Hancock, Gina Rinehart pledge $1.6m for SAS legal fees
Turns out the Special Forces have lots of friends in high places, not least a bunch of the country’s most influential billionaires.
Australia’s wealthiest personGina Rinehart has added her name to the cause, pledging $1.6m in support of returned servicemen and their families, earmarked specifically for use in funding any prospective legal defence.
The ongoing trial of decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, with his first appearance in the witness box on Thursday, will not a beneficiary, however he continues to be supported by WA billionaire Kerry Stokes.
Instead, the issue of doling out the cash is a matter for the SAS Resources Fund, which counts Stokes as its chair and another of Perth’s royalty, Twiggy Forrest, among its board of Trustees.
Rinehart held court with several of the group’s representatives, including chair Grant Walsh and chief operating officer Chris Johns, at her Hancock headquarters last week as she unveiled new military pictures to be displayed in the lobby, and was pointed in her criticism of the handling of the issues brought to light in the Afghanistan inquiry last year.
“The HPPL Group was keen to provide support following the whistleblowers and then government’s unfortunate decision to make portions of the inquiry’s report public, despite no complaints regarding our defence personnel from the Afghan government, throwing our defence personnel without fair trial to the left media,” the company said in a statement, not the first time she’s singled out the “left media”.
“With the unfortunate consequence that after our government sent our groups to Afghanistan, the loss of life has been far greater since the inquiry, than the Australian Defence lives lost in active service in Afghanistan.”
The inquiry to which she refers is of course the Paul Brereton-penned tome released last year, which detailed alleged war crimes by Australian forces in Afghanistan and blew open a whole new wave of potential litigation for those involved.
“We know from speaking to a number of ex-SAS soldiers that the Brereton Report has taken a huge toll on them and still ties up defence personnel’s time. This distracts them from defence training and has cost many soldies lives,” Hancock said in a statement to Margin Call.
“Australia needs its defence adn should in our view be treatign our defence force, past and present, far far better. To do so, more budget is required for spending outside of the defence department.”
Rinehart is no stranger to the SAS Resources Fund, having a long affiliation with the charity established after the Black Hawk tragedy of 1996 to support servicemen and their families. It also counted Buckeridge scion Sam, former WA governor and also 24th Governor-General Michael Jeffery and ex-Woodside boss Peter Coleman as donors last year.
Even Roberts-Smith himself is a listed donor, as well as being an ambassador for the charity.
Any philanthropy was surely far from his mind on Thursday, as he faced his first of many days in the stand before judge Anthony Besanko in Sydney.
At last count the drawdowns of his loan from Stokes’ private investment company Australian Capital Equity were $1.9m.
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High flyers
What a difference a few years makes in the world of philanthropy.
While the theme (gold) was the same and the Sydney set just as flashy, there were some noticeable differences at Thursday night’s illustrious Gold Dinner, and we don’t just mean the social distancing rules.
Set up on the vacant airfield of Sydney’s International Terminal, a “once in a lifetime opportunity”, the black tie event was this year presented by none other than Crown Resorts, represented on the night by Sydney chief Peter Crinis and EGM Mark Holmes, and student accommodation network Scape, a marked shift from 2019 partner Aqualand.
Westfield heiress Monica Saunders-Weinberg was again the driving force behind the event, back from a pandemic-induced hiatus. Alongside husband Richard Weinberg she cut an impressive figure on the tarmac.
Then there was the rest of the committee crew, including new members like Qantas Loyalty head Olivia Wirth, Airbnb country manager Susan Wheeldon and REA chair Hamish McLennan.
What Crown-sponsored event would it be without a Packer?
The 26-year-old Francesca Packer was there to represent the family name, though by print deadline it was still too early for Margin Call to ascertain whether her on-again-off-again bestie Roxy Jacenko was also in tow.
Atlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes and wife Annie continued their support of the event, along with Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond and wife Amber and Sydney Airport chief Geoff Culbert.
Crown even put up a mysterious “Level 88 Ultimate Experience” at its Barangaroo site up for auction, with an estimated value of $85,000.
While Margin Call wasn’t privy to the details of such an experience, one thing is for sure: with its gambling licence still in limbo, it won’t involve any roulette.
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Demanding role
While Crown’s beautiful people prepared for the Gold Dinner, back at the James Packer-backed group’s locked-down Melbourne base there was still the unfolding public hearings at Ray Finkelstein’s Victorian royal commission to deal with.
Back in the box for a second day was the $8.5bn company’s newly appointed chief risk officer Anne Siegers, who’s actually worked at Crown since the end of 2017 but recently got her beefed up job title amid the fallout from the Bergin inquiry into Crown’s suitability to run a casino in NSW. While the doors of Crown’s gaming facility at its new $2.5bn Barangaroo entertainment venue remain shut thanks to Bergin’s scathing findings, Siegers, previously group general manager of risk and audit, has been the exec for the past three or so years creating, implementing and finessing what had previously been Crown’s non-existent risk management framework.
Siegers’ oversight for internal audit has now been taken over by new recruit Jessica Ottner, who has come from London for the new Crown role. Ottner started only last month, despite the job being created at the end of last year.
Now Siegers, with board risk management committee chair Jane Halton (not to mention Finkelstein) watching over her shoulder, is seeking to recruit a second in charge to her risk department, clearly signalling there is plenty still to do.
Sounds like a job that requires danger money.
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On a roll
It was an epic arvo at the skate park for retail millionaires the Hill brothers as their Globe International revealed a strong performance in the second half, ahead of expectations.
A late surge in the skate and surf wear group’s shares added almost $14m to the value of company founders Stephen, Peter and Matthew Hill’s collective shares in what is also the billionaire Solly Lew-backed group.
While Globe says it is still experiencing supply difficulties out of China, full-year sales will top $250m from $153m in the previous year amid peak Covid.
And that means profit for the full-year will be up too, driving Globe shares up 10 per cent to $5.40 each for a market capitalisation of $224m.
A world away from Globe’s one-time billion dollar value, but still up from prior lows and close to eclipsing the other Lew-backed retailer Myer, which these days is worth just over $270m.
Lew has had a stake in Globe for 15 years and has at times been a thorn in the Hill brothers’ sides. He controls an almost 6 per cent via his Poly Town vehicle that is worth just under $14m.
As for the Hills, they have almost 69 per cent worth $155m.
Stephen, Peter and Matthew Hill
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