By Samantha Hutchinson and Stephen Brook
Former financial services minister Kelly O’Dwyer has had a symbolic win for the fund she set up to support Liberal women in politics. O’Dwyer’s Enid Lyons Fighting Fund has been named as the recipient of cash raised from a major party money spinner in late May. The Federal President’s Dinner will be headlined by the PM and draws members and big-spending corporates. It’s also one of the highest profile events in the party’s calendar.
Former Liberal Party politician, Kelly O’Dwyer.Credit: Joe Benke
O’Dwyer set up the fund in 2018 in the same month sitting Liberal MP Jane Prentice was dumped in a preselection race in favour of Brisbane councillor Julian Simmonds. O’Dwyer, whose decision not to recontest the 2019 election was dubbed a “shock”, is frank about its purpose. “When women put their hands up for preselection in the Liberal Party, they need to know that they will have the financial firepower behind them to run effective campaigns,” she said.
The fund distributed more than $150,000 to female members and candidates ahead of the 2019 federal election, of which O’Dwyer personally chipped in $90,000 while former foreign minister Julie Bishop contributed $50,000. The rest came from party colleagues. It’s a drop in the ocean compared to the party’s campaign spend of $15 million for the last federal election. But it’s a start.
It’s also worth noting distribution decisions are made by federal director Andrew Hirst in conjunction with female Cabinet ministers, and so the latest reshuffle means that there are now seven women in Cabinet who will have input into where the money goes. Not perfect, but it’s something.
ANOTHER FRONT
It’s been a busy month for O’Dwyer who on Monday was named as a director inside Guy Fowler (and soon-to-be Matthew Grounds’) Barrenjoey Capital investment bank. O’Dwyer was appointed to the board alongside former UBS legal counsel Annette Spencer as the newly minted investment house attempts to address a gender imbalance on its top rung large enough to make the Liberal Party look like an equal opportunity employer of choice.
Chief executive Brian Benari said the company has its work cut out for it “transitioning ... the directorship to ensure the appropriate balance of internal and independent directors, backgrounds and gender”. At least he’s prepared to admit it.
KING’S THURSDAY
There’s another moving piece in the changing of the guard in Sydney’s Kings Cross club scene. Property investor Greg Magree is flogging his bar and club space under the iconic Coca-Cola sign with expectations of fetching more than $16 million.
And who said Sydney’s Glitter Strip was dead, huh?
Now occupied by Holy Moley mini-golf bar, the first-floor club space has been known in previous lives as the Trademark nightclub and the Piano Room – that’s the venue where publicity queen Roxy Jacenko and younger sister Ruby once came to blows at a 2008 event. The Junior Jacenko was briefly detained in a local police cell after “bitch-slapping” her older sister.
But we digress.
Magree tipped the investment onto the market this month in a deal that will see the licensed venue sold with Holey Moley in situ. It’s a significant departure for the area. Magree is a long-time associate of late night baron John Ibrahim and has earned a reputation as one of the city’s enduring pubs and clubs investors. But it’s not a complete retreat from the sector, he said. While his Magree Corp and Horizon property development company have offloaded the bulk of its portfolio – which at one stage included every Fratelli Fresh outlet in the city and hipster hotspots including the Carrington Hotel, the Forresters, the Oxford Tavern and Porteno restaurant – he is ramping up again. This month, he secured a cafe site in Mosman. He’s now eyeing off another space in Elizabeth Street.
DETAILS FOR LATER
Barrenjoey isn’t the only high-end investment shop welcoming new staff. Sydney’s VGI Partners hedge fund also welcomed new chief executive Jonathan Howie this week. The former Blackrock division head was clearly itching to get his feet under the desk. Sources inside the fund’s Phillip Street HQ tell CBD he didn’t get around to negotiating his short or long-term incentives before being announced in the role. And here we were thinking the best time to negotiate is before you sign the contract. But what would we know?
The company so far has said he’s entitled to a short-term incentive of “up to 150 per cent” of his $350,000 base pay – but the metrics the bonus is calculated on still need to be set “in consultation with the board”. Provisions for a long term bonus are even more vague – it’s simply listed as a discussion item for the board in December.
Either way, Howie’s got his work cut out. Two of the fund’s listed investment companies have attracted the attention of investors David Kingston and Malcolm McComas who are demanding the company lift its game communicating with investors and trimming its steep fee structure. They might have a point on the investor relations side considering executive chairman Rob Luciano’s performance on an investor Zoom call has been likened by one gadfly to “watching a bratty kid being forced to eat his dinner”. Luciano, for his part, has also taken on a new role. When writing to the firm’s high net worth investors to announce the Howie appointment, he signed off using the more hands-on title of “managing director”.
It’s rare to see a company with a chief executive that’s separate from the MD’s role, but when the roles are divided there’s no question who’s the boss.
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