Costello switches on diplomacy at Nine

Woolworths chairman Gordon Cairns. Picture: AAP

Former treasurer turned Nine Entertainment chairman Peter Costello has spent plenty of time in the Canberra bubble.

Even he admits his experience in the nation’s capital has stood him in good stead for the top job at the broadcaster, helping to push for media reform and to stand up against the big tech heavyweights Google and Facebook.

But while the political fallout of this week’s Four Corners investigation continues to weigh on Christian Porter and Alan Tudge, it seems there’s other parts of Canberra life that haven’t transferred as easily to the corporate world.

Such as, let’s say, any kind of “bonk ban” similar to that introduced by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, albeit after Costello’s time.

Addressing Nine’s shareholders on Thursday morning, Costello laid out plans for the group’s continued digital push and focus on streaming as he forecast trading to return to growth by the December ­quarter.

When the session was opened to shareholder questions, however, the former pollie was much more measured in his responses.

Illustration: Rod Clement

Asked to comment on a Sunday Telegraph report and accompanying pictures showing chief Hugh Marks picnicking with his executive assistant Jane Routledge earlier this year, he kept things brief.

“It is correct that it was published,” the ever-diplomatic chair started.

“I don’t believe there is anything that has breached the company’s policies or its code and I don’t believe it warrants any further engagement.”

After almost eight years with the Days of Our Lives broadcaster, it seems he’s picked up a few dramatic tricks along the way.

Indeed, the group’s code of conduct makes no mention of intracompany relations, nor any rules on picnicking, only that “People Leaders must be seen as a trusted advocate of expected behaviour in the workplace”.

When the subject turned to speculation of the chair’s tenure, levelled by prolific questioner and shareholder advocate Stephen Mayne, Costello confirmed he would serve out his current three-year term but gave no insight into plans past that.

By question seven from Mayne, however, things got a little more personal.

“Seven questions, that’s got to be one for every share he owns,” Costello quipped, adding that any assertion that Nine and rival Kerry Stokes’s Seven had co-ordinated clashing shareholder meetings was something from a “fantasy world” and a “conspiracy”.

By the end of the meeting then, there had been a political play, a love interest and splash of macho conflict.

Days of Our Lives eat your heart out.

Gordon’s shout

Woolworths chairman Gordon Cairns has stood firm on the group’s proposal to build a mega Dan Murphy’s site in Darwin, refusing to pander to community outrage as he hit back at the proposal’s critics.

A headache for drinks head Steve Donohue, on top of the delayed Endeavour Drinks spin-off, the proposal to build one of the nation’s largest outlets has been ongoing for the past five years, but is one of the first in the queue to be passed under fast-track liquor legislation before the NT government.

The move prompted an open letter on Thursday from Aboriginal health groups, including well-known activist Pat Turner, asking the grocery and liquor chain to scrap its bid on public health grounds, noting the site’s proximity to three dry communities.

Addressing the subject at the group’s AGM on Thursday, Cairns was quick to smack down any opposition, a noticeable change from his upbeat demeanour during the rest of the session.

Artists impression of the proposed Dan Murphy's business development. Picture: Supplied

Cairns said Woolies had listened to earlier objections by organisations such as the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education — chaired by equity lawyer Andrew Fairley — and Dan Murphy’s had consequently moved the store to a new site in the planned Darwin Airport Retail Precinct.

Going further, he said the group had met with the Indigenous communities near the store and had satisfied their concerns.

Then came the real big hitter.

“On behalf of the Indigenous communities that we’ve been in negotiations with - they object to other people speaking on their behalf.

“These people who have objected most recently do not speak on their behalf. And the communities that we have engaged with are resentful of the fact that other people should seek to represent a view which is not theirs.”

Finishing with a moment of introspection, he added he had “got a little forceful on this” because he believed passionately they’d done the right thing, before reverting back to his previous cheery self for the remainder of the meeting, even as he wiped the lectern down with sanitiser numerous times to keep all proceedings COVID-19 safe.

A change.org petition against the store to “Keep grog out of our communities” has so far garnered more than 117,000 signatures (near equal to greater Darwin’s population of 147,000), saying community leaders and health organisations had been vocal in their opposition, highlighting possible risks including alcohol-fuelled violence, pedestrian safety and the erosion of culture.

He’s doing all White

Forget snow at the White’s Christmas, it’ll be raining cash if billionaire tech developer Richard White has anything to do with it.

WiseTech CEO Richard White. PIC: Nic Walker for The Australian

The founder of logistics software platform WiseTech has amassed more than half his personal fortune in shares and, as tech names like his rocket higher amid the work-from-home push, there’s no better time to consolidate some of his profits into cold hard cash.

While the selldown is no surprise (White flagged the sale of as much as 1.7 per cent of the company in September), the sheer size of the parcels is eye-watering.

Take, for example, his latest sale of 328,000 shares, at the near-record price of $32.06 — netting White a casual $9.6m.

Not bad for a couple of days’ work.

In total, since his announcement of the selldown three months ago, White has drawn down $76.73m in shares, on top of a $41m tax sale in June, surely creating quite the wildfire in his pockets.

But if that wasn’t enough, he is offloading assets, too — with his purpose-built Alexandria headquarters in Sydney on the market with a $35m price guide.

When it rains it pours.

Gordon’s shout

He’s doing all White