From the Crikey grapevine, the latest tips and rumours …

Audit turns up heat on Australia Network. While the ABC and SBS got off relatively lightly in yesterday’s Commission of Audit, you’ve got to pity the poor ABC journalists who work for our soft-diplomacy channel. First Kevin Rudd was going to give the Australia Network to Sky. Then he was rolled, and the government hastily awarded it to the ABC after granting Sky the tender. And now it looks like no one will get it at all.

Yesterday’s Commission of Audit thought the network was an inefficient way to serve Australia’s diplomacy interests in the region. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has been saying much the same thing recently, which means the network could very well face the axe. Crikey understands there’s a very gloomy feeling with the network, with good reason. Stay tuned …

Responsible spelling. Meanwhile, apparently the audit didn’t include a spell check …

Butlers above their station. We heard a very charming story about businessman David Gonski (yes, he of the Gonski education reforms) emerging from the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal luncheon yesterday. Our tipster relates the tale:

“Gonski said that as a young boy he was doorknocking for the Red Shield Appeal in Bellevue Hill and they came to a very grand mansion. When they knocked on the door a butler answered and shooed them away. They kept going, and some time later a Rolls-Royce passed them on the road, came to a halt, and a man got out of the back seat. He said, ‘Were you the boys who knocked on my door earlier?’ ‘Yes,’ they replied. He handed them a $20 note. ‘I’m very sorry about our butler,’ he said. ‘He’s a bit up himself.'”

Who was this mysterious Salvos benefactor? Our tipster suggests media baron Sir Warwick Fairfax. Oh, those uppity butlers.

Bright young things at the SDC. It was a case of beauty and the beast at a Sydney Dance Company production of Interplay in Melbourne last night. Pollies were out in force, with ex-waterfront heavy Peter Reith dapper in a corduroy jacket and red scarf. Shadow arts minister Mark Dreyfus (that’s QC to you) enjoyed circulating (and wolfing down a Magnum icecream), and Ms Tips spotted Adam Bandt — although unlike the other pollies, he was nowhere near the bar. Home and Away actor (and dancer, apparently) Kip Gamblin was there, along with a bevvy of tall, skinny dancers. Take your cardie if you’re going along, it was chilly in the Southbank Theatre.

A flood of traffic for news. How many people visited News.com.au on Wednesday? Try 1.486 million. Crikey understands this beats the previous Australian record held by The Sydney Morning Herald, which had 1.45 million unique browsers visit it on March 25 (the two websites chased each other’s traffic all March — the SMH broke News.com.au‘s previous record, of 1.44 million, on March 13).

“While many spikes in traffic can be attributed to one major breaking news story, that wasn’t the case for us [on Wednesday],” News.com.au editor Daniel Sankey told us. The latest MH370 news, an exclusive story on a Twitter founder now living as a recluse, and the daily Rush Hour live blog all contributed strongly to the total. It’s a good result for Sankey, poached by News Corp from The New Daily in February.

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