Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen call Perth home

Last year actor Isla Fisher, her comedian husbo Sacha Baron Cohen and their brood relocated to Sydney’s Bondi, reportedly in a bid to escape Trump’s America.

Sacha Baron Cohen, who has moved his family to Western Australia, is rumoured to be performing as Freddie Mercury at this year’s AFL grand final.Credit:Shakespeare

Now the family has relocated to Perth, apparently in a bid to escape Gladys Berejiklian’s lockdown.

The family kept a low profile since moving to Bondi last year. A CBD operative spotted Baron Cohen when he did a surprise stand-up gig as his Borat character at Sydney’s Comedy Store in June. After the family emerged from Perth quarantine last month Baron Cohen repeated his secret stand-up gig at Perth’s Comedy Lounge two weeks ago, during which in the interests of comedy he kissed comedian Rove McManus.

And Baron Cohen is rumoured to be performing at the AFL grand final on September 25 at Perth’s Optus Stadium as Freddie Mercury, where no doubt he will attempt to kiss Gillon McLachlan.

But the move to Perth seems permanent. Fisher, who was born in Oman, grew up in Perth before moving to Sydney to star in Home and Away. She converted to Judaism when she married Baron Cohen in 2010.

Fisher is looking to enrol her three children at a local school. CBD suggests that there can only be one choice, Carmel School, the Modern Orthodox Zionist Jewish Day school, regarded as one of Perth’s best.

Isla Fisher puts the final touches on Sacha Baron Cohen in Sydney before the Oscars.Credit:AP

Certainly Fisher has been looking for a more family-friendly city since telling Marie Claire in 2018 that “juggling a family in LA isn’t easy”. “There’s not really a culture of bringing your kids to dinner parties or to restaurants past 6pm.” Breakfast at the Blue Duck at Cottesloe? Why not!

And the couple have been establishing connections in the local community. Last month CBD reported on the historic swearing in of Marcus Solomon to the WA Supreme Court, the first Orthodox Jewish rabbi appointed to a superior court in Australia.

And where did the Baron Cohens spend the traditional Jewish celebration of new year Rosh Hashanah last week? As guests at Justice Solomon’s festive meal.

CASHING IN

There is clearly a worldwide lust for Hermes furniture.

Monday night’s auction at Melbourne’s Leonard Joel auction house drew a global audience of buyers who ended up spending $1,378,227 on beleaguered property developer Daniel Grollo’s dazzling 62-piece collection.

The dashing Grollo has been enduring challenging times after his construction empire Grocon collapsed owing about $104 million and former wife Katherina Grollo demanded the keys to a 658 square metre penthouse on the 80th floor of Grocon’s Eureka Towers in Melbourne.

But Grollo doesn’t get all the cash, as the buyer’s premium of 25 per cent goes to the auction house, which is led by John Albrecht who made a spirited auctioneer on the night. “It’s an absolute pleasure to be offering this collection this evening. Every piece a beauty,” he enthused.

Despite a 95 per cent sale rate, the piece de resistance, a Le Coffre a chaussures cabinet (or a made-to-order shoe cabinet for us plebs) remained unsold despite a bid of $380,000. Its guide price was $400,000 to $500,000. And a dressoir (OK, a tea chest if you must) with a guide price of $200,000 to $250,000 was also left on the shelf.

But all is not lost. A Los Angeles entertainment executive and Hermes lover, who attempted to purchase the entire collection prior to the auction, remains in negotiations. Watch this space.

CHESTER BESTER

An impassioned Facebook spray from senior Nationals MP Darren Chester on Tuesday taking aim at the poor management style of his colleagues has sure stirred the pot. And it won’t make life easier for his successor Andrew Gee.

Chester, who lost the veterans affairs portfolio, vented about the poor treatment of parliamentary staffers, who are subjected to “unrealistic expectations from bullying and abusive Members of Parliament” causing burn out. “[They go] from true believers in the chance to make a difference in a political office, to discarded casualties of a boss’s unrelenting ego and self-importance,” Chester wrote.

The onetime Nationals’ leadership prospect called for his parliamentary colleagues to undergo management training.

“[They] come from diverse backgrounds and while some may have run a small business or managed a large team in the past, there are others who have no idea how to treat people.”

Gee is advertising for a senior media adviser and a senior veterans adviser after many of Chester’s staff left after the reshuffle. At least they’ve been warned.

NEW LIBS NO MORE

The Liberal Party has had a win in stopping a wannabe political party from exploiting its brand.

Sydney barrister Victor Kline will be forced to change the name of his micro-party The New Liberals. A legislative change in the Senate three weeks ago kiboshed parties from using names with terms already in use.

Australian Electoral Commission assistant commissioner Joanne Reid approved Kline’s party name in early June, despite objections from Liberal federal director Andrew Hirst and Nationals federal director Jonathan Hawkes.

Hirst even sicced the party’s pollster of choice Crosby Textor onto the case, who submitted a survey showing participants were confused or mistaken by The New Liberals name, and believed it was connected to the larger Liberal party. But Reid wasn’t persuaded, finding “‘The New Liberals’ is sufficiently visually and aurally distinct from the Liberal Party of Australia” and “not likely that a voter will be confused or mistaken”.

But that all went out the window in August when the Senate passed the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Party Registration Integrity) Bill 2021 requiring the AEC to “refuse to register a party name, abbreviation or logo if it replicates a key word used by an existing political party.” The Libs, privately, are calling it a victory.

For Kline, it’s a speed hump not a stop sign. “Legally we are still The New Liberals … On the ballot paper we will simply be TNL.”

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Stephen Brook is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is a former features editor and media editor at The Australian, where he wrote the Media Diary column and spent six years in London working for The Guardian.Connect via Twitter or email.Samantha Hutchinson is a CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. She recently covered Victorian and NSW politics and business for News Corp, and previously worked for the Australian Financial Review.Connect via Twitter or email.

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