From the Crikey grapevine, the latest tips and rumours …

Abbott visits friends. What was Tony Abbott doing “touring” the Herald Sun‘s Southbank offices this week? Harried hacks reported Tone’s presence in the Tower of Power on Wednesday afternoon, escorted by senior executives. But there is apparently no truth to the rumour the prime minister-in-waiting was escorted to a vacant workstation to bash out a Hez editorial in the manner of his previous reign on sister paper The Australian.

Just step aside, ladies. As part of the new Qantas-Emirates codeshare agreement, Qantas staff received cultural training about Dubai since they’re expected to spend a lot more time flying into it. Crikey got its hands on the official cultural awareness information, which explains things like how customers may want to pray on board (so it’s helpful if flight attendants know which way faces Mecca), and how it’s traditional to use the right hand to pass food and money.

But there was one particular piece of advice that raised Crikey‘s eyebrows:

Also, Qantas couples that are unmarried cannot share rooms in Dubai, and staff were warned that homos-xuality was illegal and a jailable offence (we don’t want to adhere to stereotype, but that last rule would affect a lot of flight attendants).

We hear some staff are not impressed, although they understand the cultural differences. When Qantas were quizzed on the documents, a spokesperson replied:”We fly to many different countries and have people from all over the world on our aircraft, so cultural awareness training has long been a standard part of Qantas crew development. Like the rest of Australia, our crew comes from a range of backgrounds, and that kind of built-in diversity is very helpful as an international airline.”

The view from abroad. For a Bizarro World take on Australian politics, look no further than the Australian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong and Macau, which is advertising a speech by Parliamentary Secretary for Trade Kelvin Thomson on Monday in HK. Whoever is in charge of Austcham’s event spruiking offers this analysis of the current Australian political situation:

“It’s an extraordinary federal election year in Australia. The Prime Minister bravely set the date seven months ahead of time and has since seen off a number of high-profile frontbenchers. The Opposition Leader has maintained the same steady team but now faces a defamation case over his university behaviour.”

We doubt that even the most ardent Gillard supporter would quite couch the events of 2013 in such roseate terms, but as we’ve learnt, people overseas can have a very different take on things here.

Political turncoats. The Australian is frothing at the mouth today at the deeply shocking news that Greens Senate candidate for the ACT Simon Sheikh was a member of the ALP for one year, nine years ago. Apparently this makes him a:

The Oz got its facts wrong on its front-page “exclusive” story — Sheik was not a “financial member … from 2004 to 2008” — but who has the time to fix up the misrepresentations in The Australian?

Frankly, we’d be surprised if you could find many Greens candidates who didn’t have something to do with the ALP back in the day. So Crikey is now interested in “political turncoats” — which prominent political figures used to be aligned with the enemy? Here are a few suggestions:

Crikey list: political turncoats

  • Andrew Wilkie: joined the Young Liberals while training as a cadet at Duntroon in 1983
  • Nick Xenophon: member of the Adelaide University Liberal Club
  • Peter Costello: was he in a student association affiliated with the ALP?
  • Brendan Nelson: there have long been claims he had been a member of the ALP (he’s denied it). “Dr Nelson has told The 7.30 Report he has moved on from when he was a Labor Party member in the early 1990s.”

We’re sure there are plenty more. Isn’t there a federal Liberal politician who was a Labor-affiliated president of a student union? If you can jog Tips’ memory, or provide us with some new names of political turncoats, please email us. Political staffers who’ve got the juice on their boss’ pasts can stay anonymous.

I’m not sure? Speaking of the Greens, this question from their national youth survey is quite revealing. Er, what if you’re heteros-xual?

Wine cellar. News Limited has taken one of its daily swings at Julia Gillard, this time over her wine cellar on the Lodge and that she won’t buy merlot. This prompted this memorable claim from a tipster — can it be true?

“Speaking of the PM’s wine collection — one of my clients claims that he was at the Lodge for dinner when Howard ordered a particularly lovely bottle from the cellars. All guests were looking forward to a tipple, but alas, Howard had a glass poured for himself, and then personally placed the bottle at his feet.”

This tale puts us in mind of the classic Punch joke, host to maid at dinner party, “is this the best claret, Mary?” Mary (audibly) “it’s the best you’ve got, sir”.

There are certainly legendary tales of a former state governor drinking his cellar dry. Which led to some interesting consequences. Shhhh.

*Heard anything that might interest Crikey? Send your tips to boss@crikey.com.au or use our guaranteed anonymous form