McWilliam’s love match at the tennis

Illustration: Rod Clement

It was a string of 6-0 sets.

Channel 7’s long-time commercial director Bruce McWilliam certainly impressed Federal Court judge Jonathan Beach, as noted in the 441-page judgment in ASIC versus former Tennis Australia director Harold Mitchell over Seven’s 2012 broadcast rights deal for the Australian Open.

“Let me first say something at the outset concerning the reliability of Mr McWilliam’s evidence,” Justice Beach said.

“Essentially he was an honest witness, even if on occasion he sought to glean or anticipate the purpose of the cross-examiner and to tailor his answer accordingly.

“Occasionally he became irritable under questioning from Michael Pearce SC, but he can be forgiven for this.”

Beach described McWilliam as “savvy and smart” as he reviewed his evidence.

McWilliam gave answers that were “plausible” with Beach rejecting the notion that somehow McWilliam was in Mitchell’s camp in terms of giving evidence before his honour.

Not known to have enjoyed too many bagels on the tennis courts he’s owned, McWilliam did strike his honour, a former Trinity Grammar tennis player, as “quite a colourful character”.

Seven has long known this about its fixer, whom Beach further noted “was all for Seven”.

Margin Call reckons that rather than Mitchell, the big loser of course was ASIC for pursuing a hopeless case, based on bias, conspiracy theories and unfounded cover-ups. The judge effectively said that ASIC had no idea about how the business world worked.

Beach took issue with ASIC counsel Michael Pearce over his cross-examination of McWilliam, noting it “did not go as well as it might have wished for because of ASIC’s forensically impoverished position on the facts”.

Golden revival

There’s a revival taking place in Victoria’s gold industry with an increase in exploration as the gold price soared towards a record high of $US1980 per ounce this week.

And the veteran Toorak mining doyen Hugh Morgan is at the forefront of the yellow metal push. His Arete Capital is mining at Stawell, 250km northwest of Melbourne, which has a historic goldfield dating back to the roaring 1850s.

The distinguished career of Morgan, who turns 80 next month, commenced in 1965 with North Broken Hill. He rose to become chief executive of the Arvi Parbo-led WMC. He was chair of The World Gold Council, and was on the board of the Reserve Bank for a decade until 2007.

Another Victorian, Victor Smorgon, from the family best known for their steel, is the key backer of the nearby gold miner, North Stawell Minerals. It is currently seeking to raise $20m and float in September on the ASX.

North Stawell Minerals has a deal with Arete Capital to use their local expertise.

Apparently across Victoria some 80 million ounces of gold have been discovered since the 1850s. And there may be a further 75 million ounces of gold yet to be discovered, according to Geological Survey of Victoria estimates.

But the industry took a hit when the Daniel Andrews government imposed a 2.75 per cent royalty on gold produced in excess of 2500 ounces from January this year.

There was no Eureka flag waving from Morgan.

Expanding estate

Expatriate Ivan Ritossa, the acclaimed former Barclays global head of markets, and his wife Marina have expanded their NSW south coast holdings.

The London-based couple have long owned at Broughton Vale, near Berry.

They first bought in the late 1990s, paying $180,000 for nine hectares, then followed it up in 2002 spending $530,000 on another seven hectares. Their last outlay was in 2009 when they spent $1.45m. A recent $2m acquisition sees them add a neighbouring two hectares, taking their tally to 40 hectares costing $4m.

In the bunker

The Royal Sydney Golf Club at Rose Bay has issued an advisory barring members who have dined at the Australian Club over the past seven days. The decision followed word that the Australian Club, the private gentlemen’s club, had closed its discreet doors on Friday after one of its staff tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

It seems the powers that be at Royal Sydney reckon some of their golfers likely dined at the 1838 club on Macquarie Street. Not such a silly conclusion given they both attract the business, legal and political elites.

Although three recent diners, Cardinal George Pell, Sky News presenter Alan Jones and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, aren’t known for wearing plus fours or for their putting prowess.

Earlier in the week it was the Sydney’s yachting enthusiasts who were told to steer clear of the Cruising Yacht Club at Rushcutters Bay. It followed Vice Commodore Noel Cornish advising he’d tested positive after attending the Thai Rock restaurant in Potts Point.

Cruise control

Margin Call might have solved the mystery of the luxury yacht cruising around the Whitsundays. It has been hard to miss the 85m Amatasia, which only recently changed its name.

The Russian billionaire Igor Makarov had it called Areti, his natural gas company’s name Itera spelt backwards.

The inside word from Cayman yachting circles is that its name changed when it was sold to another Russian billionaire, Vladimir Potanin, who made his fortune from a controversial stake in Norilsk Nickel during the country’s privatisation in 1995.

His net worth is around $27bn.

The excited but misinformed Port Douglas locals had concluded it belonged to another billionaire mining magnate, our own Gina Rinehart.

The rumours arose after unconfirmed sightings of Rinehart at Port Douglas last month. It seems Amatasia, which cruised to Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef before making its way to Cairns, is possibly available for hire through the likes of Northrop & Johnson, Ahoy Club and Burgess.

Another of Potanin’s yachts, Barbara, currently for sale with a $295m price tag, is docked at Fremantle, available at €1m ($1.65m) a week.

Mansion sale

Danny Pavlovich, the entrepreneurial former elite bodybuilder, and his wife Suzie are set to emerge as the buyer of the Dalkeith mansion once owned by late entrepreneur Alan Bond and his then wife, Eileen.

The local paper says their $27.5m offer was accepted by its vendor, Sue Wyatt, who bought the property with her husband, miner Steve, for $39m in 2011 through Ray White selling agent Jody Fewster.

Pavlovich briefly came to national attention last November when selling Nutrition Systems to OBJ for $85m, but the deal failed to proceed amid the COVID-19 fallout.

Established in 1991, Nutrition Systems was one of the first companies in Australia to import health, wellness and sports nutritional products from the US. The 51-year-old Pavlovich has twice been a finalist in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year competition.

The six-bedroom, 3000sq m house on 6400sq m is probably the most opulent property in WA, with a 21-seat home theatre, ballroom for 400 guests, a 10,000-bottle cellar, three kitchens, 17 toilets, billiards room, underground parking for 12 cars, tennis court and a resort-style pool with swim-up bar. Plus a gym of course.