Breaking bread. A tipster spotted Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull having dinner with his wife and the ABC’s Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb last night in Glebe Point Diner, not far from the Ultimo studio where Sales had interviewed Turnbull on 7.30 earlier in the night. While Sales and Turnbull discussed Q&A and where the responsibility lay for hyperbole about Islamic State earlier in the night, who knows what they talked about afterwards …?
While it’s not unusual for senior journalists and politicians to talk regularly, it’s interesting timing, with the government putting pressure on the ABC to move Q&A to the news and current affairs department. Sales told Crikey: “As the anchor of 7.30, I regularly network with a wide range of politicians, business people and other contacts, as any good journalist would.” The dinner took place while Turnbull should have been preparing for Q&A, but until Prime Minister Tony Abbott lifts the ban on government ministers appearing on the show, it looks like all Coalition frontbenchers can have relaxing Monday night dinners.
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