John Pesutto a no-show at AFL’s grand final lunch; Jabiluka mine’s 79-minute rejection
It’s been a harrowing couple of weeks for Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto, with the misery of that defamation case brought by Moira Deeming continuing.
Meanwhile, talk has been growing that former tennis ace and now Liberal state MP Sam Groth is positioning for a run at the Libs leadership in Victoria soon, with Pesutto considered to be on thin ice once the pesky court appearances subside.
Which brings us to Saturday’s AFL grand final and the hottest corporate and political networking event in town, the swanky Olympic Room at the MCG.
Pesutto was on the 600-strong guest list, Margin Call is informed, but is a late withdrawal. And who has replaced him? None other than Groth. Oh. A portent of things to come in Victoria? We shall see …
It has at least saved Pesutto from another haranguing by Peter Dutton, with the Liberal federal leader down to make an appearance and likely circle the room – easily the best networking opportunity in the country – a safe distance away from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The pair are at least representing their respective states, with NSW Premier Chris Minns a surprising no-show, leaving Albo – allegedly a Hawthorn tragic – to have to cheer on the Sydney Swans.
It is a similar situation for Dutton, with Queensland Premier Steven Miles too busy trying to somehow win his upcoming state election. Federal Sports Minister Anika Wells will form an uneasy alliance with fellow Queenslander Dutton to support the Brisbane Lions.
It will be AFL chief Andrew Dillon’s first grand final as boss, and he will host the likes of billionaire Kerry Stokes, his son Ryan Stokes and new Seven West Media boss Jeff Howard on the main table.
Former AFL commissioner and now Governor-General Sam Mostyn – who stepped down from the Swans board to take on the biggest job in the land – will also be at the MCG, as well as Telstra CEO Vicky Brady and local Toyota boss Matthew Callachor.
AFL chair Richard Goyder will also be hosting the various billionaires, pollies and footy legends, and presumably, having recently left the same role at Qantas, he will not have to cop jokes about the airlines price-gouging this week for Swans and Lions fans flying to Melbourne.
There is a cost of living crisis, after all.
Deputy PM Richard Marles is also going, but likely smarting from his beloved Geelong losing to Brisbane in last weekend’s preliminary final, and Trade Minister Don Farrell will also be in the room, as will Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen and her deputy Ben Carroll.
Quick flick
Miners have been complaining for years that it takes an age to get decisions out of the federal government, and Resources Minister Madeleine King appears to have finally acted to speed things up.
But it seems a looming election and the need to give boss Anthony Albanese an announceable for a Labor Party meeting is what it takes to get a swift decision these days, though not if you want it to go in your favour.
King considered the paperwork to extend the Jabiluka mining lease for just 79 minutes before wiping Australia’s most controversial mining project off the map, according to legal documents filed by Energy Resources of Australia this week.
The Minister couldn’t comment on Friday as the matter is before the courts, but ERA’s filing argues her haste stemmed from a desire to give Albanese something to tell the party faithful at the NSW Labor conference on July 27. The fact that the Northern Territory was heading to the polls on August 24 was also a factor in the timing, according to ERA.
And, while ERA boss Brad Welsh only got 10 minutes with the Minister to argue the company’s case, the advice provided to King from her political advisers makes it clear all of her colleagues had already expressed a view.
Albanese, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, Indigenous Affairs minister Linda Burney, NT Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, and special envoy for Northern Australia Luke Gosling all wanted the lease cancelled, the briefing says.
Of Labor’s NT contingent, only MP Marion Scrymgour wanted the decision held off until after the Territory election to “avoid political attacks”.
NBN’s new pitch
Is there a bit of nervousness setting in over at NBN Co?
Bashing the broadband wholesaler is a national sport these days, so Margin Call was fascinated to see that NBN has signed a sponsorship deal to plug its wares during the other national summer sport.
Rest assured the deal with Cricket Australia and Seven to run ads during India’s summer tour won’t come cheap.
Here’s the thing: NBN has only five customers that really matter. Telstra, TPG, Optus, Vocus and Aussie Broadband delivered 90 per cent of the wholesaler’s $5.5bn revenue last financial year.
Households might be paying for NBN access, but they’re paying an internet retailer to get it. So why the need for a flashy advertising campaign?
An NBN bugle said the wholesaler was still in a competitive market, and the threat from 5G and private fibre networks made the spending necessary to drive “greater awareness and preference for NBN services”.
That suggests competition might be looming large for incoming NBN boss Ellie Sweeney when she takes charge in December.
The wholesaler’s Sky Muster satellite service is getting murdered in the bush by Elon Musk’s Starlink. Optus – now helmed by former NBN chief Stephen Rue – has just launched a campaign to convince householders to opt for 5G rather than fibre; and private fibre networks such as TPG’s Vision Network are undercutting NBN wherever they can.
Against this, Australians notoriously pay more than almost any other nation for broadband access – with most punters more than happy to blame the botched rollout of the national broadband network.
It’s not NBN’s first brand campaign, to be fair. When the wholesaler last put its advertising budget out to tender in 2022, the gig was said to be worth about $30m. Last year NBN spent $65m on “communications and public information” – up 16 per cent for the year.
That includes worthy campaigns around online scams, availability and access to services in the bush, and the rest of the standard paraphernalia of corporate Australia.
The cricket sponsorship is the flashiest yet, though, carrying the tagline “great things happen every moment on NBN”. And, if there’s a bit of nervousness showing through, it’s not for nothing. The wholesaler still owes more than $26bn. And after paying back the federal government $5.5bn last year, it’s now all on commercial terms.
NBN was issuing bonds at a 1 per cent coupon in 2020; the most recent lots run closer to 5 per cent. Debt repayments at NBN were up 27 per cent to $882m last year.
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