Albo now lord of his old manor

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Kirribilli House in Sydney.

Looks like Anthony Albanese is back to playing landlord again, or is he just trying to increase the supply of rental housing in ­Sydney?

Not to be dissuaded by a crisis in Alice Springs or China’s war on Australian wine and barley, the Prime Minister appears to have spent at least part of his summer dabbling in Sydney’s property market.

We already know that he rents out a home in Dulwich Hill for $880 a week, which presumably helps with the CBA mortgage. But what of his famed pad in Marrickville from where he was papped in the garden, in his pyjamas, the morning after winning office?

Queried in September, the PM told snooping journalists that he was unsure what to do about the property, given he no longer resides there; these days he lays his head at The Lodge, in Canberra, and while in Sydney it’s convention that he flop at Kirribilli House.

“I haven’t made a decision about that,” Albanese said. Two months later the property – also mortgaged to CBA – was listed for rent via a local agent, and six days later it was taken off the market because someone offered to pay $1350 a week to live under Albo’s roof and swim in his backyard pool.

That means collectively the PM is enhancing his $564,000 salary with about $115,000 in annual rental earnings while living cost-free on the taxpayers’ dime. This while interest rates were tightened by another quarter of a percentage point to hit 3.35 per cent on Tuesday, their highest levels since September 2012.

It certainly feels like a break in convention for the PM to rent out his home, but then again he’s always been a bit of a rebel.

Malcolm Turnbull famously turned down an opportunity to reside at Kirribilli House while he was prime minister, choosing the comfort of his Point Piper mansion instead

Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who chose his Point Piper residence over Kirribilli House.

We can’t recall Scott Morrison ever renting his Lilli Pilli home during his years as prime minister; he left the pad mostly empty during his two terms and eventually gifted the space to a flood victim at no charge.

We’re not suggesting Albo should participate in the same brand of fraternité, but it would be consistent with some of his prior leanings.

And even if he was tempted, we doubt he would ever want to be seen following in Morrison’s footsteps.

Scott Morrison. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Exits stamped

Some mail out of Australia Post that a further slimming down of its executive team is under way, among other adjustments to be announced. We’re expecting word of those on Wednesday when the agency’s half-year results are distributed.

Chief marketing officer Amber Collins vacated her post just before Christmas and from what we’re hearing executive general manager Leonie Valentine is parting ways too, per an announcement this week.

It’s a quick turnaround for Valentine; she joined the board 13 months ago and was put in charge of Australia Post’s Gender Action Plan, among other priorities. For that she was remunerated with a base salary of $397,000 and $294,000 in conditional bonuses.

Ironic then to see a number of top female executives leaving the firm. There’s Collins, now Valentine, and we hear general manager Fiona da Silva is chasing the midnight train going anywhere. An Australia Post spokeswoman wouldn’t confirm it.

An announcement about a change to Australia Post’s executive ranks could happen Wednesday. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Word is also getting around that another senior female is playing footsie with a recruitment company. Time will tell on that one.

Meanwhile, as flagged by CEO Paul Graham last year, a “restructuring” of the organisation – envisioned by the consultants at Bain and Co, and revealed by Margin Call in August – is due to proceed imminently. It means redundancies, of course.

Australia Post says the number of people tapped will be barely a blip in the “single digits”. Does that sound like baloney to you too? What are they restructuring, the cafeteria? It’s a company that employs 35,000 people, plus thousands of contractors.

Apparently the number of redundancies will reach numbers much higher than the single digits. Blame the letter losses, of course; they weighed on the business at the full-year results and haven’t improved since, or so we’re led to believe.

Cashing in chips

The retirement of James Carnegie from the daily running of Blackstone’s private equity arm has led him to step down as a director of Crown Resorts, ending his family’s lengthy association with the company.

It also wraps up his short-lived time on the board. Six months since his appointment, Carnegie is said to have passed the baton to former Macquarie banker Michael Blickstead, who joined Blackstone’s Sydney office last year as a senior managing director.

So what next for Carnegie? He’s calling himself an executive adviser at the international buyout giant while also serving as a part-time chair of its Australian private equity operations.

The Crown deal with Blackstone – a takeover amounting to $9bn – was said to have been his finale.

Carnegie, of course, is the youngest son of businessman Sir Rod Carnegie (“Rod the God”, as he was known), the former chairman of Crown Melbourne’s developer Hudson Conway.

Others might recall him through his brothers, investment banker Mark Carnegie, and boardroom adviser Charles Carnegie.