Turnbull’s witty speech at popular eatery
POINT Piper's favourite son Malcolm Turnbull had his audience firmly on side at Rose Bay eatery Catalina yesterday when he turned up to unveil a sculpture by renowned artist and friend John Olsen.
The PM and his wife Lucy joined a 100-strong crowd as they nibbled caviar and sipped Pommery champagne at the first public showing of Olsen's Dancing Frog bronze sculpture.
Confidential couldn't make it, but we're told Turnbull brought his comedy A-game to the event.
"The seven-minute speech given by the Prime Minister touched on his history with John Olsen including a funny quip about a painting which received a roar," publicist Sarah Wilson said.
Having heard this snippet we tend to agree.
"Twenty years ago Lucy commissioned a painting by John which is now in my office in Canberra," Turnbull told the crowd.
"It had an octopus and fish and beautiful pictures of John's imagining of Sydney Harbour and creatures in it. And I said to John: 'Why is there not a tiny image of me in my kayak being pursued by a shark?'. John was up for it and prepared to paint it.
"He said: 'Why didn't you paint it?'. And Lucy said: 'No, that is ridiculous, he has no idea about art'."
"Many years later John did paint me a picture of me in my kayak being pursued by a shark - a watercolour."
