PvO vanished from that program last Sunday night after an infamous appearance on ABC’s Insiders where an exchange on the issues triggered a particularly tense response from fellow panellist Annabel Crabb. Apart from missing that show, co-hosted by Lisa Wilkinson, who had interviewed Brittany Higgins about her alleged rape in Parliament House, he was also absent on Friday. So what gives – were his opinions too hot for free-to-air?

One school of thought is van Onselen needed to be warehoused by the network given his remarks and authorship of an article in The Australian with Janet Albrechtsen about the Porter rape allegations that was criticised by mental health charities.

Now it emerges van Onselen was rostered off The Project that night after appearing on Ten for 21 days straight. He’s also had another story in the works which has also prompted time off the show. That number – another #MeToo themed yarn – will air on Ten’s Nightly News on Monday with a follow-up on The Project.

Ball in their Court

With the property market hitting fever pitch nationwide, tennis great Margaret Court is the latest to succumb, putting her impressive five bedroom, three bathroom family home in Perth up for sale. The 78-year-old, winner of a still unbeaten 24 Grand Slam singles titles, and her husband Barrymore are moving on to a different life stage. Court was made an AO in 2007, an honour which was controversially upgraded to an AC this year, given her views as a Pentacostal pastor on gay marriage have made her unpopular with many.

The Courts bought the City Beach property for $680,000 in 1996 and have put it on the market with an asking price of $2.9 million.

The two-storey property has a sculptural staircase, a covered alfresco area with built-in BBQ and a sprawling lawn and landscaped gardens.

It also has an indoor spa, a separate lounge with balcony and ocean views and two home offices.

The only thing missing: a tennis court.

New team

It’s farewell to Roger Corbett inside the Liberal Party’s Warringah federal electoral conference. The former Woolworths boss officially hung up his boots at a meeting and election at Balgowlah RSL on Saturday and a raft of new members were appointed to the 10-member panel responsible for running the party’s election efforts to regain the battleground seat.

NSW Taxi Council president Lee Furlong was named president, securing 60 per cent of the vote after a pitch promising unity in the branch still carrying wounds from Tony Abbott’s loss to independent Zali Steggall and an outbreak of internal sniping in the aftermath.

Tax specialist Rachael McLean (and competitive yachtswoman) was appointed vice-president along with well-connected PwC manager Alex Dore who retained his position. Others appointed included company director John Davaine, NSW Liberal adviser Angus Mackie and prominent art collector Lisa Paulsen. Corbett, for his part, ended his tenure with an impassioned call to “end the dirty tricks” inside the branch.

And while he didn’t go into specifics it didn’t take much for members to recall the lengthy no confidence motion circulated in the wake of the last election which called for him to resign and to take the rest of his branch executive with him. No wonder the branch appeared happy to turn over a new leaf on Saturday. Besides, there are bigger issues to focus on. Leading into a possible election year, the team has its work cut out preselecting a candidate to take on Steggall. And it’s already shaping up to be a tight race given the hopefuls who turned out on Saturday just because. Barrister Jane Buncle made an appearance, as did Scott Morrison’s former media adviser Sasha Grebe and Menzies Research Centre general manager Tim James.