Who’s laughing about UFOs now?
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UFOs – sorry, unidentified aerial phenomena – are back in the news thanks to stunning new evidence from a “whistleblower” given to a US congressional investigation.
Retired US military intelligence officer David Grusch recently testified that the US operated a “multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse-engineering program”.
The Pentagon has denied that, but locally the claims won’t have come as a surprise to Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson, who has been pursuing the matter of little green men from Mars in parliament for several years.
Whish-Wilson has repeatedly used Senate estimates to quiz the military about UFOs, producing this exchange late last year.
Senator Penny Wong: Is this a UFO question?
Whish-Wilson: You could call them UFOs, if you like, Senator Wong. They are now technically known as unidentified aerial phenomena.
Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson.Credit: Eamon Gallagher
Wong: Just so I am clear.
Whish-Wilson: Do you think it is funny?
Undeterred by Wong’s obvious amusement, Whish-Wilson pressed ahead, eventually getting the military to concede that, “if there are issues raised that we thought were relevant to the safety and security of operations in our air space then we would be seriously concerned about it”.
Illustration: Jozsef BenkeCredit:
Whish-Wilson did not wish to comment further on Sunday, but CBD understands he’s encouraged by the growing seriousness with which this is all being taken. We can all wear our tinfoil hats proudly now!
In an effort to get a sense of the public mood, CBD tried to contact Australia’s UFO watchers.
The Australian UFO Research Network advertises a “hotline” to call in UFO sightings, but it seems to be disconnected. Unfortunate. But it is still holding regular meetings.
“New members always warmly welcomed. If anyone has seen a UFO or has other interesting information we would all love to hear about it,” it says
ROYALLY ANNOYED
While the Matildas lick their wounds – salved by Nikki Webster making a surprise appearance at a celebration event to sing Strawberry Kisses on Sunday – the sold-out final of the Women’s World Cup in Sydney on Sunday night was a royal affair.
Queen Letizia of Spain flew in to watch her national team, the Royal Spanish Football Federation confirmed. Her Majesty is a former journalist, proving that some newshounds really can make it good!
Australia’s head of state, King Charles, couldn’t make it, as he is on holiday in Scotland, while Prince William, head of the English Football Association, declined to fly out for the final because the colonies are simply too far.
The prince was forced to issue a video apology, but that’s not good enough for former Socceroo captain and co-chair of the Australian Republic Movement Craig Foster. “The Queen of Spain is here for our final,” he wrote on the app formerly known as Twitter. “And yet not Australia’s own Head of State, nor future king.”
“The future king of Australia has no regard for Australia’s hopes, achievements, dreams.”
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai made it to the game, having watched Australia’s 3-1 loss to England. Yousafzai is here to meet exiled members of the Afghan women’s soccer team, who were forced to flee when the Taliban returned to power.
She was also on hand to give the keynote speech at Coca-Cola’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion summit in Sydney on Friday, joined by former Australian of the year Dylan Alcott and former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.
WEDDING BUBBLES
Former Liberal staff member Brittany Higgins′ upcoming nuptials to David Sharaz promise to be a very Canberra bubble sort of wedding. Albeit a Canberra bubble wedding inviting plenty of tabloid interest – the Daily Mail, which just happened to get exclusive snaps of Sharaz’s Byron Bay proposal, will no doubt be all over it. And we’re sure uninvited News Corp scribes will find a way to squeeze a hit piece out of it.
Brittany Higgins and her fiance, David Sharaz.Credit: Instagram
Meanwhile, planning for the big day appears to be in full swing. This weekend, Higgins revealed Hawker Britton lobbyist and former Daniel Andrews staffer Emma Webster would be her maid of honour. Webster and Higgins are close friends and, more recently, business partners after they registered a company called Power Blazers this year.
All very Canberra bubble, but not nearly as Canberra bubble as Sharaz’s previous wedding in 2018 to ex-wife Alexandra Craig, where the tables were all named after former leaders of the Labor Party.
MICMAC’s NEW TACK
Former deputy prime minister Michael McCormack’s Greek heritage – his maternal grandfather was born in Greece – was all but forgotten after he was cleared of any dual-citizenship issues during the section 44 snafus of 2017.
Former Nationals leader Michael McCormack. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
But MicMac is still proud of that ancestry – he’s just taken on a new role as co-chair of the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association’s communications committee. The organisation brings together politicians from the Greek diaspora.
Clearly, the opposition backbenches afford him a bit more spare time.
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