Is there any finer way of spending an afternoon than sucking on a lobster leg, gargling chardonnay and listening to top-quality political gossip? Margot Saville went to lunch with Richo and the Faceless Man to get the Labor Party gossip.
Articles by Margot Saville 
About Margot Saville
Margot Saville graduated in Arts/Law from Sydney University and practised as a lawyer before finding her true calling in the cadet training room at The Australian. Since then she has worked for ABC Television, the Nine Network and the Sydney Morning Herald. In 2007, she wrote The Battle for Bennelong. Margot’s most precious possession is a concert ticket from the late 70s signed by all the members of AC/DC.
The band’s back together for Howard’s last lap
It was fabulous to see Peter Reith emerge yesterday from whatever dark cupboard he’s been hiding in since 2001 to come out and call for a new IR reform agenda. Indeed, the whole band was back together for John Howard’s book launch, says Margot Saville.
McKew: ‘I don’t regret a minute of it’
This morning, McKew was in the office, helping her staff to find new jobs, but she’s not bitter about the result. “I don’t regret a minute of it. I loved doing the job locally and I loved working on public policy. It was a great thing to do.”
With grandma in charge, the Liberals were celebrating
It occurs to me in the cab that drinking half a bottle of red wine before I go to the Liberal HQ election night party is probably not a good idea. It is likely to be a very long night, and I should have started it at least sober. Too late now. 8pm. Arrive at […]
Bennelong: tired McKew fighting the polls
Yesterday was a pretty bad day for the Labor MP for Bennelong, Maxine McKew. Two new polls published in the major Sydney newspapers predict she will lose her seat on Saturday.
Bennelong despatch: yum cha and tears with Kevin Rudd
Losing the job of a lifetime is one thing, but following it up with an emergency gallbladder operation is bad luck, and Kevin Rudd looked like he had been through the wringer.
Bennelong dispatch: relevance takes a back seat in JA’s campaign
In the battle for Bennelong, Liberal candidate John Alexander was the star of a two and a half hour brain-bleeding session dominated by klutzy questions.
Talking the Town: Bennelong despatch: McKew serves it up to ‘good looking’ JA
Bennelong is one of the most ethnically diverse electorates in the country.
Talking the Town: The Hawkeites assemble to help Blanche pick at the warts
It’s been 14 years since we have had a PM who could really deliver a speech, and it was fitting that the nation’s greatest speechwriter, Graham Freudenberg, was in the audience last night to hear Julia Gillard speak about Bob Hawke.
Talking the Town: Turnbull launches Shitstorm in Sydney. The book, that is
If a week is a long time in politics, then it’s an eternity in book publishing. Last week, then PM Kevin Rudd launched the new Shitstorm book. This week Malcolm Turnbull launched it.
Fresh calls from Fred Nile to ban the burqa
Anti-burqa advocate New South Wales MP Reverend Fred Nile has introduced a private members bill to the state’s parliament in his latest attempt to ban people from wearing full-face covering in public places.
Talking the Town: Alan Reid’s life, a history of Oz political journalism
Reading a biography of the controversial and legendary Australian journalist Alan Reid, it’s hard not to be nostalgic for the days when journos chain-smoked at their desks and wore hats.
Alexander and sacred Lib ground at Bennelong … tell it to the voters
“Welcome to the traditional owners of Bennelong, the Liberal Party!” Lib campaign manager Rod Bosman told a fundraising lunch last week. The problem is no one seems to have told the voters.
Talking the Town: Madam Lash book launch a spanking good time
Purveyors of a spanking were left wanting in Sydney last night. All the BDSM mistresses were at the launch of Sam Everingham’s excellent book Madam Lash, Gretel Pinniger’s scandalous life of sex, art and bondage.
Daily Proposition: The exhibition you don’t need a black skivvy for
This Sydney Biennale — the 17th exhibition of contemporary art — is the largest ever. And unlike most exhibitions of its kind, it’s remarkably free of pretension, yet full of wonder.
Kicked out of Community Cabinet, Crikey style
Comfort women, childrens’ sun hats, the Macksville Bridge, koala colonies and television for the blind. These were the sorts of questions asked at last night’s Community Cabinet, held in the assembly hall at Sydney’s Epping Boys High School.
All write, where are the women at the Sydney Writers’ Festival?
Why isn’t there a high-profile female writer talking about the economy or climate change?
How the Iron Monk slips the bonds of normal life
Today, as Tony Abbott embarks on a 1000-kilometre, nine-day ride from Melbourne to Sydney, it’s clear that he now views his bike in the same way Easy Rider’s Peter Fonda did his Harley.
Talking the Town: Jan Murray on sex, lies and politics
Who among us has not fantasised about stabbing a politician, or one’s spouse, with a pair of scissors? Luckily, for Jan Murray, the-then wife of the federal tourism minister, she could do both.
Balmain, the birthplace of Labor, taking on a decidedly Green tinge
The knives are starting to appear in the Balmain electorate. If the polls are right, the suburb that gave birth to the Australian Labor Party in 1891 could fall to the Greens in 2011 — a stark symbol of the depth of the voters’ anger with the state government.
NSW pokies venues looking out for POOPs (Pets of Older Persons)
Donations to POOPs, as it is known, are at the heart of the present conundrum of clubland. Are they a vital hub of their community, or giant pokie palaces which are using their local connections as a fig leaf?
Talking the Town: Thumped, bumped and bumped off at ICAC
The difference between being thumped, bumped and bumped off is still a mystery, even after a whole day spent at the current ICAC hearing in Sydney into allegations of murdered Michael McGurk’s corrupt conduct.
Anyone for tennis?: Libs candidate John Alexander too busy for Bennelong
John Alexander, the Liberal candidate for the federal seat of Bennelong, apparently cannot speak to the media about his campaign because he is too busy commenting on the tennis.
Talking the Town: Talking the town: Tony Abbott and Bob Ellis, in conversation. Yes, really.
It’s not often you go to a book launch where the author never mentions his own book, and spends most of the night talking about someone else’s, which is what happened with Bob Ellis and Tony Abbott last night.
Talking the Town: Talking the Town: The Walkleys
Margot Saville spills all the all the glitz, glamour and gossip from last night’s Walkey Awards, on a night where two failing business models — music industry at the Arias and media — battled to stay relevant.
