OpinionAugust 24, 2026 — 5:00amCommonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn and News24 anchor Laura Jayes have done a pretty good job of keeping their personal relationship private. But you can always count on a trail of digital breadcrumbs.It looks like the pair had a shared playlist on Spotify in April this year, which we’ve seen a screenshot of but which has since gone dark. The workout playlist was created by Jayes and followed by an account which appears to belong to Comyn, according to a CBD spy.Laura Jayes and Matt Comyn.SMHThe playlist, titled “Gym - Matt re-education”, included oskar med k’s Knock Me off My Feet and Naarly, Sickluv, and Thabza De Soul’s What I Need. We can almost picture Comyn locked in, the beige sounds of unobtrusive house music flowing through the weight room.A Commonwealth Bank spokesman declined to comment on the playlist, and News Corp Australia, which owns News24, didn’t get back to us by deadline.Whatever he’s doing, it’s working. Comyn is, of course, in great shape, which we know well thanks to his propensity for form-fitting white business shirts. (Comyn watchers joke that there’s a correlation between the pressure the CBA boss is under and the tightness of his shirts, The Australian Financial Review wrote in February.)But gawkers in corporate and political circles who were hoping to get a look at Comyn and Jayes up close in the flesh at the Business Council of Australia’s annual dinner this week may well have to wait a little longer.Our best guess is the Commonwealth Bank boss will give the get-together a miss this year, as he did last year, given the bank only recently delivered earnings, which would no doubt mean Comyn will be travelling to meet investors. Last we’d heard, though, Jayes was expected to make an appearance.The pair emerged as the nation’s newest power couple (or power friends) after The Australian Financial Review reported last week that they’d been seen together around Bondi and even gone on holiday together. That came a day after CBD revealed Comyn has been separated from his wife for “some time”. The bank said the couple was working through the terms privately.Spokespeople for Commonwealth Bank and News Corp Australia, which owns News24, have yet to confirm or deny whether the pair are in a relationship. But on Friday, Jayes’ News Corp colleagues at The Australian reported that Comyn and Jayes are in the early stages of a “relationship of sorts”.The personal relationship has become a curio in media circles, where intrigue has focused on how Jayes will manage the perception of a conflict of interest in the event she needs to cover the bank or its engagement with the Albanese government in her day job. Investors, meanwhile, tend to be alert when a chief executive is going through a divorce.But no doubt we aren’t the only ones looking forward to their first public appearance.Holt Street’s vapegateThe fire alarms have been going off at News Corp Australia’s Holt Street headquarters with such frequency, we’re told, that the company’s NSW state managing director, Zac Skulander, has been reminding staff not to vape indoors.There has already been some staff finger-pointing at the publisher’s newest tenants, News24, formerly known as Sky News Australia, which moved into the News Corp mothership late last year. But we’re told Skulander has not singled out any one team or department.News Corp’s vapegate was sparked by the latest in a string of false fire alarms at the publisher of The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, the Herald Sun, and news.com.au.Word is management suspects the latest false alarm was triggered either by someone who had decided to suck on their vape inside, or by the overzealous application of aerosol deodorant. In July, firefighters were called out to News Corp HQ for burnt toast.Contractors are already in the building working on the publisher’s renovations, which regular readers of this column would no doubt recall include a much-needed update to the bathrooms. But it may be time for some new smoke alarms too.Canavan’s cook-upMembers of the National Party like to think of their annual seafood barbecue as a highlight of the parliamentary social calendar. And in previous years, the get-together has proven a hot ticket.So hot, in fact, that the Nationals sent out a save-the-date for the cook-up last week, some three months in advance. Given the long lead time, we couldn’t help wondering whether Nationals leader Matt Canavan knows about something big set to occur around that time which we aren’t yet aware of.But no, just good planning, apparently. “We are providing maximum notice to get maximum attendance,” a Nationals spokeswoman told CBD. “The seafood BBQ is a yearly highlight and one not to miss!”In late 2024, former Nationals leader David Littleproud put on his apron and manned the tools, as did senators Bridget McKenzie and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Canavan has organised the annual shindig at least once over the years, but we look forward to seeing him behind the grill.From our partners