‘But is it publishable, Rowan?’ That was the last exchange I had with Barry Humphries, on the phone earlier this week. I assured him it was and that the item we were discussing will be appearing in The Spectator Australia this coming week. Which it will.

The piece that Barry was so concerned about was what he himself dismissively called ‘a bit of doggerel’ he had whipped up which he intended to read out at The Spectator Australia Writers Long Lunch, to which Barry Humphries was my invited guest of honour.