Another feud builds over Smorgon legacy

Cartoon: Peter Nicholson

Naming its main nursing home after the billionaire Smorgon family has put Melbourne’s Jewish Care at risk of losing the benefit of a $1.4 million trust fund.

In the second legal stoush involving a building named after the Smorgons in the past six months, the Victorian Supreme Court has ruled changing the name of the facility after it moved from Ashwood to Caulfield, in the city’s southeast, in 2009 breached terms in the will of benefactor Albert Spatt, who died in 1975.

This follows a battle in October between the Smorgons and the Peter Mac cancer hospital over the “Smorgon Family Building”.

Under Spatt’s will income from the trust was set aside to establish and run “the Melbourne Hebrew Memorial Hospital”.

The hospital was duly built in 1979 and in 1991, after new laws came in, changed its name from “hospital” to “nursing home”. That was fine, but earlier this month judge Kim Hargrave decided that the subsequent change to “Gary Smorgon House” went too far, breaching the terms of the will.

State Attorney-General Martin Pakula has been joined in his role as “protector of charity” — that’s a thing — and has asked the court for permission to make a submission as to what to do with the money.

“Draft orders are under consideration by the parties,” a Pakula spokeswoman said. “The Attorney-General is awaiting legal advice and will make a decision in due course.” Jewish Care declined to comment.

Penalty hopes afloat

A deal cutting penalty rates struck between Business SA and the Shop Distributive & Allied Employees Association appears to have raised corporate Australia’s hopes.

The mood is said to have been buoyant at yesterday’s annual general council meeting of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Sydney, with hopes afloat that the croweater deal would create a template for others to follow.

There was also a recognition that business can’t leave it to politicians to reform the tax system, and to get anywhere business needs to get consensus with the community sector.

The meeting heard from Macquarie economist Richard Gibbs, Rudd-Gillard era secretary of the department of Prime Minister and cabinet Terry Moran (who these days heads the Barangaroo Delivery Authority) and former Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson — who said he was breaking the 100-day stretch without wearing a suit and tie he’d racked up since leaving the public service last year.

Go v Rothfield

Private Media’s former chief executive, Marina Go, who these days is general manager of magazine publisher Bauer Media, is embroiled in a stoush with Sydney’s little paper after allegedly accusing The Daily Telegraph sports guru Phil Rothfield of bullying.

The biffo relates to Go’s role as chair of rugby league team Wests Tigers, some of whose fans were locked out of the stadium on Monday night.

“Instead of apologising to fans, Wests Tigers chairwoman Marina Go accused your correspondent of bullying for exposing the poor customer service,” Rothfield wrote in the Tele yesterday.

He appears to be referring to a Go tweet in which she said: “I am being bullied by an apparent #WhiteRibbon ambassador”.

Apparent ambassador? Apparently not, according to the organisation’s online database.

Hopefully Go’s tweet won’t disappear, as was the case the last time she took to the microblogging platform to disparage a journalist.

That incident, in November 2013, saw a tweet disparaging Margin Call as a “cadet” evaporate in what Go claimed was a “spooky” hacking incident.

Out for the Salvos

The Salvation Army’s annual Red Shield Appeal launch lunch at the Westin in Sydney yesterday winkled much of corporate Australia from their offices. Roger Massy-Green, who was there with wife Belinda Hutchinson, was honoured for his four years as chairman of the appeal board (he stepped down last year) while big donor Dick Smith — who’s also setting up a new political party — gave the keynote address.

Massy-Green’s replacement, former QBE boss Frank O’Halloran, was there with wife Rosie.

Also spotted: NSW Premier Mike Baird, Financial Services Council boss Sally Loane, former MacBanker and Boral chief executive Tony Berg, CHAMP Private Equity bigwig Bill Ferris and former Whitehaven Coal boss Tony Haggarty. Not spotted: Haggarty hater and former Whitehaven shareholder Nathan Tinkler.

Singapore resident Tinkler was supposed to be in Adelaide to answer questions in court over the collapse of his thoroughbred empire Patinack Farms, but avoided the trip after settling with the liquidator.

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