Hay, there's still hope for Brown

The political rehabilitation of the Wollongong MP Noreen Hay, following her appearance in the sex-for-development scandal that engulfed Wollongong Council last year, appears to have begun in earnest. At a meeting at Parliament House yesterday, the woman who was accused of, but denied, being former police minister Matt Brown's dirty dancing partner at his infamous budget night party, was made chairwoman of the Standing Committee on Natural Resource Management (Climate Change). The position attracts a nice little annual payment of more than $17,000. The position attracts a nice little annual payment of more than $17,000. Not everyone is pleased with the promotion, however, including fellow committee member and independent MP for Lake Macquarie Greg Piper, who said "to import a member who hasn't been on the committee and give them a chairmanship' raised questions 'about what these committees are being used for". Hay, who did not return The Diary's call yesterday, was stood down as parliamentary secretary for health by the former NSW premier Morris Iemma after her involvement with the developer Frank Vellar was revealed at the Independent Commission Against Corruption's inquiry into Wollongong Council. She was reinstated after being cleared of wrongdoing, but Nathan Rees dismissed her from the position when he became Premier.

AT A GLANCE

THE BEST BET

Bennett's behind this mover and shaker

Wendell Sailor has had a new lease of life under Dragons coach Wayne Bennett, writes Jessicca Halloran.

Naked ambition may look good but it's Howard's end

THE 7PM PROJECT 3.30pm and (not surprisingly), 7pm, Ten: Viewers experiencing a touch of the Rip Van Winkles can catch up with yesterday's news mid-afternoon and then, to fill the enormous hole left in the nation's collective sensibility by the conclusion of MasterChef Australia, check out the lighter side of the day's events in this new program featuring Dave Hughes, Charlie Pickering, Ruby Rose, James Mathison and Carrie Bickmore. Is there a lighter side to the somewhat frothy 5pm Eyewitness bulletin with its spray-on bonhomie and mixture of forced charisma and gravitas? We shall see. Ten won't be expecting millions of ABC News viewers to desert Juanita Phillips and slide across for some vigorous pisstaking but, acutely conscious of the huge ratings figures it has pulled with Biggest Loser and MasterChef,

Critic's view - Sunday, July 12

Dancing with the Stars

The 7 key areas for the Wallabies

In what will be the best June international in Sydney in years, the Wallabies will discover against France if they are contenders or pretenders. Greg Growden details the areas that the Wallabies must control if they want to be successful tonight.

In Short Fiction

DON'T LOOK TWICE By Andrew Gross William Morrow, 384pp, $32.99 SWEEPING UP GLASS By Carolyn Wall Quercus, 336pp, $29.95 MY HUSBAND'S SWEETHEARTS By Bridget Asher Bantam, 304pp, $32.95

It's Just A Jump To The Left

You can't beat a group dance to get tragics on their feet, writes Kylie Davis.