July 14, 2026 — 6:53pmAfter months of no shows and whispers about his health, there has been a confirmed sighting of mercurial former Victorian premier Dan Andrews.Andrews popped up in Sydney on Tuesday, keeping company with a billionaire, a former prime minister and the current prime minister. It’s quite a circle of power and influence for the ex-pollie to be in.Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews, pictured in 2023. Wayne TaylorThe polarising Andrews, who was most recently spotted in the Victorian parliament for Pakenham MP Emma Vulin’s emotional farewell address to her Spring Street colleagues, has been the subject of intense speculation about everything from his health, his business interests and his golfing outings in recent years. Chuck a couple of conspiracy theories in there and you have about got all the headlines covered.Anyway, on Tuesday Andrews was moving in very good circles, attending the annual superannuation lending roundtable convened by Visy’s executive chairman Anthony Pratt, and hosted by The Australian Financial Review, in Sydney.The high-level forum brings together superannuation fund chief executives, leaders in banking and policymakers.A photo posted on X by the Fin’s Mark Di Stefano shows Andrews sitting next to Pratt, with Anthony Albanese, former Australian treasurer and deputy prime minister, now chair of Cbus Fund, Wayne Swan, and former prime minister Paul Keating also at the table.Andrews and Pratt are long-time associates with The Age reporting that back in 2024 the Visy boss had put Andrews on a retainer as an adviser. Keating is also an adviser, most recently confirming he is on Pratt’s payroll in a Good Weekend feature on the cardboard king in May.After his Sydney spotting, eyes will be peeled to see where he is spied next. He is still keen on the occasional round of golf, we hear.Fed Square big screen switch offWell, this is convenient. The Federation Square overlords have decided to give the big screen at Melbourne’s unofficial town square a makeover, meaning it is now out of action for six weeks.And what a time to for it to be out of action.The big screen at Federation Square in action for a Socceroos match in the FIFA World Cup last month.Getty ImagesIt is not like there is anything happening in the world of sport that people might like to gather to watch at Fed Square – like say the soccer World Cup final or the unloved Glasgow Commonwealth Games.It is not as if the Games have snuck up on the decision makers in Melbourne.Just noting Victoria has put $200 million into the hosting of the Games in Glasgow, drawn from the $380 million in compensation the state had to hand over to the Commonwealth Games Federation, Commonwealth Games Federation Partnerships and Commonwealth Games Australia in 2023 after then-premier Daniel Andrews tore up the deal to stage the 2026 Games.That $200 million, it was revealed in 2024, would be used by organisers of the Games to put on an “innovative, cost-effective and sustainable” event in Glasgow.When CBD asked Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation, which runs Federation Square, last week if there were plans for the Games to be shown at Fed Square, our inquiry was hand-passed to Spring Street and came back via the office of the premier as no.MAP Co confirmed at 3.30pm on Tuesday “works have just begun” on the big screen switch off and glow up. Timing, as they say, is everything.In the family with entitlements It may still be too soon to tell whether the Albanese government’s move to strip senior politicians of uncapped entitlements to fly their partners and children around the country has had any material impact.But data provided to CBD by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority shows that Communications Minister Anika Wells and Attorney-General Michelle Rowland aren’t the only MPs who’ve been making the most of the entitlements.Minister for Communications Anika Wells.Dominic LorrimerAccording to the authority, both the number of tickets booked by parliamentarians and the total value of the travel increased over the last financial year. Some $1.3 million was spent in the 2025-26 financial year, up 38 per cent on the $954,000 spent the previous year. The number of tickets booked, meanwhile, crept up from 1282 bookings to 1725.“Prior to July 1, 2026, parliamentarians were provided with two travel budgets, one being a dollar amount budget for travel to Canberra and within their local area, and the other an Australia-wide budget, which was a total of three trips per financial year,” a spokesperson for the authority told CBD.The data covers the costs and tickets for both budgets, the spokesperson said.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.From our partners