Ziggy Switkowski poised to replace Helen Coonan on Crown Resorts board

NBN chair Ziggy Switkowski is poised to be announced as Crown’s new chairman. Picture: Paul Jeffers

Outgoing Crown Resorts chair Helen Coonan is poised to be replaced at the helm of billionaire James Packer’s imperilled ­casino empire by former Telstra chief executive and respected company director Ziggy Switkowski.

Securing the services of nuclear physicist Switkowski, 73, who until early last year was a ­director of fellow gaming company Tabcorp, is a major coup for Coonan, who will leave the embattled $6.3bn company on Friday, Crown said.

Switkowski’s appointment, which is subject to probity and regulatory approvals, follows the spectacular self-implosion of Crown’s wider board and most senior management amid three separate royal commissions into the company’s ­affairs, the most recent of which, in Perth, is still unfolding.

Switkowski, who is chair of the federal government-owned NBN (he also had a time as executive chair), will be chair to Crown’s new chief executive Steve McCann, who is yet to receive probity clearance from Crown’s myriad regulators.

Ziggy Switkowski, right, with Peter Costello and Malcolm Turnbull in 2016. Picture: Aaron Francis

Switkowski as a former Tabcorp director has jumped through probity hoops before in both Victoria and NSW, which should speed up what has been a slow process of approval for other new Crown executives and directors.

The group is expected to reveal its annual results to the market on Monday.

Coonan and Switkowski are well known to each other from the former Howard government minister’s time as communications minister, which crossed over for a period with Switkowski’s reign at Telstra, where he oversaw the group’s privatisation.

Along with significant credibility, Switkowski also brings much experience as a non-executive director to the Crown board.

His career has included the chairmanship of Suncorp and ­directorships of Healthscope, Oil Search, Lynas and Amcor.

He will chair a Crown board that comprises Jane Halton (who will step up as interim chair), Toni Korsanos and Nigel Morrison, with former SkyCity director Bruce Carter awaiting probity approval.

Illustration: Rod Clement

Switkowski will join with a mandate to expand the ranks of directors at the board table.

The Melbourne-based businessman’s appointment makes for a new-look leadership at the group, untarred by any links to Packer or his family. It remains unclear to what extent Packer will be allowed to retain his 36 per cent shareholding in the controversial company.

It is not the first corporate clean-up Switkowski has taken on. He was called in to help fix AFL club Essendon at the height of its doping scandal, and more recently was tapped by Westpac to feature in a governance panel to make recommendations on board risk, governance and accountability.

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Holgate’s return

Ten months after her exit as the boss of Australia Post amid the Cartier watch scandal, Christine Holgate is set to return to the C-suite as early as next Tuesday as private equity shop Allegro finally settles on its purchase of Toll’s Global Express from divesting owner Japan Post.

With her $1m settlement from Post now part of Australian corporate history, Holgate will next week take the reins of the loss-making Global Express transport operations, which Allegro had hoped to have owned weeks ago.

Christine Holgate is set to start her new gig next week with Allegro and Adrian Loader. Picture: John Feder

The imminent change of ownership comes as Toll workers, including some from Global Express, strike on Friday amid stalled negotiations with management towards a new enterprise bargaining agreement that Allegro will honour after it takes over.

Global Express customers this week have been emailed on the impending ownership change and arrangements for doing business with the group’s new owners, which Margin Call understands will be controlled by Allegro under its new Australian Parcels Group top company.

But next week’s expected settlement of the Toll buy won’t be the only milestone moment for Allegro, which is also believed to be poised to launch what will be the group’s fourth fund, with the raising’s corporate framework established with the regulator this week.

The group is also expected shortly to embark on the process towards divestment of at least two of fund two and fund three portfolio companies.

Margin Call’s money is on Everest Ice Cream, which Allegro bought in October 2017, and the master franchisee licence for the operations of Pizza Hut in Australia, which it has held since 2016.

They will be hoping for sweet and tasty deals.

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Flying on handouts

Tear-jerking ads alone won’t pay the bills at national carrier Qantas, so just how is the Alan Joyce-led airline keeping the lights on during the coronavirus pandemic?

No less than $1.06bn in total taxpayer-funded federal government handouts.

Just like the four pillar banks, the almost $9bn airline looks to be considered by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg as too big to fail.

Buried deep in the airline’s just-released preliminary final accounts for the year to June 30 are details of just how much taxpayers have assisted Joyce to keep Qantas up and running.

Qantas chief Alan Joyce receiving his Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccination.

By far the biggest chunk of government funds received in the year by Qantas, which is chaired by Perth-based Richard Goyder (also the chair of the AFL), was $588m in JobKeeper payments. These were either paid directly to stood-down Qantas employees or subsidised the wages of those still working.

When it comes to the economic impact of Covid, the Qantas report reveals the airline considers itself “one of the most heavily impacted companies”.

The airline, which provides annual membership to its prestigious Chairman’s Lounge to all federal members of parliament and senators (except Jacqui Lambie of course), also received $219m in payments from the Austrade-administered International Freight Assistance Mechanism, designed to ensure exporters maintain connectivity to strategic markets offshore.

The accounts reveal Qantas also recorded $118m from the Morrison government via various schemes to maintain a baseline network of domestic passenger flights servicing the most critical metropolitan and regional routes, as well as conducting government-chartered repatriation flights.

On top of that there was $97m via the Australian Airline Financial Relief Package, which included the refunding and ongoing waiving of a range of government charges; $22m to support Qantas’s international operations to ensure airlines can quickly restart flights once restrictions are lifted; and $19m under the Tourism Aviation Network Support scheme.

Lacking is any disclosure on how much Joyce, who pre-pandemic was Australia’s highest paid exec – took home in the year. We’ll just have to wait for the airline’s annual report in September for that.

Ziggy Switkowski

Christine Holgate

Alan Joyce