Miranda forgot that Natasha has got friends in high places

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I suppose there comes a time when you have done the Opposition to death and you have to turn on your own lot. Well Miranda certainly did this morning and with quite a vengeance.
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Yet the Tele’s fearless columnist forgot one thing. Natasha might once have been a dreaded Australian Democrat who opposed the GST. But, as the Beastie Boys put it, I got friends in high places that are keeping me high. She married into the right kind of political family.
I mean, consider the connections. Her husband is described thus on his lobbyist firm’s website:
Ian Smith co-founded Bespoke Approach in July 2008 and since then it has been working with major domestic and international businesses on a range of complex projects across Australia and internationally. One of the company’s founding principle was based on Ian’s belief in the engagement of former senior politicians to assist companies develop corporate strategies.
Ian was a journalist before advising the South Australian Liberal Party from 1990 to 1992 and the Kennett Government in Victoria from 1992 to 1995. He established boutique consultancy Kortlang Melbourne in 1995 before it was acquired by Gavin Anderson & Company. As CEO of Gavin Anderson & Company (Australia) and a part of the company’s global executive board, he developed the largest and one of the most successful public affairs and financial communications companies in Australia.
And who else do we find as a founding owner of Bespoke Approach? Why,  none other than that epitome of the South Australian Liberal Party establishment, Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs throughout the term of the Howard Government, from March 1996 until December 2007 and the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party from May 1994 to January 1995, Alexander Downer.
His network with governments around the world remains unique and he has a reputation for his keen sensitivity to the cultural issues that can create unseen impediments to anyone trying to work across borders.
Who better than this team to help create an Ambassadorial vacancy so that there was a job for one of the girls?

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