Commonwealth Bank pledges women’s sports funds, but is it more than Gina Rinehart?

John Bertrand, Gina Rinehart (centre) and Australian Olympic legend, Dawn Fraser (right).

With 100 days until the Tokyo Olympics it seems the nation is getting into the sporting spirit, and it’s not just confined to the upcoming games.

Earlier this week Commonwealth Bank and its chief Matt Comyn pledged a new partnership to support Football Australia, including becoming naming right sponsors of the Matildas.

The bank used it as a chance to flex its female credibility, saying the new deal would make it the largest supporter of women’s sport in the country, building on its sponsorship of women’s cricket.

That called for a photo op with Football Australia CEO, James Johnson, midfielder Katrina Gorry and of course the requisite juniors decked out in matching sports gear.

Now, that deal doesn’t kick off until August, after Westfield and its Peter Allen-led local operator Scentre has capped its final tournament as naming rights sponsor after 13 years at the July Olympics.

But we can’t help but wonder what Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart has to say about CBA’s bold claims.

Illustration: Rod Clement.

The Perth-based miner, who recently added author of a joke and story book to her impressive resume, has also been a longtime supporter of the country’s sporting interests — both women's and mens.

Her focus is more on the realms of volleyball, swimming, rowing and synchronised swimming, so much so the 67-year-old has been named a patron of the former two national organisations.

Rinehart’s camp was only last month touting the billionaire’s position as “the single biggest individual funder of Olympic sports in Australia”.

A few caveats there of course, but no doubt the $36bn woman could give Commonwealth Bank a run for their money.

Now the “commercial in confidence” nature of such deals makes any official rankings harder to collate but the ­presence of Hancock Prospecting at last week’s Swimming championships suggests there’s well and truly some big-ticket sums being dolled out at the pool at least.

The closest to a firm figure from the bank was “millions of dollars” across the four-year Football Australia deal.

Nothing like a little healthy competition.

Housing crisis

In among the he-said-she-said of the Australia Post scandal, beyond Christine Holgate’s gifting of the Cartier watches or the still lacking apology from PM Scott Morrison, the issue of the national postie’s board has been a key point of consideration.

The position of chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo of course has been under close scrutiny, but so too have the actions of the board, none more so than former Liberal Party federal director Tony Nutt.

But alas, the government-owned enterprise isn’t alone when it comes to questions of board composition, their duties or actions and even qualifications.

Just a day after Holgate and her dressed-in-white suffragettes fronted the Senate committee, the lesser-known Defence Housing Australia was facing some similar lines of inquiry.

Australia Post chair Lucio Di Bartolomeo. Picture: AAP

The organisation, the supplier of housing to members of the defence force, while markedly different in its business pursuits does have a few things in common with AusPost.

Firstly, it too is going great guns, declaring a $42.7m profit last year and handing $25.6m back to taxpayers through a government dividend (compared with $21m from AusPost).

On the downside, though, the group is also facing a bit of backlash over its board, following some adverse findings from the national auditor last year.

A public hearing chaired by NSW Liberal MP Lucy Wicks on Wednesday examined just how the board was progressing on its reformation plans, while its links to the Liberal Party raised the ire of deputy chair and Victorian Labor MP Julian Hill.

Just how well qualified was auctioneer, car salesman and former Townsville pollie Ewen Jones to be on the board, he questioned.

That and other questions of suitability are soon to be revealed in a board-initiated review of their composition and role, pending sign-off from chairman and former National Party member Sandy MacDonald.

If its anything like their fellow government business enterprise, they better buckle up.

Lobbyist lashed

Like Mentos in a Coke bottle, so did lobbyist Ryan Liddell inflame the tensions of Victorian Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio on Wednesday.

The former chief of staff to Bill Shorten has been lobbying Dan Andrews’ state government on behalf of beverage outfit Lion, Coca-Cola Amatil and VicRecycle in regards to their container deposit scheme — affectionately known as “cash for cans” in some parts.

Ryan Liddell. Picture: AAP

After more than a year of consultation with the industry, the member for Mill Park on Wednesday convened a call of stakeholders to announce her decision, setting out the nuts and bolts of the program to begin by 2023.

Margin Call hears Liddell, on the call with the other beverage industry and government types, made his opposition to the minister’s choice known at multiple points in the conversation, interjecting to share his point of view.

It was after several interruptions though that the coke rocket really took off — D’Ambrosio lashing out and accusing the lobbyist of spreading misinformation and “stoking unfounded fears” about the recycling scheme.

To top it all off she declared she would not be working with Liddell on the next steps of implementation.

Lily D'Ambrosio. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Quite the spectacular launch you could say.

And even after his forthright defence of his clients, some of those too seemingly didn’t want a bar from him either, separately pledging to work with the government.

In a statement recently appointed VicRecycle chair Paul Klymenko, co-founder of Planet Ark, noted that “industry looks forward to working with the government”.

Just not with its own lobbyists it seems.

Ginko diplomacy

When it comes it to the states’ approach to the unfolding diplomatic tensions in China, it seems there’s a few distinct camps. Take Christopher Pyne for example.

The former defence minister earlier this week, while donning his not-quite-technicolour Adelaide University dreamcoat, sounded the alarm on a possible war with China in the next five years amid worsening relations over Taiwan.

A “kinetic war” in the Indo-Pacific, he told attendees, was now much more likely than when he was appointed defence minister in 2016.

It was a great honour and privilege to be awarded an honorary doctorate this morning by @UniofAdelaide. pic.twitter.com/5Mr6AA2Xpe

— Christopher Pyne (@cpyne) April 12, 2021

That’s certainly one way to stoke the already sour tensions with the nation’s largest trading partner, albeit good business for his swath of his defence-related clients such as ASX-listed Quickstep, Electro Optic Systems or Droneshield.

NSW meanwhile was taking a very different approach, with state governor Margaret Beazley just last week pioneering her own approach. Let’s call it Ginko tree diplomacy (ping pong diplomacy well past its prime for the US after all).

NSW Governor Margaret Beazley. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Marking 40 years of the state’s relationship with the Chinese province of Guandong, the governor invited Chinese Consul General in Sydney Zhou Limin to her residence at Government House to plant a Ginko tree — the national tree of China.

Also on hand was Australia China Foundation head Pru Bennett, formerly BlackRock boss in Hong Kong, as well as former federal pollie Warwick Smith, known for his links to billionaire Kerry Stokes, but appearing in his capacity as head of the Business Council of Australia’s international committee. All a little more in line with Trade Minister Dan Tehan’s calls for business to help repair the relationship.

Time will only tell which approach is more effective.

Gina Rinehart and Matt Comyn

Defence Housing Australia

Ryan Lidell

Margaret Beazley