Mark Latham, Jeremy Buckingham go to war over Ivan Milat

To the Macquarie Street bearpit, where the latest cause of argy-bargy has centred on deceased serial killer Ivan Milat.

In the upper house, Legalise Cannabis MP Jeremy Buckingham has spent months campaigning for a parliamentary inquiry into whether the notorious backpacker murderer could be responsible for a string of unsolved homicides across Australia’s east coast over several decades.

This week, Buckingham got his wish when the Legislative Council voted in favour of his inquiry, thanks to Labor support. It’s a win for true crime buffs in withdrawal after the denouement of the mushroom murder trial – and for the Minns government, which can probably rely on Buckingham’s votes a bit more often.

It’s also a win for content. Buckingham’s Milat push has been the cause of much tension with his upper house colleague Mark Latham, who is the subject of claims of abuse and domestic violence by his former partner, Nathalie Matthews. Latham denies the allegations, which remain before the courts.

The former Labor leader has repeatedly mocked and attacked Buckingham’s Milat inquiry, both in the chamber and on social media. During a final debate on Wednesday, Latham went on a long, bizarre rant claiming Buckingham had accused him of having some connection with Milat.

“Somehow he thinks I had some association with Ivan Milat. I never met Milat; never. And I am pretty certain my electorate office never dealt with any members of the Milat family,” he thundered.

“There is no new story about me and Milat. Members are dealing with an absolute certifiable lunatic and supporting his resolution. It is a day of shame for this chamber.”

Latham, of course, would know a thing or two about bringing shame on the chamber.

As well as the opportunity to slander his various political enemies under parliamentary privilege, Latham’s position in parliament also affords him a healthy list of freebies. As CBD reported this year, he received a series of cricket tickets from British American Tobacco.

Now, according to the most recent dump of parliamentary interest disclosures, we know Latham got tickets to watch his St George Illawarra Dragons courtesy of property developers Wynn Group and Deicorp. Property developers might be banned as donors in NSW, but they can still dole out corporate hospitality.

Latham was far from the only MP to score an interesting freebie. His upper house nemesis Buckingham fessed up to being the proud recipient of a “dark green alien head medicinal cannabis bong”, courtesy of weed accoutrements emporium Agung Trading.

It was, according to Buckingham’s disclosure, unused.

What is the charge?

Like any good Labor man worth his salt (or should we say soy sauce), Prime Minister Anthony Albanese loves a succulent Chinese meal.

Anyone familiar with Sussex Street lore knows that many a preselection deal, factional hit and cabinet reshuffle have been nutted out over a lazy susan.

Now it looks like the PM has landed on a new favourite in Brisbane. This week, Brisbane CBD joint The Fifty Six took to the socials to show off its new favourite customer, noting the PM had become “quite the regular”.

“It’s not often you get to cook for heads of state or government, so to have Albo visit 3 times no less is pretty special to our team,” the restaurant wrote in a caption to an Instagram photo of the PM dressed in an off-duty outfit of white polo and dark jeans.

It helps that the upmarket Cantonese restaurant is right next door to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices in Brisbane.

We hear Albanese dined with his fiancee Jodie Haydon on a recent visit and that he ordered the kingfish (which he gets every time), sichuan calamari, magra lamb chops, wok greens, XO fried rice, BBQ prawns and moon cakes for dessert. Running the country sure is hungry work.

And tiring too. Albo and Haydon have since jetted off on a brief tropical holiday and were reportedly spotted flying economy class – probably the first time in a while for the PM. Richard Marles was quick to make sure everybody knows he was “acting prime minister”.

Murdoch’s mystery mansion

CBD brought word last week that all signs were pointing to Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch as mystery buyers of a Bellevue Hill trophy home adjoining the News Corp princeling-turned-boss’s palatial Sydney residence.

Fernlee, the luxurious harbourside residence sold for $21 million in August to a foreign-based buyer, was purchased by a trust linked to the Murdochs, who’ve also bought up a swath of neighbouring properties. Money is no object when you preside over a global media empire, after all.

And now, a smoking gun of sorts. CBD hears that last week, Lachlan and his entourage were at Fernlee and walked into the home behind it, where Sarah’s mother lives.

Murdoch’s representatives told us the royal family didn’t comment on private property transactions.

But of course, as we wrote the other day, if it walks like a duck ...