Anika Wells back in the grand final game after travel expenses drama

She has kept a noticeably low profile after her travel expenses scandal earlier this year, but federal Sport Minister Anika Wells is getting back in the game – and back going to games.

After a big couple of days in which she attended the NFL match in Melbourne on Friday and then was in the stands at the Gabba for the Lions’ dumping of Adelaide from the AFL finals on Saturday, Wells, a Lions supporter, has declared her next stop is the AFL grand final at the MCG on September 26.

“Whether the Lions get there or not, I will be there because it is a huge event in both the communications and sports stakeholder calendars,” Wells, who is also communications minister, told the ABC’s Insiders program.

“I see dozens of my stakeholders in that room, and it is a great opportunity for us to confer briefly rather than planning meetings months in advance. Everybody, be it broadcast CEOs, be it national sport organisations executives, expects to be able to see their sport minister and they expect their sport minister to be on the ground witnessing athletes’ situations, and I will continue to do that.”

CBD has noted Wells’ attendance at some decent sporting events this year, such as the Australian Open, the F1 grand prix and the State of Origin game in Melbourne, but she stayed away from others, including the Commonwealth Games and the FIFA World Cup.

Of course, it was in May that Wells, after referring herself to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority in December, was ordered to pay more than $10,000 back to taxpayers after the parliamentary expenses watchdog found she broke travel claim rules four times between 2022 and 2025.

One of the breaches included a $726 flight from Melbourne to Brisbane for her husband, Finn McCarthy, after the 2025 AFL grand final. He was travelling separately to her after Wells had taken an earlier return flight to the Queensland capital. We’re looking forward to Wells being a good sport on grand final day.

Animal instincts

It wasn’t just the wildlife getting frisky at Melbourne Zoo over the weekend. Police were called in to deal with the inappropriate antics of a couple who – so CBD hears – got down and dirty near the reptile enclosure.

The behaviour took place in broad daylight and was described as a lewd act. The mind boggles!

Mating is nothing unusual at the zoo, where breeding programs are part and parcel of what goes on there. Normally, however, it is mammals of the four-legged variety sidling up to each other.

Whether the lewd act was actually near the reptile enclosure, in a thatch of trees or in a nook, we honestly can’t be sure. And the exact nature of the act is unclear. What we do know is the pair were given the boot, with the police called in to cool them down and kick them out.

Victoria Police confirmed to CBD that officers were called to the zoo in Parkville just before 5pm on Sunday “following reports of two people performing a lewd act in public”.

“The male and female were spoken to and directed to leave the facility. A 32-year-old Millgrove woman and the 41-year-old Dandenong man will be issued with penalty notices for [behaving] in an offensive manner,” police said.

The zoo declined to comment, saying it was a police matter, and instead, thanks to a press release pinged out on Monday, much preferred to focus on the spring baby boom at its Parkville location.

We are pleased to hear Popcorn the koala’s tiny joey, Peanut, has recently emerged from her mum’s pouch. Given Sunday’s antics, it seems she wasn’t the only peanut at the venue.

Ley’s next act

Well, well, well. Sussan Ley is officially back, after the Albanese government recruited the former opposition leader to the Snowy Hydro board.

The appointment, announced on Monday alongside that of Merryn York, former Australian Energy Market Operator executive general manager of system design, marks Ley’s first role after losing the Liberal Party leadership to Angus Taylor in February.

The Snowy Hydro board reports jointly to Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, who represent the Commonwealth as “shareholder ministers”.

So our guess is that time must really heal all wounds, because it wasn’t that long ago that Bowen criticised Ley’s Coalition for “disgusting” conduct following the Bondi terror attack. And that’s before we even get to the fact that Ley was the opposition leader who oversaw the Coalition’s abandonment of net zero.

On Monday, of course, Bowen seemed willing to forgive and forget.

“I congratulate Sussan Ley and Merryn York on their appointments to the Snowy Hydro board,” Bowen said in a statement. “Sussan brings extensive experience in government and regional Australia, as well as a strong understanding of Snowy 2.0,” he went on.