Helengrad extends to Australia

A kind reader has sent me this newspaper clipping from Page 46 of the Australian Financial Review:

Hacks displeased with Clark’s Victorian ways

New Zealand Prime Minster Helen Clark looked right at home during a Melbourne business lunch yesterday to spruik trade connections. There were plenty of pictures of her country looking fabulous in videos featuring frolicking dolphins and snow-capped mountains. On hand, too, was plenty of good wine that took the tastebuds straight to the South Island.

The assembled crowed also got a sampling of her renowned tight grip on the script. Questions were invited from the floor but not in the customary, and unpredictable, way so beloved by Australian scribes. No, inquiries were to be written on a form along with the option of providing your name, submitted for approval and then presented to Clark.

Perhaps she was concerned that invited guest Toll boss Paul Little might ask a pesky question about their marriage over the railways or that Telstra chairman Donald McGauchie could query the state of the communications market.

A raised eyebrow about the state management brought a resigned response from a Kiwi hack: “It’s not called Helengrad for nothing.”