Crown halted as NSW ministers revolt over casinos; Mark Rigotti is AICD’s new man at helm
Crown casino’s green light to operate in NSW has been brought to a staggering halt following a divisive meeting of the Perrottet government’s cabinet on Monday afternoon, when the question of Crown was kicked into the weeds for a couple of weeks, and maybe longer.
Margin Call understands the proposal received pushback from Digital Minister Victor Dominello and Cities Minister Rob Stokes, who went off-script in parliament in March to bust the myth that casinos and their operators could remain “above reproach”.
Surprisingly, Stokes even veered into Jacobin territory when he opined that it could now be the “time for our community to rise up against them”. We would note, as did Stokes, that his community of Pittwater does not have particularly high levels of problem gambling and is located at a great distance from any casino.
Dominello, meanwhile, has been equally active in the pages of some newspapers while embarking on a similar crusade against gambling addictions and money laundering.
It would seem that neither he nor Stokes are particularly fond of having a second casino in Sydney, and Stokes’s speech did not go down well at all with some of his senior colleagues, including Tourism Minister and Deputy Liberal leader Stuart Ayres, who apparently chided him for speaking in the first place.
On the government’s side, however, is the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, which has spent months working up controls and caveats to provide Crown with a provisional licence to operate for a two-year period. It can always be revoked if it fails to meet benchmarks, we’re told.
Plus, there remains the very thorny issue of compensation that needs to be squared away by the cabinet; it was former premier Barry O’Farrell who committed the government to a compensation package for the James Packer-backed casino if its licence was not granted, or in the event that the conditions placed on its licence became too onerous.
From what we hear, the cabinet will deliberate again on this matter when it reconvenes in a fortnight. For those who aren’t keeping track, that happens to be the evening just prior to the state budget. In other words, a very good time to amplify a piece of good news, or an even better time to flush it out in the detritus of press releases that will be issued from every government minister.
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Designs on court
All eyes are expected to be on Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court when the case of Adriana Benhamou Weiss returns on Tuesday for a committal hearing to establish if the case should proceed to trial.
The interior designer and exiled socialite is charged with falsifying records at her company, Benhamou Designs, which collapsed in 2018 leaving several dozen creditors and a legion of aggrieved customers. The charges were brought by the Australian Securities & Investment Commission.
In recent months Benhamou Weiss has been keeping her Instagram followers apprised of her movements in France where she resides with petit-amiDominique Romano, a French businessman whose companies, Guibor and Omega 26 Investments, were accused of insider trading by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The matters were settled with an $8m fine.
Her current enterprise, Iconique Studio, continues trading from Paris and is understood to be doing so from an office owned by Guibor on Rue Alfred de Vigny. This while creditors, including the Australian Taxation Office, continue chasing funds from her previous business.
Unclear so far is whether Benhamou Weiss will appear in court for the hearing. Margin Call understands that she is in Paris, although her lawyer, Rebekah Giles, did not respond to a request for clarification.
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Institute’s new man
The Australian Institute of Company Directors is certainly renowned for preaching at corporate Australia on the requirement to elevate women in leadership and the benefits of pursuing greater equality in the boardroom.
Sadly, the institute chucked this all to the wind when it announced yet another safe grey suit as its incoming chief executive last week. This despite having seven women on its board, giving them a majority on headcount.
They include Macquarie director Nicola Wakefield Evans, GPT director Tracey Horton and Spirit Super chairman Naomi Edwards.
But in its search to replace outgoing chief Angus Armour, the AICD shrugged at the prospect of female leadership and opted to replace Armour with Mark Rigotti, a former partner at Herbert Smith Freehills. He’ll take up the role from September.
And the AICD didn’t have to go far to find Rigotti either. He sits on the European Australian Business Council board, alongside Armour, of course.
Chaired by ex-Labor leader Simon Crean, the council is one institution that really could use some fresh air and a welcome mat to the modern era: of its 37 directors, just seven are women.
Rigotti is the latest in a long line of male chief executives at the AICD. There was Armour, of course, and he was preceded by John Brogden, the former NSW Liberal leader. He helmed the institute following the departure of John Colvin, formerly of Freehills, who succeeded management consultant Ralph Evans, who himself succeeded John Call.
Getting a picture here?
The only female exception to this very stale procession is Rachel Gatehouse, the AICD’s then-chief financial officer under Brogden, who was appointed acting chief executive once he resigned – and even that was only for a stint.
In any case, perhaps the time is now ripe for the AICD to absorb these gentle observations given it is in the midst of conducting a “brand perception” survey of its members.
“This survey will be undertaken annually to ensure we maintain a strong understanding of your perceptions of our brand and to inform our future direction,” wrote AICD general manager Ben Ryan.
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