By Kishor Napier-Raman and Stephen Brook
Senior NSW Liberal MP Damien Tudehope has had an awkward relationship with his shareholdings of late.
Months before last year’s state election, the then-finance minister quit cabinet after failing to disclose his superannuation fund held shares in toll giant Transurban. At the time, Tudehope said he didn’t know about the shares because the fund was managed by a fund manager.
Which led us to wonder whether the leader of the Opposition in the upper house knew of his 12,000 odd shares, worth around $30,000, in private hospital group Healthscope.
Liberal MP Dmien Tudehope.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
That company has been rather vocal in its support for the Minns government’s legislation to force private health insurers to pay their hospital bills in full. Healthscope Chief Executive Greg Horan recently accused insurers like BUPA of “bleeding hospitals dry”. The first thing you see on the company’s website is a banner laying into big health insurers.
Tudehope, and the Liberals, meanwhile, have taken the opposite view. Speaking in the Legislative Council on Tuesday night, Tudehope went in to bat for the big health insurers, claiming that the government’s new laws would break Labor’s promise not to introduce new taxes.
Look, we fully expect Liberals in forever opposition to oppose Labor legislation, even if it mirrors now-lapsed legislation introduced by Mike Baird as treasurer in 2013. But Tudehope’s vociferous attacks on the bill are wildly inconsistent with the position taken by the company in which he owns shares.
Only one man could make it make sense, but Tudehope didn’t answer CBD’s calls or questions about whether he still had the shares. Maybe he still just doesn’t know.
NINE’S LIVES
The cavernous, industrial expanse of Sydney’s Carriageworks is vast enough to fit several elephants. And Nine, owner of this masthead, has many of those.
The media company previewed its 2025 content to around 1200 advertisers and television industry types at the inner-city arts precinct on Thursday, just a week after the release of a report that exposed a toxic culture of bullying, belittling and sexual harassment.
Nine’s interim boss Matt Stanton tackled one elephant in the room at the network’s Carriageworks launch.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Acting chief executive Matt Stanton did his best to project confidence and stability on Thursday, while also continuing his audition tape for the permanent gig. The interim boss was in good spirits, chumming it up with the network’s top talent in the green room ahead of the show, getting a warm embrace from Today host Karl Stefanovic.
In one of his first moves in the top job, Stanton made Nine’s top communications executive Victoria Buchan redundant. But the two were seen happily powwowing with Block host Scott “Scotty” Cam before the event.
Once formalities kicked off, Stanton quickly tackled one elephant early in a speech otherwise laden with facts and figures (he was chief financial officer, after all).
“We’ve had to face some hard truths and confront systemic cultural issues, which has been incredibly challenging for our people,” Stanton, who came under fire last week over a perceived lack of action in response to the report, said.
“At all levels of the business, we are deeply committed to embedding meaningful and lasting change at Nine, and believe that this difficult yet necessary process will allow more of our people to perform at their best and pave the way for positive industry-leading change.”
That was the first and last time the dirty laundry made an appearance, leaving guests to enjoy their slow-cooked lamb shoulder and free-flowing booze, while a video montage previewed the delights beaming into the living rooms of Middle Australia next year, including Sam Armytage hosting The Golden Bachelor, and a goofy new quiz show called The Floor.
In years past, Nine’s upfronts have been an altogether more glitzy, loose affair, with top TV talent taking the stage for a bit of lighthearted banter. This time, nobody outside the management team stepped up. The feeling among many in the room being that anything too jovial and light-hearted might strike the wrong tone for a company still trying to apologise.
BROAD CHURCH
Now to the Nomad Sydney of the tertiary education sector, otherwise known as the Australian Catholic University.
After the ACU invited hard-right unionist Joe de Bruyn to give an anti-abortion graduation speech on Monday, sparking a walkout and a protest, the university hierarchy’s attempts to placate students has produced another backlash – this time from the Catholic establishment.
Step forward Campion College, a Catholic arts college where de Bruyn is a director.
“Mr de Bruyn has always been committed to the teaching of the Catholic Church on faith and morals, including on the evil of abortion,” said dean of studies Stephen McInerney.
“We not only support his right to make these comments, we support the comments themselves and admire his unwavering commitment to Catholic social teaching in all its dimensions.”
ACU was not mentioned, but the contrast was there for all to see. The university had not seen the statement and declined to comment.
Vice chancellor and chief executive Professor Zlatko Skrbis and chancellor Martin Daubney, KC, a former Queensland Supreme Court judge, are copping it from all sides.
“What they have done is managed to unite all sides of the religious freedom debate,” a church official told CBD, “progressives and traditionalists as well”.
“This is the biggest own goal of the Australian church in years.
“They have sought to set themselves aside from the institution that owns them.
“That’s why there is a god-almighty ruckus going on.”
Strong words, but we get the point.
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