from the Nats and was banned for life amid an investigation into alleged ties to alt-right groups.

In 2023, Ruddick told CBD he hired Jennings because he “believes in rehabilitation”. Former head of the Australian Jewish Association Dr David Adler also vouched for Jennings at the time.

“As a loyal and dedicated staffer to the Hon. John Ruddick MLC (and previously McGirr and Nile), I escort many guests around New South Wales parliament and I have no intention of leaving his employment,” Jennings told CBD on Wednesday.

“In the words of Warren Pickering ‘You do not have to be a victim of your previous circumstances. You do not have to be a perpetual victim of your past forevermore’.”

When reached on Wednesday, a One Nation spokeswoman would not be drawn on Jennings’ affiliation with the party and whether the party supports his previous comments, other than to confirm that he isn’t employed by the party.

“Mr Newman was being escorted by another member of parliament’s staff, of whom he was a guest,” a spokeswoman told CBD.

Nine’s future blues

There has been no shortage of grumblings coming out of Nine’s broadcast news division as a result of the company’s so-called Future News program, which has brought in new technology, nixed about 20 roles from the Sydney newsroom, and left staff feeling like they need to do more with less. Nine is, of course, the publisher of this masthead.

Enter the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, a union that represents journalists at this masthead and at others across the industry, and has taken the opportunity to galvanise support in Nine’s traditionally non-unionised TV newsrooms to push management for better pay.

The union has been in talks with management at Nine Entertainment, owner of Nine News and this masthead, for the last month or so, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

As things stand, Nine and the union’s 60-odd TV news members remain locked in a standoff over pay and conditions, the people said, and are set to square off at a meeting on Tuesday next week.

In a letter dated September 29, Nine’s news and current affairs boss Fiona Dear knocked back a proposed one-off pay bump of as much as 20 per cent for all staff, citing Nine’s falling TV revenue, an ongoing advertising market rout, and rising costs.

“The reality is that Nine cannot fund the pay rise sought by the members without implementing cost savings, such as further head-count reductions in Sydney, in the television news business,” Dear wrote in the letter, seen by CBD.

In the letter, Dear signalled the company may have some wriggle room on conditions. Nine, through a spokeswoman, said the response to its Future News rollout has been mostly positive.

“Our flagship 6pm bulletin is on track to cut over tonight to the new technology and workflow, which will complete our Sydney News transition,” she told CBD.

But the union’s acting director of media, Matthew Burton, said staff were still concerned about workload, staffing levels and the ability of TV staff to maintain standards with “fewer resources”.

Given the program will expand to include the transition of Nine’s flagship 6pm bulletin on Wednesday evening, before heading to Brisbane and other bureaus around the country, our guess is the grumbling may continue.

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