Bank exec Greg Ward back among the grapevines

Cartoon: Rod Clement

Macquarie Group veteran executive Greg Ward is back winemaking. He’s recently spent $8.4m to buy the 5th Chapter ­Estate in the NSW Southern Highlands.

The 40ha Avoca country ­estate had been in the hands of the Manassen family for two or so decades. Brothers Roy and Michael paid $2.5m in 1998 and planted the vines a year later. There are 4ha of vines with sauvignon blanc and pinot noir plantings.

Aside from the winery and cellar door, there’s a grand manor-like nine-bedroom home in the Japanese gardens.

Ward has been at Macquarie since 1996, becoming head of the banking and financial services group in 2013. Ward sold Echo Ridge, in the Hunter Valley’s Pokolbin, for $2.2m to Sydney’s Blue Sky fundie Michael Hill in 2010.

Meanwhile, some of Australia’s biggest winemakers are to change their supply agreements with grape growers, after Rod Sims’ ACCC raised concerns on contracts being unfair.

Truffle treats

It’s truffle season, so connoisseurs are now wondering just how to appreciate the fine shavings. Leading restaurateurs understandably are showing subdued interest for the pricey subterranean fungus as they seek out their business survival.

So it seems the truffle producers have instead embraced home delivery of the earthy black diamonds of the kitchen. Robert Perrone from Premier Foods is delivering truffles around Melbourne priced at between $1.50 and $2 a gram. His current batch are from Ballarat, but will switch to Manjimup in Western Australia as the season progresses.

WA producers are targeting the east coast after the COVID-19 closures of restaurants across the globe. They typically export 90 per cent, amounting to eight to nine tonnes airfreighted annually. The WA truffle harvest is worth $8m-plus at the farm gate.

The move to focus on the domestic market comes as the annual harvest starts in the WA southwest, with early signs it could be a terrific haul after an ideal warm summer and cooler autumn.

In the NSW Southern Highlands, Sydney chef and winemaker Brendan Cato is preparing to host a fancy-fungus hunt accompanied by canine experts at a truffiere followed by lunch.

Tasmanian farmer Anna Terry recently unearthed what may be the largest truffle ever found at Deloraine at 910 grams. Most truffles are between 30 and 60 grams.

Who takes SBS chair?

There’s been no announcement by the government on the next chair of the SBS board. Recruitment firm Korn Ferry kicked off the selection process in February, given SBS chair Bulent Hass Dellal was nearing his maximum 10 years on the board.

The well-connected Katie Lahey is the executive chair at Korn Ferry, which started prepping the mandatory three-person shortlist on March 9, just as the COVID-19 lockdown started. Dellal’s tenure ended earlier this month, but without any word from Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher. Dellal took the chair following an investigation by The Australian, and the abrupt exit of Nihal Gupta, who had beaten former NSW premier Nick Greiner for the role.

So who next for the SBS? Margin Call gleans the most probable choice already sits at the boardroom table — George Savvides, the acting chair.

Savvides has been close to Prime Minister Scott Morrison since he was managing director of Medibank Private and floated the company for the government at a windfall $5.6bn when Morrison was a needy treasurer. Margin Call reckons Warren Mundine could have also been in consideration.

The longest serving SBS chair was the late Sir Nicholas Shehadie, who served for 18 years after taking the helm in 1981 from SBS’s foundation chair Grisha Sklovsky.

Fees in the works

While Carriageworks continues to rise from its collapse, the documentation of its voluntary administration shows KPMG has enjoyed its fees.

In just the initial 20 days following its appointment last month, the big four accounting giant has secured $145,000 remuneration without any pushback for KPMG’s Phil Quinland and Morgan Kelly. Its initial estimate was fees of between $100,000 and $150,000 to assist the arts hub chaired by investment banker Cass O’Connor.

With a deed of company arrangements now in the works, the creditors have approved an additional $30,000 in fees, which they hope will see them out of the administration.

Billionaire Kerr Neilson and his daughter Paris, as well as Gretel Packer have signalled their intention to help finance the Redfern institution out of its COVID-19-triggered crisis.

Bowen’s new book

We know politician Chris Bowen loves a book launch, although his acceptances might be constrained for the time being. But it comes as no surprise the shadow federal health minister is penning his third tome. Topic unknown. The second Kevin Rudd government treasurer has secured a book contract from Hachette Australia, headed by publisher at large, Louise Adler.

Bowen’s first book, Hearts & Minds: A Blueprint for Modern Labor, was published by Melbourne University Publishing in 2013, with its impact arising reputedly more so from the actual book launch than the policy suggestions within. Then came The Money Men: Australia’s Twelve Most Notable Treasurers.

This week Bowen updated his registrable interests confessing to receiving 1609 bags of Tim Tams from Arnotts Australia, which he’s distributed to healthcare workers in his western Sydney electorate.

Sleepout rakes it in

The 1550 participants who slept out on Thursday night helped raise $5.2m from 33,000 donors for the homeless in the Vinnies CEO Sleepout. The tally was down on last year, when the St Vincent de Paul Society secured $7m, which funded 600,000 beds, along with 1.6 million meals and two million individual support programs.

This week’s top fundraiser was BankSA Adelaide CEO Nick Reade, who raised $225,000. He was among the 117 who slept out in Adelaide. At nearly double the freezing Melbourne entrants, Sydney had more than 450 participants, including hotelier Jerry Schwartz, who raised $18,000 on his 11th sleepout.

The first sleepout was a 2006 event in Parramatta, initiated by Bernard Fehon, managing director of Fehon Strategy & Design. This week the Blue Mountains businessman raised almost $7000 with supporters including local MP Susan Templeman, who also gave to Perth politician Patrick Gorman’s efforts.

Given the pandemic, no rough sleeping gatherings were held, instead the options of the couch, car, or backyard, given they represent common forms of homelessness.

Radio revenue boost

There’s been no noticeable bump in fresh advertisers onto Ben Fordham’s 2GB breakfast show yet after three weeks in the shift.

But Nine Radio is seeing a revenue boost across the board, and lower costs, due to a number of factors, not least a complete sales department restructure. The aim is to have clients buying radio, television and print assets as a cross-platform buy through 9Galaxy.

Richard Hunwick, Nine’s director of sales for television and radio, told the trade press this week that there would also be a new sponsorship block at the top of every hour with news, sport, weather and traffic as the station ends it ties with the Australian Traffic Network.

There are certainly signs that Fordham has been welcomed by advertisers, with plenty of live reads spruiking everything from joint pain algesic relief to airconditioning. Given the station’s ageing demographics, plenty of ads for reverse mortgages and funeral parlours sit between his hard-hitting interviews.

Every so often prerecorded Alan Jones ads are broadcast for Mitsubishi Alpolic cladding. Meanwhile Jones, surrounded by minders and mates including Deeta Colvin and Grant Vandenberg, was on Friday guest of honour aboard mate Anthony Bell’s yacht Ghost II to celebrate his retirement after 226 consecutive ratings wins.

Sky News commentator Peta Credlin arrived at the gangway carrying a giant, radio-themed cake for Jones. They all left with Peter’s of Kensington gift bags.