A Star recruit awaits casino inquiry; High-rise Harry’s big number

Sydne’s The Star casino. Picture: Nikki Short

The search continues at The Star for competent, reliable, accident-proof directors to revitalise the company after it was left in a parlous state by its former management team.

One would think a shop mannequin would make a worthy replacement after the previous mob, but apparently it remains a challenge to find a worthy suitor in the hopeless deserts of corporate banality.

But at least one name being bandied about town is that of Bruce Carter, formerly of the Crown Resorts board, who stepped off around the time of the Blackstone takeover in June. That gave Carter about one year at the table, give or take a few months, although he did arrive with a comet’s tail of experience trailing him via his tenure as deputy chair at SkyCity.

All of which makes his potential appointment at The Star seem rational. Apparently he was interviewed, came recommended, and was generally approved by the current board, although

The Star wouldn’t discuss it when contacted.

Bruce Carter was deputy chair of SkyCity. Picture: Tom Roschi

So why the delay? The holdup? We’re wondering if it has anything to do with the inquiry recently launched by the South Australian government into SkyCity’s operations. And launched, mind you, not because of anything nefarious that had come to light, but rather owing to “broader systemic issues within the casino industry”, as the state’s gambling regulator so phrased it.

Put simply, unrelated inquiries into Crown Resorts and The Star in NSW, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland raised enough doubts about gambling in general that SA decided it better take a look under the hood of the company.

It seems probable that Carter will get another look once that review is cleared. It’s scheduled to be finalised by February.

That would make him the second Crown transplant following Anne Ward’s arrival as a non-executive director (pending regulatory approvals) after her retirement from the Crown board in June.

High-rise Harry’s 90th

It’s quite a sight to behold the grumpy billionaire Harry Triguboff hamming it up in a top hat and tuxedo and even sporting a rare grin, which is how his compadres and affiliates are being greeted upon opening an invitation to his 90th birthday party.

These were dispatched on Monday to several hundred guests ahead of a gala event scheduled for Sydney Town Hall in March, to be thrown a week after his actual birthday.

The e-mailed envelope features a picture of HOT (or Harry Oskar Triguboff, to you) styled as a postage stamp, with the rest of the invitation laid out in a black and gold art deco design, which strongly hints at a Gatsby-themed event, and we dearly hope for everyone’s sake that we’re mistaken.

It shouldn’t matter that these are his twilight years; expectations are for quite a bash from the terrifying Meriton chief, who still causes people, even at 89, to jump out of his way when he’s fast-walking in their direction. Another prominent billionaire recently dubbed him “the best control freak in Australia”.

Harry Triguboff is chalking up a birthday milestone.

It is party season, after all. Trucking supremo Lindsay Fox, a likely attendee, only recently concluded an extravagant 12-day cruise with 400 pals, from New York to Montreal, in honour of his 85th. Given the competitive nature of these folks, we suspect High Rise Harry will have to get creative, and that’s been no trouble in the past.

Five years ago he threw a party at the Hyatt Regency that featured Russian Cossack dancers, gallons of vodka, an appearance by Delta Goodrem and fireworks that blew up over the harbour in sync with some curated music.

The ‘‘hot’’ theme figured heavily on that occasion, with Billy Idol’s “Hot in the City” memorably paired with the explosions, according to one affiliate who was in attendance.

Let’s not forget the Russian nesting dolls either – about 400 of them, each carrying the billionaire’s face, that were handed out as gifts.

New Crennan gig

Looks like Daniel Crennan KC, the former deputy chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, has picked up a board appointment with BNK Bank, his first since departing the regulator.

The fintech announced Crennan’s recruitment on Monday but it was actually flagged in a roundabout way on October 5 and buried in the details of its upcoming annual general meeting. Among the items of business scheduled to be discussed were to “re-elect” Crennan, even though he wasn’t yet a director and hadn’t been announced to investors.

Former ASIC deputy chair Dan Crennan. Picture Kym Smith

Crennan resigned from ASIC in 2020 after the auditor-general found he’d incorrectly received $70,000 in rental payments during a relocation from Melbourne to Sydney. His exit occurred three years before his term with the regulator was due to expire, and despite being exonerated of any wrongdoing in the matter.

Since then he’s been running a boutique consulting firm and enjoyed a notably short stint at corporate advisory Everblu Capital, which was subject to a federal police raid in the months immediately after left.

The only other point worth making is that he’ll sit on the BNK board alongside former ABC chief executive Michelle Guthrie, which should give both plenty to swap notes about.