Labor minister’s partner snags funding victory
Oh, what a coincidence.
Back in August we clocked a few Labor ministers gathered at the University of Sydney for the grand opening of the Australian Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusion at Work, a facility run by Professor Rae Cooper.
Cooper is the partner of Assistant Minister (and former trade union official) Tim Ayres, so naturally he was in attendance for this occasion. As were senator Murray Watt, senator Jenny McAllister, and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, who lavished praise on Cooper and singled her out during a speech for contributions which “helped shape our agenda for women”.
No mention at that stage of Cooper’s contributions to the Albanese government’s independent review of IR reforms, which later published an interim report on January 31 featuring Cooper, an employment relations specialist, heartily endorsing Labor’s adjustments for the Early Childhood Education and Care sector.
“Professor Rae Cooper submitted that the supported bargaining stream holds the potential to enhance job security, wages, and conditions for low-paid women,” it said. Surprise, surprise: Labor minister’s partner supports government policy. So much for “independent”, eh?
“In Professor Rae’s opinion, the ECEC Agreement is a prime example of the stream facilitating an alignment between funding structures and bargaining to improve job quality and equity outcomes.”
Normally we’d end our snark here, having already pointed out this collision of interests.
But, then came the announcement on Tuesday Cooper’s equity and inclusion centre would now also become the recipient of $5m in grant funding from a partnership with … the Albanese government!
Gallagher’s plan, of course. She announced the funding and said it would bring together Cooper’s centre and the research capabilities at two other universities for the purpose of researching “women’s economic equality and security, including the intersections with women’s safety”.
And that’s to say nothing of the intersections between Cooper and the Labor Party, but best we also say the grant was subject to a competitive process. We wouldn’t want anyone thinking there was preferential treatment afoot. YB
Tabcorp shambles
What were Tabcorp directors thinking before they ambushed former boss Adam Rytenskild in March last year? It looks like former chairman Bruce Akhurst and the rest of the Tabcorp board will get to front the Federal Court to explain the shambles around Rytenskild’s sacking.
After winning a damning decision against Tabcorp over his dismissal in the Fair Work Commission in November, Rytenskild this week filed a lawsuit against the betting company.
But, not just against Tabcorp. He is also pursuing the high-flying directors who unlawfully gave him two hours to make Hobson’s choice — resign or be sacked, and both options would cost him millions in lost unvested shares, options and bonuses.
Also named as defendants are Akhurst, his replacement as Tabcorp chairman Brett Chenoweth and non-executive directors David Gallop, Janette Kendall, Raelene Murphy, Karen Stocks and former ABC chairman Justin Milne (who has also now left the Tabcorp board).
Only rarely has such an extensive list of corporate worthies been handed to a process server in Australia.
Rytenskild may well still be angry at his dismissal, but it’s the shambolic process adopted by Tabcorp which put its entire board in the sights of his legal team.
When Fair Work deputy president Gerard Boyce handed down his dismal assessment of the board’s decision to sack Rytenskild, the 24-year Tabcorp veteran was said to prefer reinstatement to the betting company’s top job rather than a cash payout.
Gillon McLachlan, announced as Rytenskild’s permanent replacement in June, took up the job in August, and Rytenskild is now pressing his case for compensation in the Federal Court.
Tabcorp told us it will vigorously defend the proceedings and will present an alternative account once the matter goes to court.
“Tabcorp took action immediately in relation to Mr Rytenskild’s conduct following an investigation by a leading law firm,” it said. “The conduct was corroborated by direct witnesses and the investigation concluded that it occurred.”
The reason Rytenskild was marched? Some vaguely vulgar remarks allegedly made about a Victorian regulatory official months earlier might go public — remarks Rytenskild still denies making.
In response, according to the decision handed down by Boyce, Rytenskild was summoned to an 11am meeting with Akehurst, Gallop and Murphy and told the board had already decided he was done.
He could quit or be sacked, and a decision was needed within two hours. No explanation of his alleged behaviour would matter, no legal advice allowed, no extension was possible.
The alternative to resignation, as the Fair Work deputy president made clear, was that his reputation would be destroyed.
“The Tabcorp board would also be seeking to occupy the moral high ground, publicly framing or casting their decision to terminate the applicant’s employment as an example of the Tabcorp board’s unapologetic leadership style, and a feather in the cap to Tabcorp’s corporate governance credentials,” the decision said.
What a feather in their cap the decision has become.
And now Tabcorp’s directors will get the chance to explain why they made it, in public. NE
Laying low
Geelong swindler David Collard — once hailed by Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles as “innately entrepreneurial” and a “force of nature” — is still laying low in the US while Australian Federal Police circle him over allegations of a staggering fraud against the Commonwealth.
Collard is accused of fleecing a hefty list of creditors, the biggest being the Australian Taxation Office, from whom he’s accused of claiming tax incentives and GST refunds to the tune of $126m.
Liquidators from Worrells have been picking at the carcass of Collard’s defunct enterprise, Scale Facilitation, for more than a year. He’s barely co-operating and they haven’t been paid for any of this work, the unpaid fees racking up to about $150,000, according to Worrells’ Greg Thiveos in an email cc’ing two of the firm’s principals, Scott Andersen and Matthew Jess.
Without further funding from creditors, as Thiveo
s said on February 14, it could transpire that Worrells might have to drop the matter and move on entirely.
“Significant funding is required to reconstruct the flow of funds in/out of the company’s bank accounts and/or undertake public examinations,” Thiveos said, although we hear talks are continuing with creditors to figure out some sort of financial Band-Aid.
“The liquidator is not in a position to pursue further investigations without funding from creditors.”
Which is a shame, because creditors are already way out of pocket. And, while no one expects the liquidator to work for free, Scale Facilitation wasn’t exactly a dime store operation by the time it fell over.
It was a multi-continental cloud of half-truths and money-back guarantees, Ponzie promises and photo-ops with Marles and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, both of whom fell for Collard’s rubbish and spoke glowingly enough of his wankery to legitimise him in the eyes of the good-faith people who later lent him money.
Why wouldn’t you trust a guy who can summon the deputy prime minister to New York for an office opening party and receive such fawning endorsements? Millions were borrowed, lives were ruined.
Worrells hasn’t called it quits yet, but no one watching this imagines a rush of funds will suddenly manifest. And the really sad bit is that if Worrells does retreat, it’ll end up being a small, technical victory for the five-sided trickster. YB
Creative Australia: groupthink and backslapping
CA boss Adrian Collette will soon front Senate Estimates. He may want to explain why roughly 37 per cent of its peer assessors, who oversee grant funding, received grants themselves.
MCA backs itself into corner over unwelcome guest speakers
Another day, another dreadful call by an arts institution, this time Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, which has got itself in a tangle over a bash booked by Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi for International Women’s Day.