White’s great oration dumped; Gladys and pal step out in Tokyo

Richard White’s services as a speaker have been eagerly sought – until now. Picture: John Fotiadis

WiseTech billionaire Richard White had been the hotly anticipated speaker at next week’s Shepherd Oration, an annual gabfest of middling repute stuffed at the back-end of the corporate networking calendar.

Sadly, those who’d been hoping to hear from him learned on Tuesday afternoon that his appearance had been scrapped – along with the entire oration itself – courtesy of that unedifying court case presently engulfing his personal life.

An email dispatched by the office of Senator Andrew Bragg (the oration’s chief sponsor) informed guests that the event would “no longer be going ahead” as planned on October 23, with an alternative date “currently under review”.

For anyone uncertain about that delicate form of messaging, be in no doubt that the oration was wholly cancelled due to White’s inconveniences with Linda Rogan in the Federal Court, and it seems highly unlikely the event will be revived at all this year.

WiseTech founder Richard White and wellness entrepreneur Linda Rogan.

Much hand-wringing behind the scenes about this, of course, but Bragg, White and the great Tony Shepherd were ultimately in agreement that White’s appearance (in the face of scandalous headlines) would be optically ill-advised. Hence their solution to kick the whole act into long grass.

And all this drama over a relatively modest amount of money, especially for a rich-lister like White, ranked 13th nationally with a net wealth of $9.72bn (according to The Australian’s ever-dependable index of our richest 250 people).

His difficulties trace their way back to a pursuit of Rogan in the bankruptcy court for a sum of $92,000, which triggered the release of hitherto-unknown linen concerning their professional and personal relations.

Allegations ventilated so far include details of a soured-business deal and a claim that White invested in Rogan’s enterprise, Bionik Wellness, in exchange for a sexual dalliance in a hotel room (a claim, it should be added, that he hasn’t quite denied, either).

Technically speaking, White didn’t call off the Shepherd Oration, nor did he pull out of the event, but he has definitely stepped aside from public-facing duties he’d committed to as a member of the Tech Council of Australia board.

A disruption, we note, that was similarly caused by the Rogan affair. And all this bother must surely act as a cautionary tale for the rest of the country’s rich-listers, especially those thinking of having their intra-familial beefs adjudicated by a judge.

And there are more than a few toying with the idea …

Rare Gladys sighting

Spotted! Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian with boo SC Arthur Moses in Tokyo of all places. We all knew Berejiklian was a rock star in NSW but who could have guessed she’s just as huge in Japan?

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian in Japan.

A Margin Call spy spotted the couple on Tuesday shopping at Tommy Hilfiger’s Omotesando store, Moses walking inside bearing goods from a nearby Nike shop and appearing to embrace the opportunity for a fashion glow-up.

Gladys, meanwhile – arms folded, seemingly unimpressed – bore the countenance of a plus-one who’d much rather have been anywhere else.

Well, maybe not an ICAC witness box.

Moses, always polite and patient with Margin Call’s needling, declined to comment.

A loser in litigation

Clive Palmer once listed litigation as a hobby for his entry in the pre-internet rich-list known as Who’s Who. It might be time to take up knitting instead, given the pasting he’s been getting from the corporate regulator ­recently.

Among other things, Palmer is suing Australia for $300bn (and counting) along with China’s biggest private company for tens of billions. He has sued the Catholic Church, at least three premiers, a prime minister, and most of the country’s major newspapers.

The Queensland Supreme Court alone lists 64 cases involving Clive Frederick Palmer, going back to 1992. The Federal Court lists 35.

And that is just those involving Palmer personally, not those solely involving his companies.

But is he any good at it?

Not really, judging by the scoresheet in his ongoing brawl with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, where the corporate regulator – often maligned for avoiding the courts – has dug in for the long haul.

ASIC has been pursuing Palmer since 2018 on criminal charges in the Brisbane Magistrates court.

Clive Palmer likes going to court but he’s just not that good at it. Picture: Steve Pohlner

The first set of cases relate to alleged breaches of the takeovers code when trying to buy out timeshare investors in his Coolum Resort in Queensland.

ASIC is also pursuing charges, first laid in 2020, over allegedly dishonest use of his position as a director over his funding of the Palmer United Party during the 2013 election campaign.

Only a week ago Federal Court judge Catherine Button described Palmer’s attempts to end the former prosecution as “unabashed frontal assaults on the criminal proceedings”.

The two cases have racked up more than 50 mentions in the Magistrates Court, but neither has come anywhere close to trial – Palmer has bogged down both in the courts, at vast legal expense. And, to be fair, like any other citizen Palmer has every right to the best defence possible. But an analysis of ASIC’s public records of the cases suggests Palmer has been copping a hiding.

Margin Call’s score sheet? ASIC 39, Palmer 3. Or 25-3 if you count cases wrapped up together by the courts and dismissed at the same time. Either way it’s a flogging worthy of the Sydney Swans on Grand Final day.

And chalking three wins into the Palmer column is an act of generosity – all are appeals to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to shake loose ASIC documents under Freedom of Information laws, agreed to by ASIC under consent orders.

Palmer has been to the Queensland Supreme Court at least 10 times to have the cases stopped, and has been tossed out of court every time (except the ones he withdrew before they were heard). Two appeals have gone as far as the High Court, which declined to get involved.

In dismissing one of Palmer’s appeals, the Queensland Supreme Court said his claims “lacked any reasonable basis, were vexatious, and were correctly struck out as an abuse of process”.