‘Pineapple’: The safe word the Melbourne Racing Club board turns to when meetings hit the rough
The Melbourne Racing Club has introduced a safe word – “pineapple” – for board members to use in meetings if they feel threatened or ill at ease amid accusations of bullying and toxic behaviour.
The MRC, which runs Caulfield, Sandown and Mornington racecourses, was once considered the jewel of Victorian racing because of its progressive nature and ongoing profits driven by 14 gaming venues throughout Melbourne.
But the club’s board is being torn apart over controversies – the potential sale of Sandown Racecourse, a $250 million plan to replace the glass-fronted Rupert Clarke grandstand and a $160 million Caulfield upgrade that included an unpopular mounting yard and a new inner track that is rarely used.
The Melbourne Racing Club board has been torn apart over a range of issues in recent times.Credit: Getty Images
Two sources speaking on condition of anonymity said board meetings became so acrimonious earlier this year that the club called in a mediator.
The sources said the board members then sat through a one-day seminar on appropriate behaviour.
The safe word was created and agreed upon for when a board member felt intimidated and uncomfortable, or that one of their colleagues was about to cross an emotional boundary. It is unsure if the word “pineapple” has been used as a safe word since its inception. The same word was used as a safe word in a sex scene in the Amy Schumer comedy Trainwreck.
Chairman of MRC Matt Cain was not available for comment on Sunday. The Age is not suggesting he is responsible for any toxic or intimidating behaviour.
The MRC has been contacted for comment.
Rebel board member John Kanga stunned the club two weeks ago by filing a motion, complete with more than 150 members’ signatures, to oust five members of the board at a special general meeting.
The club has until Thursday this week to inform Kanga whether his spill motion is legally binding or not.
Last week, two other board members – Alison Saville and Caitrin Kelly – joined Kanga’s Save Our MRC movement, five days after they had signed an MRC statement criticising his actions.
The pair announced the backflip in a statement that also accused the board having of a “longstanding poor culture and toxic atmosphere”.
“We have resolved not to let this continue and to stand up against it,” Saville and Kelly said.
Saville and Kelly were contacted for further comment regarding the boardroom mediation and use of a safe word.
Kanga’s group had people dressed in “Save Our MRC” T-shirts and handing out cards at the front of Caulfield on Saturday during the group 1 Memsie Stakes meeting.
The three board members calling for change were not invited to present trophies to winning connections, as is customary for board members, after any of the 10 races at Caulfield on Saturday.
The trophies were presented by the five board members that Kanga wants removed – chairman Cain, vice chairman Nick Hassett, Brooke Dawson, Scott Davidson and Mark Pratt – as well as Mornington advisory group representative Tim Guille.
In the meantime, the club was also hosting a farewell luncheon for outgoing chief executive officer Josh Blanksby, who finished in the role on Saturday.
The MRC is scheduled to hold an annual general meeting on September 26 at which Cain will step down at the expiry of his term and Pratt will stand for re-election. Cain announced his retirement from the board last month.
In an email to members over the weekend, Cain urged members to engage in the AGM voting process, which begins on September 10, and said it was “unrealistic and unhealthy for committees or boards to agree unanimously on all issues”.
The new members area at Caulfield Racecourse, which has drawn criticism after a $160 million makeover. Credit:
“It’s also unhealthy if people who don’t get their way in the boardroom try to push forward their own agenda by means of separate meetings and votes,” Cain wrote.
“I am especially saddened by, and I wholeheartedly reject, a number of allegations that have been made in recent days about the culture of the executive committee.
“I know this has caused my fellow executive committee members distress and I feel it has damaged our reputation in a very unfair way.
“There is no basis for the allegations and I assure all members that our culture is strong, inclusive and respectful – even when we are in disagreement over issues.”
If Kanga’s call for a special general meeting is recognised, it is unclear whether it would be held before or after the annual general meeting.
Regardless, Kanga’s Save Our MRC group hopes to fill the board role left vacant by Cain as well as having a representative replace Pratt at the annual meeting. Both positions will go to a members’ vote.
As part of his takeover bid, Kanga has nominated five people to join him on board: Lofts Quarries founder Paul Lofitis, communications executive Belinda Meyers, town planner and construction manager Robyn Gray, transport executive David Gambell and 5Ways Foodservice director Frank Pollio.
The state government-appointed Sandown Racecourse Advisory Committee is currently in the middle of a public hearing on the potential rezoning of the Sandown land for residential use.
The MRC has to put any decision regarding the sale of Sandown to a members’ vote.
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