Rugg posted on her private Instagram account last Wednesday of her mixed emotions as parliamentarians – including Ryan – signed up to a new code of conduct, a key recommendation from outgoing Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins’ Set the Standard report after complaints of systemic harassment and abusive behaviour in parliament.

The Insta post leaked, was written up by the Herald and churned by US-owned broadsheet The Australian, part of the Rupert Murdoch empire into which a Royal Commission would be a fine idea, according to Rugg.

The following day, the campaigner put the 360-odd followers of the Instagram account on notice that the leaking had made her feel betrayed and paranoid and was not cool. The second post leaked, of course.

“Sharing my post to media is a significant blow to my case,” Rugg warned in her message.

“If you sent my post to the media, please unfollow me and don’t talk to me again.”

Nobody has come forward, as far as we’re aware, but if anybody fesses up. We’ll let you know.

FELLOW TRAVELLERS

Tracey Fellows, one of the News Corp’s top executives and a confidante of both Rupert Murdoch and his spawn Lachlan sent shockwaves through the empire when she abruptly resigned as president, global and digital real estate last year.

While those ties weren’t completely severed – Fellows remains a non-executive director at REA Group, the News Corp subsidiary responsible for online real estate advertising – she was widely touted for bigger things in Murdoch Land.

Fellows has now moved closer to the supermarket business, and was appointed to the Woolworths board as a non-executive director on Tuesday. Woolies might be a better long-term prospect than the Australian outpost of the US-based Murdoch empire.

The supermarket giant had an earnings dip in the 2022 financial year, sure, but with sales surging by more than 9 per cent in those 12 months to more than $60 billion, Brad Banducci’s management team should - you’d hope - be able to get the earnings position back into growth territory.

News Corp Australia, on the other hand, will be showing one-in-20 of its employees the doors in the coming months in a bid to remain profitable.

FALINSKI FLIES ON

Former Liberal MP Jason Falinski, one of the many casualties of the teal wave last May, is remaining close to party powerbrokers in his political afterlife. He’s recently joined Cornerstone Group, the government relations shop run by Liberal mover and shaker Joe Tannous as a special counsel, joining a bipartisan lineup which includes former Liberal minister Craig Laundy and one-time Labor leader Simon Crean.

Tannous is a well-connected type, friends with outgoing Drummoyne MP John Sidoti, recently found to have engaged in corrupt conduct by ICAC, a finding he’s vowed to fight. Tannous wasn’t investigated by the commission and there’s no suggestion he engaged in corrupt conduct.

So, what does a Special Counsel actually do? Not that much it turns out. Falinski tells CBD the gig was more of an ad hoc thing at this stage, formalised into a fancy job title last December, with his main gig chairing disability recruiters ProCare occupying most of his post-political life.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.