Barnaby Joyce beckoned back home

Barnaby Joyce votes with his mother Marie Joyce and father James Joyce, at Woolbrook primary school. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen.

Former deputy PM Barnaby Joyce has moved back to his childhood home town, Woolbrook, set within his electorate north of Tamworth in northern NSW.

The maverick member for New England’s latest update to his pecuniary interests sees him back where he went to school before he headed off to be taught by the Jesuits as a boarder at St Ignatius’ College, Riverview in Sydney.

Joyce was the Woolbrook Primary school captain in 1978.

Woolbrook has a population of about 185, with Joyce securing 55 per cent of the primary vote in the federal election last year, suggesting he’s still held with the same esteem in the bush.

Woolbrook was the polling booth where his parents, James and Marie, voted with their then Armidale-based son in May last year.

Barnaby Joyce votes at Woolbrook Public School. Picture: Peter Lorimer.

The family’s 1780ha Woolbrook property Rutherglen has been held for more than five ­decades.

The formal notification to the parliament noted “a change of address”, but Joyce’s office advised Margin Call he had moved back to the farm to help look after his folks.

Criniti’s corona crisis

Restaurant chain Criniti’s — Italian with a twist — had collapsed long before COVID-19, but the coronavirus has since played havoc with its future.

The second creditors’ meeting will take place today after administrators Worrells were granted an extension to seek the sale of the business.

They came so close, with an offer of $6.1m. However, Worrells has advised that the pandemic has seen the offer withdrawn.

“We have since been negotiating with several parties,” Graeme Beattie advised creditors.

“It is fair to say that the uncertainty created by indefinite business interruptions to hospitality businesses has materially impacted the likely realisable value.”

When Worrells were appointed last November they closed three stores in NSW, along with Criniti’s only stores in Western Australia and Queensland.

In January they shut the doors at Woolloomooloo, leaving just seven across NSW and Victoria.

The Criniti’s Group had been in default since 2018 with a taxation debt of $15.8m.

Illustration: Rod Clement

Mable to the rescue

Federal health minister Greg Hunt has called in the reinforcements when it comes to care of Australia’s most at-risk elderly of the unfolding COVID-19 health crisis.

Hunt’s department has thrown open the doors to seven-year-old Sydney-based e-commerce hub Mable Technologies, which provides an online marketplace connecting carers and support workers with people in the community that are in need of those services.

There is no dollar value attached to Mable’s new deal.

Its share register boasts some well-known corporate Australian faces.

Mable was founded by one-time Bankers Trust investment banker Peter Scutt and his friend and fellow corporate adviser Tony Charara after Scutt couldn’t find the right home-care solution for his ageing parents.

The pair have attracted an impressive roster of investors, led by former James Packer lieutenant Ashok Jacob’s funds management operation Ellerston Capital.

Also on the Mable register is veteran Sydney investment banker Keith Kerridge, who runs boutique advisory shop KTM Capital, with Kerridge holding Mable equity via his private Bannaby Investments.

And then hiding a little further down the list is international investment banking giant Greenhill’s local boss Roger Feletto, who’s invested in the aged-care outfit via his private Rogal Investments.

New York-headquartered Greenhill might be in hibernation due to the coronavirus, but Feletto seems to be doing OK since the NYSE-listed bank took over Ron Malek and Simon Mordant’s boutique Caliburn Partnership a decade ago.

Mid-last year Feletto via his wife Alison spent $9.35m on a home in Bronte and at the same time the pair have managed to also hold onto their five-bedder in Randwick, which is now rented out for $2250 a week.

Baird bides time

The soon-to-be former NAB high-flyer Mike Baird has further scaled back his commitments as the former NSW premier ponders his next move.

He’s stepped away from his role on the board of the United States Studies Centre, a position he took in January last year, but then never got the chance to get too involved as the royal commission kept him busy ever since its February delivery. The centre’s board includes barrister Louise Clegg, the former senator Stephen Conroy, EY assurance partner John Robinson and Heath Smith, the secretary of the department of industry, innovation and science. It’s been led by former Macquarie Group veteran Mark Baillie since 2015, when he took the reins from Malcolm Binks. The USSC, at the University of Sydney, aims to increase understanding of the US in Australia.

Back to Baird, who is heading into his final week at NAB after announcing in March he was resigning to “consider new opportunities”.

Baird intended to wrap up his NAB duties on April 15 with Anthony Waldron taking the role as the bank’s chief customer officer in an acting capacity.

That’s still happening, although Baird will now stay a few weeks longer at NAB boss Ross McEwan’s request to provide further assistance during the pandemic.

Baird, who has always indicated he was available to play for the Sydney Sixers, celebrated his 52nd birthday last week at his Sydney northern beaches home.

He showed off his birthday sunrise image in a post liked by Malcolm Turnbull. Still no sign of what next in the corporate or political world. But it seems his exhausted-looking dog, Moses, is keen for his return to any work, having been over-walked by the at-home household.

Banking on dividends

The George Frazis-led Bank of Queensland will advise its dividend today as investors across the country anxiously await just how the banks deal with these challenging times.

Investors at the majors will be hoping the dividends aren’t cut too much, or altogether as has been the case overseas. In October last year the BoQ annual dividend was down 14 per cent, from 76c to 65c, after the board cut both the interim and final payout.

The regional lender withdrew its late-February FY20 profit guidance in late March when it also signalled it would no longer seek an exemption to pay out more in dividends than its profit. While advising its capital position remained strong, BoQ initially flagged a dividend payout ratio of 70-80 per cent of cash earnings, which would have needed approval from banking regulatorWayne Byres. By scrapping those plans, it signalled a cut to its dividend. Margin Call hears maybe 25c this half.

Meanwhile, a BoQ director who tested positive to coronavirus in mid-March has recovered.

Consolidating Packer

Lockdown (and sadly, for many, unwelcome unemployment) has created plenty of time for a clean-out of cupboards, drawers, garages and sheds.

Seems it is the same for many in their corporate roles as day-to-day business slows.

James Packer’s trusted lieutenants are getting on with the job of clearing out the dead wood in the mogul’s empire. And by that we don’t mean the thousands of Crown staff stood down. Two more Packer vehicles have been done away with in the ongoing simplification by Consolidated Press boss Mike Johnston of Packer’s once overly complex web of entities.

Latest to go have been Palidye No 2 Pty Ltd and Palidye No 3 Pty Ltd, which have previously featured as vehicles via which Packer controls his 35 per cent Crown stake, which last week saw $70m head to Packer’s bank account via the group’s interim dividend.

The Palidye name features more broadly in the Packer empire, popping up in a range of companies registered offshore including Palidye Bahamas No 1 and Palidye Bahamas No 2.

Packer’s ConsPress is controlled by Consolidated Press International Holdings, in the Caribbean tax haven. There may be no tax, but coronavirus has reached there too.