Swings and roundabouts. Last year we reported on the way in which Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s star chamber, and more specifically chief of staff Peta Credlin, was holding sway over appointments of senior staffers to the offices of government ministers. Last year Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce told The Project that one of his choices had been vetoed, and we had heard it was Rohan Wenn, previously of Nick Xenophon’s office and GetUp. At the time Wenn gave us “no comment”, but we had a chuckle recently when we heard that he had turned up as director of strategy at Animals Australia. Animals Australia played a big role in exposing issues with the live-export industry and investigating the greyhound live-baiting scandal. So it looks like instead of working for Joyce, Wenn has ended up working for one of his biggest critics. When asked about the new gig, Wenn said, ”I’ve liked Animals Australia for a long time. They’ve got brilliant cut through, with something like 900,000 supporters.” And on the Barnaby connection? “The crazy thing is, I actually have a poodle-cross nicknamed ‘Barnaby’.  His real name is Barney, but for some reason our six-year-old has always called him Barnaby. The kid really has to stop watching so much news.”

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