Entertainment king Harvey Lister takes his Brisbane Live show to US

BRISBANE entertainment king Harvey Lister, in the US to attend the 61st Grammy Awards this weekend, will also get the chance to promote the proposed $2 billion Brisbane Live stadium.

AEG Ogden chairman Harvey Lister.

BRISBANE entertainment king Harvey Lister and wife Margie are winging it to LaLa Land this weekend where the music loving couple will attend the 61st Grammy Awards.

The trip also will be a chance for the AEG Ogden chairman to discuss with US colleagues this week’s merger of US-based AEG Facilities and SMG to create ASM Global.

AEG Ogden, which manages the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane Entertainment Centre and Suncorp Stadium, is a joint venture between Australian-based interests and AEG Facilities.

ASM Global’s stable will include more than 310 arenas, stadiums, convention centres and performing arts centres across five continents. The Grammys are presented by and held at the AEG owned Staples Centre in downtown LA, just a stone’s throw from AEG’s head office where Lister and other execs will meet next week to discuss the merger. Lister tells us that while in the US he will hold a workshop on the proposed $2 billion Brisbane Live stadium at Roma Street.

Illustration of Harvey Lister by Brett Lethbridge.

The workshop will bring together tech and design experts to fine tune the proposal. One thing Lister is keen on attracting to Brisbane Live is an e-sports event. E-sports is now a $1.2 billion global industry with about 230 million people watching tournaments online, on television and in stadiums. “Can we bring a Grammy’s to Brisbane Live?” asks Lister. “Probably not, but we can attract a lot of other things.”

BANK YANKED

WESTPAC boss Brian Hartzer’s decision this week to shutter 22 branches across the country - including those at Coorparoo, Broadbeach and Beaudesert - comes as no surprise to long-time customer and City Beat reader Rob Parer.

Parer tells us Westpac has been closing down branches for years “quietly and without warning.” The main victims, he says, are the many senior citizen customers who can’t access online banking. Parer tell us he turned up the other day at the Westpac branch in Sherwood Rd, just opposite the Woolworths, to find a notice saying it was closed and to go to the nearest branch at Indooroopilly Shopping Centre.

“What rotters- this area is full of oldies,” says Parer. “They did not even leave the ATM there. Some years ago they closed their only ATM at Honour Avenue at Graceville. No wonder their profits have gone up.” Parer says he has been a Westpac customer for 65 years but is considering a change.

LOCK THEM UP

OPPOSITION Leader Bill Shorten is not the only one calling for some bankers to be given a spell in the iron motel following the banking royal commission. Wizard Home Loans founder Mark Bouris says bank executives who recklessly ripped off their clients should be jailed just like reckless drivers on the road. Your diarist caught up with Bouris in Brisbane this week and he warned community standards have changed in relation to the banks.

“Banks have taken advantage of the country’s AAA credit rating and the government deposit guarantee to make large profits but now we expect more from them,” Bouris says.

Reckless behaviour that disregarded the interests of customers should be severely punished. “If it is recklessness it is a crime, much a like a reckless driver,” says Bouris. Tough words.

BUY LOCAL

IT’S not only the subbies crying out for a fairer deal. Nine mid-tier contractors, including three from Queensland, have now joined hands in an Australian Owned Contractors (AOC) alliance to lobby governments for an end to the so-called “contracting oligopoly.” The alliance, which includes Queensland-based Bielby Holdings, BMD Group and FKG, complain that 80 per cent of Australia’s largest infrastructure projects valued over $500 million are delivered by foreign-owned multinationals.

That means profits, expertise and knowledge are flowing overseas. AOC wants state and federal governments to mandate a local tier-one contractor for all major projects valued in excess of $500 million. BMD Group executive director operations Scott Power says governments have mandated the involvement of mid-tier contractors in the past but a national and consistent approach was needed.