By Noel Towell and Kishor Napier-Raman
Bob Katter’s viral, snarling rant in 2017 about crocodile attacks in north Queensland put the professional north Queenslander on the cusp of – we’re calling it – national treasure status, for some.
While many of our fellow southerners might baulk at the veteran MP’s views on issues such as immigration and LGBTQ issues, one of the planet’s largest bookie companies views the nation’s current longest-serving federal MP – who just turned 78 – as very marketable content.
The latest step in Katter’s meme-ification is brought to you by Ladbrokes, which is promoting a social media clip featuring the member for Kennedy retelling the life and times of Queensland State of Origin coach Billy Slater.
Dropped just in time for Wednesday night’s Origin opener – played in Adelaide, for some reason – the video looks an awful lot like advertising for the betting company, although we’re assured Katter didn’t get a cent for his voice-over work.
Bob KatterCredit: John Shakespeare
Still, the irony wasn’t lost on us that Katter’s crossbench colleagues and the Liberals are currently pushing for a crackdown on gambling advertising.
The great man didn’t return CBD’s calls, sadly, but we hear Ladbrokes’ parent company Entain view his appearances as more “content” than advertising – a fine distinction indeed.
Katter has a good relationship with the Entain people – both sides give the other a laugh – and the MP has done similar stunts with the company in the past, appearing in a betting-backed spoof campaign to bring the 2030 Winter Olympics to Mt Isa.
BEER MONEY
We like to spare a thought here at CBD for the forgotten people and in that spirit we’re going to highlight the overlooked victims of the disappointing revenue and profit forecasts announced by the Maggie Beer Group this week.
Not Maggie herself, who is due to return to our screens this month in the new series of Great Australian Bake Off. The celebrity chef sold out of the business in 2019 and her lucrative ongoing deal with the group, as brand ambassador and sometime spokesperson, is unaffected by Tuesday’s announcement.
It’s foodie entrepreneurs Emily McWaters and David Morgan – who sold their e-commerce business Australian Hampers and Gifts (AHG) to the Beer Group for $40 million in March 2021 as demand from stay-at-home shoppers in those pandemic days put a premium on online shopping assets – who we feel sorry for.
AHG came to the Beer group piping hot, with before tax earnings of $9 million on revenues of $36.4 million, if you please, in 2021.
But hamper sales haven’t been going well lately – Mother’s Day was a shocker – as gourmet shoppers return to bricks-and-mortar, a general trend blamed in large part for the group’s poor results, and it’s not just the nation’s mums who will be going without.
McWaters and Morgan, who both stayed with the company post-sale, will miss out on top-up payments – of a total of $10 million in cash and shares– as a result of the disappointing performance of the hamper division, and they will not, under the terms of the takeover deal, get another bite at the cherry.
Fund manager and political activist Geoff Wilson.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Also in our thoughts today is fund manager and political activist Geoff Wilson, a key player in the Coalition’s 2019 election campaign against proposed changes to franking credits – the “retiree tax” and all that.
Wilson owns a touch under 7 per cent of Maggie Beer Group through his investment vehicle Dynasty Peak.
Would Geoff mobilise his army of well-heeled frankers for another famous letter-writing campaign urging Australians to buy more hampers?
Unlikely. Wilson told us he didn’t see a need for drastic action, and he said the Beer Group remained a decent bet.
“I’m a long-term investor,” he said. “This will work itself out in time.”
ODD JOB
Even as the scandal surrounding consulting giant PwC – y’all know the sordid details by now – grows and grows, life goes on.
So why wouldn’t the firm advertise for a director of business tax in its private division – which advises businesses, families, individuals and entrepreneurs – based in Melbourne?
It’s just that we wonder if more care could have been taken over the wording of the job ad which offers the chance to join “a passionate community of solvers coming together in unexpected ways”.
Hard to argue with that, after all we’ve learned lately.
This bit – from an outfit accused by Australian Taxation Office boss Chris Jordan in Senate estimates this week of masterminding no fewer than 15 schemes to help multinationals sidestep tax laws – also invoked a sharp little intake of breath when it crossed our desk.
“The PwC Private Business Tax team helps … by building trusted relationships with businesses in various industries, supporting them in making informed decisions, and complying with income tax obligations,” the job ad reads.
You’d hope so, right?
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