And so the purge continues. Interesting that John Brumby has knifed the head of Myki Gary Thwaites and appointed the Metlink chief Bernie Carolan to sack the top end of the Myki organisation.  Shame they were on track to fix the mess left by Viv Miners and Steve Bracks.

I work at Clayton Utz and the atmosphere here is poisonous after 14 partners left to join another firm on Monday. Every corridor conversation is fuel for more speculation and resentment. I’m sure many of the partners who weren’t asked to come with them are wondering why.

Of course, things won’t be easy for the rats who left to join Allen & Overy. They’ve said they’ll open their doors on March 1 but you have to wonder how many people they’ll have on deck on that day given the non-compete clauses in the partner agreements.

Presumably we expect to see some gardens in Sydney’s North Shore and Eastern Suburbs looking very well tended in 2010.

Is this a new low for Fairfax and the Sydney Morning Herald? Reading the SMH‘s The Guide, reviewer Greg Hassell gives a thumbs up review of the first episode of the new series of Hungry Beast.

One problem as he noted: “There were no segments from the new season for preview but it’s fair to assume it will continue to ricochet wildly between comedy, satire and serious current affairs”.

So Greg hasn’t seen the show going on air tonight?

Perhaps we should call it The New Age given its new location. Also, the ructions over the abandonment of collective agreements from Spencer St. It shows that the Fairfax people, particularly the Melbourne ones, failed to heed the warnings from the downtrodden at the Canberra Times who forecast the scorched earth approach of Brian McCarthy and the Rural Press types almost three years ago.

The  Times used to be the strongest media union shop in the ACT but 11 or so years of Rural Press ground it into the soil taking with it morale, new thinking and the will to work. To be a union member there was to be eyed with malevolence and suspicion by the bosses. Very 19th century! Fairfax be warned, McCarthy is nowhere near finished.

Clive Palmer’s Chinese deal? A lady called Li Xiaolin is chairman and CEO of China Power International Development. She also happens to be chairman of CPI Holdings. Indeed of the seven directors of CPI Development, four are listed as directors or office bearers in CPI Holdings.

The entwinement of CPI Development and CPI Holdings can be seen further in the structure of senior management, where all eight persons listed as “senior management” on the CPI Development website are also involved in “office bearer” roles in CPI Holdings.

I’m confused …  if CPI International makes a “clarification announcement” (to the HK Stock Exchange) of total denial of involvement with ResourceHouse, then to what extent do we believe: (1) Clive Palmer’s reported statement that he has a signed deal with CPI Holdings, and (2) the Queensland Premier’s reported personal sighting of signed documents?