Bain Capital wants Jayne Hrdlicka to head Virgin Australia

Cartoon: Rod Clement

It appears FTI Global has been engaged by Bain Capital to seek out recommendations and references for its envisaged executive team at Virgin, should Bain’s bid get the nod.

That’s no surprise but Margin Call keeps hearing they are being sought for Jayne Hrdlicka to possibly take the top job at the airline, having been a consultant on the Bain bid.

It’s not to say that current Virgin boss Paul Scurrah won’t necessarily be in line to stay, just that Bain is ensuring it has an executive ready team should Vaughan Strawbridge give the consortium the takeoff rights to fly the Virgin fleet.

Hrdlicka, of course, spent five years at Jetstar before moving to Qantas.

The mooted references being solicited by FTI’s global risk and investigations practice would be fascinating reading, especially as to what A2 chairman David Hearn would say about his ex-chief executive who quit late last year after murmurings of discontent from the board.

They can’t have been too discontented, as The Australian reported last Friday that Hearn still has her on the payroll as a consultant, with the agreement expiring on June 20.

Bishop’s travel bug

Our former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop is not among the near 90 per cent of West Australians who want to continue the ban on travel in and out of their great state.

“Who are the 10 per cent?” Bishop joked when on the microphone for The West Australian newspaper’s Monday morning breakfast podcast.

But she then outed herself as having wanderlust, and keen to venture east. And on Western Australia Day, the long weekend public holiday that celebrates the founding of the Swan River Colony in 1829.

“I’m not one of the 90 per cent that want the borders closed, I have to confess that I need to get on a plane and go and visit friends,” Bishop said.

“I’m dying to see friends on the east coast.”

The discussion between podcaster Jenna Clarke and Bishop followed the People’s Voice Poll by Painted Dog Research of 1000 West Australians that found overwhelming backing for the state’s hard border.

Bishop says the past three months in Perth had been the longest period in 30 years for her without hopping on a plane.

It seems the past few months have been all about a fit body and fit mind for Bishop, who’s up at 6am for yoga, and has been getting her 20,000 steps a day in regularly.

She says she won’t be doing as much when things turn back to normal.

“I seem to spend most of my day running, so when we go back to work full-time and give up this working from home and iso life I’ll scale back the steps,” Bishop advised.

“I’m really missing not being able to attend board meetings over in New York,” she said. Presumably a reference to her position at Affinity, the world’s leading provider of artificial intelligence-based technology, along with Palladium that operates in more than 90 countries, working with not-for-profits on development projects.

But she’s done with politics in every sense.

“Oh no no no darling”, Bishop responded to Clarke’s question about whether she would run for WA politics.

“I think I’ve done my public service in that regard.

“I was in federal politics for 20 years and coming from Western Australia it takes quite a toll on your time, your focus and your priorities.”

Bishop also ruled out embracing the trend sweeping the US, converting a paper bag into a chic dress. “I draw the line at wearing brown paper bag dresses,” she said.

Her latest client as a political lobbyist is L’Oreal, the self-described world leader in beauty.

AMP names names

AMP has exposed even more members of its group leadership team (GLT) to potential cross-examination in the Federal Court in the unfair dismissal case filed by its former head of litigation, Larissa Baker Cook.

After Baker Cook filed her claim in October last year, AMP filed its defence, but left out some of the necessary detail, so last month AMP was ordered by the Federal Court to provide the particulars.

AMP had vaguely alleged that group general counsel David Cullen received negative feedback from between “four or five” members of the group leadership team about Baker Cook.

It now has to hand over the names of those people, meaning they are likely to be called as witnesses at the trial.

The GLT, now called the management team, comprises eight people including Cullen, who was named in the pleadings. Ditto Helen Livesey, AMP’s chief of staff and group executive of public affairs, who is personally named as a second defendant in the matter. No surprise AMP’s then head of HR, Fiona Wardlaw, features in the court papers.

But the court had yet to glean the other names. Possibly GLT members from the time who are still at AMP including CEO Francesco De Ferrari, Megan Beer, James Georgsson, Craig Ryman, Adam Tindall, Blair Vernon and Alex Wade and or those that have left the much diminished institution, including then CEO Craig Meller, former general counsel Bryan Salter, Jenny Fagg and royal commission star performer Jack Regan.

In the course of the proceedings, AMP acknowledged Baker Cook was one of a number of AMP employees involved in raising information relating to the fee for no service scandal as part of her required duties.

AMP has advised her performance was being managed, although Baker Cook claims she was not aware.

The trial has been confirmed to take place in November before judge Jayne Jagot. We assume social distancing between parties won’t be a problem.

Fordham’s sale pitch

2GB broadcaster Ben Fordham’s inaugural rumour file story — yes he’s introduced Ross and John’s 3AW concept to Sydney, sans the Mercedes Berwick giveaway — was a tad premature.

It certainly had Margin Call bolt upright shortly after he started his 5.30am breakfast shift on Monday, with the teaser he’d come across a mega Sydney harbourfront sale.

The suggestion of a sale was teasingly fleshed out a bit at 7.30am.

Fordham, who named his informant The Rooster, told his audience the trophy home had sold for $52m. And then that it was on Sydney’s priciest street.

By 8am estate agent Luke Hogan, at Raine & Horne, had poured water on any deal having been done to Margin Call.

The touted sale is the home of expatriate hedge fund whiz Dominic Redfern and wife Sarah Cooke. The Wingadal Place listing is next to Aussie John Symond, who’s apparently as keen as anyone in hoping the deal gets done amid the COVID-19 pall.

Fordo reckons all will be confirmed within 48 hours.

World drops anchor

With only essential staff aboard, the luxury apartment cruise ship The World has arrived at Falmouth in the UK, as its lay berth while cruising operations are suspended.

Last week’s welcome came 10 weeks after leaving Fremantle, with just the two stops, for fuel and provisions, at Colombo, Sri Lanka then Gibraltar en route via the Suez Canal.

It is the fifth time The World, harshly referred to as Noah’s Arc for the filthy rich, has visited Falmouth. It is set to remain docked at Queen’s Wharf until mid-September.

For a while it was going round in circles off the West Australian coast, after Border Force commissioner Michael Outran sent letters to all cruise ship operators to leave Australian waters by April 4.

Its 140 passengers vacated the ship at Freo, then seemingly with nowhere that welcoming, the floating apartment complex was going around in circles off WA, or, to be more precise, a perfect star shape, as it locked in its Falmouth destination.

The World, whose apartment owners need a net worth of at least $US10m ($14.5m) in their disclosed bank account to buy onto the ship, had been cruising around Australia before the pandemic, so didn’t make its proposed Kimberley coast tour.

“We strongly believe it is far better to voluntarily take the ship out of service now while we can still practically do so to mitigate these risks as well as the potential damage that would ensue to the reputation of the ship and The World brand globally,” Pamela Conniver, chief executive of The World, wrote to residents in late March.

Gut Buster founders Richard and Heather Penn and Rothschild chairman Trevor Rowe rank among the owners amid The World’s 165 luxury residences. Likewise Gina Rinehart and Ros Packer.

Margin Call had first spotted the super-disinfected squillionaires while it was moored off Port Douglas in February, and then when it berthed on Sydney Harbour without incident.