It all seems to be happening in North Sydney. Last week, it was the erstwhile Today show co-host Karl Stefanovic who returned to his old stomping grounds to drop into Tim Gurner’s Saint Haven health club. And this week, it’s Kyle Sandilands.

The former co-host of the Kyle and Jackie O Show was seen cruising the streets of North Sydney in his Rolls-Royce just after midday on Tuesday. Curious, of course, given the suburb is also home to the headquarters of his former employer, KIIS FM owner ARN Media.

But a meeting with the ARN hierarchy was not in the diary. Instead, Sandilands was in the area because he’d just scooped up a journalist to take them to lunch at the McDonald’s drive-thru in Cremorne, according to two gourmands familiar with the excursion. Sadly, no word on the big man’s order. Though we expect to read about it soon.

Our guess is this Sandilands sighting won’t be the last, either. Apparently, he has set up shop just a few hundred metres up the road from the headquarters of his former employer. Which is sure to make things easier for the two parties, who maintain a post-settlement working relationship and remain involved in legal action brought by Sandilands’ former co-host, Jackie “O” Henderson.

Last week, ARN Media was given the all-clear to use sworn statements from Sandilands and his agent, Bruno Bouchet, in its efforts to fight Henderson’s $82 million lawsuit against the company.

The affidavits, which were filed the same day Sandilands and ARN reached a $12 million cash settlement, are set to include details about the breakdown between KIIS FM’s two biggest stars, despite opposition from Sandilands’ lawyers to the move.

As part of the settlement, ARN will provide Sandilands’ new venture with an additional $1.5 million worth of advertising services on its partner platforms over three years, while receiving 19.9 per cent of any revenue it generates. Sandilands is barred from working with ARN’s direct competitors until March 2027.

In the meantime, we guess we’ll have to settle for the shock jock’s looming reality TV-style docu-series, At Home With Kyle, which CBD revealed just weeks ago is set to launch on his app as early as next month.

Operation who?

Barely two days into the ICAC’s blockbuster Operation Rosny inquiry and we’ve already had all manner of explosive claims to chew on. But it looks like NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane hasn’t been paying attention.

How else to interpret Sloane’s scheduled appearance at the – wait for it! – Sydney Hills Business Chamber’s Chairman’s Lunch set to kick off at midday on Wednesday. We dutifully asked Sloane’s office whether she was still planning to attend the lunch, which will be hosted at Ground Zero of the NSW Liberal Party’s living nightmare, and were told she would show face as scheduled.

Sloane is set to deliver a keynote address on the Coalition’s vision for the north-west. “What does a Coalition future look like for Northwest Sydney?” the event description teases. Well, we’d imagine it depends on which Liberal Party faction you ask.

The lunch promises other appearances, too. There’s a panel on “the affordability crunch” set to be moderated by SHBC deputy chair John Mason, and another on “leading Northwest Sydney through economic pressure” set to be moderated by David Borger, the executive director of Business Western Sydney.

Borger will be joined by Sloane along with federal Liberal MP Alex Hawke, Monica Tudehope, the NSW Liberal member for Epping, Liberal candidate for Castle Hill Peter Gangemi, and Hills Shire Mayor Dr Michelle Byrne. All that’s missing is a Perrottet.

Labor’s Powerhouse

Labor ties run deep at the Powerhouse Museum. Last week, NSW Treasury executive Cassandra Wilkinson was confirmed as the Powerhouse Museum’s acting chief operating officer.

Treasury was brought in to scrutinise the operating budget of the new museum, as our colleagues have previously reported, as contracts show the institution has burnt through more than an eye-watering $70 million in the lead-up to the grand opening of its new headquarters.

But it was Wilkinson’s appointment which caught our eye. That is, of course, because she is the same Wilkinson who is married to the former NSW Labor minister Paul Mcleay, who was forced to resign amid scandal in 2010 after he reportedly admitted to then-premier Kristina Keneally that he had used his parliamentary computer to access adult and gambling websites.

When alerted to this item earlier in the week, a NSW Treasury spokesperson launched a defence of Wilkinson’s secondment to the role unprompted.

“Ms Wilkinson is a highly experienced senior executive at NSW Treasury with a strong track record in public finance and longstanding relationships across NSW’s cultural institutions,” the spokesperson told CBD. “She has also been a key Treasury contact on Powerhouse-related matters.”

Beyond the spending, Wilkinson’s appointment also comes in the throes of a live internal investigation at the Powerhouse into a whistleblower complaint touching on procurement and recruitment (which all happened before Wilkinson’s appointment to acting COO).