While Seven Group chief executive Ryan Stokes led the media and mining services empire's hospitality at the Australian Open's final weekend, his father Kerry Stokes was in Hollywood as a notable guest at a suite of G'Day USA events, including the opening of Qantas' $30 million A380 hangar at Los Angeles Airport.
The Seven chairman also suited up for the G'Day gala, held on the weekend at Loews Hotel just off Hollywood Boulevard, along with Qantas chief Alan Joyce, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in her element, Trade Minister Steve Ciobo, US ambassador Joe Hockey and his predecessor Kim Beazley, the Obama administration's former ambassador in Canberra, Jeff Bleich (who, well before this gathering, knew all about the hottest places in hell), Bishop bestie Tom Harley, attending to core business for his non-lobbying firm Dragoman Global, TV veteran David Hill, ARIA boss Dan Rosen (instrumental – pun intended – we're sure, in securing Vance Joy's cameo performance), and then a generous smattering of antipodean (or at least antipodean-friendly) stars: power couples Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin and Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban (JBish must've been swooning!), Qantas ambassador John Travolta, tax expert Paul Hogan and astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Taxpayer money well spent!
Once they had all posed for Australian cameras for media coverage that would appear almost exclusively in Australian outlets (what is the point of this exercise again?) the great and the good made a bee-line for LAX - only to have their passage impeded by Donald Trump. Sort of.
Protests against The Donald's immigration policies meant traffic chaos prevailed, forcing many of the local luminaries to abandon taxis caught in gridlock and drag their wheelie suitcases for up to two kilometres to reach the terminal. Oh the indignity! Neil Perry and most of the QF12 cabin crew were among those caught in the snafu.
For her part, JBish - flying business, not first - looked positively unruffled upon arrival in Sydney, rocking a pair of mirrored sunnies at the baggage carousel. See? Los Angeles changes people.
