Fairfax to slash 150 metro jobs as Qantas feels heat

Fairfax will axe 150 jobs at its Metro Media division, and Qantas hosts a very hot party.

Francesca Packer with Roxy Jacenko at her 21st birthday party at Sydney’s Luna Park

Fairfax will axe 150 jobs at its Metro Media division by May in a much bigger wave of cuts than was initially anticipated, Diary can reveal.

This is in addition to deep cuts in the marketing and product departments in recent weeks.

At the recent AGM, chief executive Greg Hywood signalled another push to reduce costs but did not disclose any targets or areas of the business impacted by the move. Metro Media publishes The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Insiders are claiming that Age editor Andrew Holden could leave while SMH editor Darren Goodsir is said to be “tossing up his options” amid attempts to trim back editorial teams.

If management fails to attain its job cuts target with voluntary cuts, it is believed the program will turn into forced redundancies by the deadline. Fairfax declined to comment. News of the Fairfax redundancies comes amid speculation of cost-cutting at News Corp Austr­alia, publisher of The Australian.

Aitken-gate a ‘myth’

The Stokes family has broken its silence on Aitken-gate, the grand investment that never was. Ryan Stokes was leading Seven Group Holdings’ proposed investment in Aitken Investment Management, launched by former Bell Potter stockbroker Charlie Aitken in June. Several newspapers at the time reported that Seven, or the “Stokes family”, had committed up to $150 million to Aitken’s fund. But for some unknown reason, they all got it wrong.

There was no Stokes money and there (most likely) never will be. Ryan told Diary: “We had a principle of what might work and I think in that context he’s launched his fund and when we sat down and said ‘well, how do we take it forward?’, his direction is slightly different to where we envisaged and ultimately we wish him well in what he’s going to build.” He added: “It’s kind of got to the point where we said we would potentially look at doing something and it’s kind of a different path that he’s heading down and we support him in that.” So did Seven or the Stokes family commit any funds to AIM? “No. In principle we talked about what it might look like if we did something together and that’s as far as we got.” Well, that’s awkward. But least they’re all still friends. “We rate Charlie,” Stokes says. “We have a good relationship and there’s no issue on our side or his as far as I understand.”

Nine’s board hunter

Nine Entertainment Co’s board is looking skinny, in frame and number. Apollo Global Management’s Kevin Crowe stepped down as a Nine director this month after the US hedge fund sold 13 per cent of its stake in the free-to-air broadcaster to WIN Corporation owner Bruce Gordon. Given Apollo sold its remaining 9.8 per cent stake, as revealed by The Australian, on Friday night, its other nominee Steve Martinez is also expected to depart.

That would leave only five directors, after fellow US hedge fund Oaktree Capital cut its Nine stake in April and its nominees, Rajath Shourie and Edgar Lee, left the board, while Joe Pollard went to Telstra. Diary understands the company has appointed headhunter Egon Zehnder in its director search and has a long list of candidates. Sources said a pre-Christmas appointment was a chance.

The other interesting part of the AGM was the presence of ­Gordon’s long-time adviser, Jon Adgemis from KPMG, and WIN chief executive Andrew Lancaster. Lancaster is considered the logical choice to represent Gordon on the Nine board, should he be granted a seat.

Francesca’s lively bash

Francesca Packer, the granddaughter of late media mogul Kerry Packer, might have celebrated her coming of age at Sydney’s Luna Park on the weekend, but the heiress will soon be on a plane to her new home town of Melbourne.

It is understood Francesca, who was 11 when her billionaire grandfather passed away, has transferred her studies from Sydney University to a Melbourne institution as she pursues her new romance with local 20-something Superman Kelli Holland.

The Packers gathered together Sydney’s A-list for the costume party 21st celebration, with the youthful crowd also peppered with some of the family’s closest associates. Francesca’s uncle James Packer, the brother of her mother Gretel, was invited to the bash but could not attend from overseas. New Crown Resorts chair and ConsPress chief executive Rob Rankin was there, as was the Packer’s adviser of choice Matt Grounds from UBS, with his wife Kim. Ardent Leisure boss Deborah Thomas also enjoyed festivities, with guests asked to come as the character you would like to grow up as. The birthday girl started the night as Minnie Mouse before transforming into a princess ... if the cap fits. Vogue Australia editor Edwina McCann was also there. The birthday girl, who celebrates her actual birthday today, features in a spread in this month’s edition of McCann’s glossy.

Fundie Charlie Aitken and his wife Ellie were also there, as was Crown’s Mark Arbib and Nine’s Richard Wilkins and Lisa Wilkinson. We presume there were some 20-somethings attending as well.

Qantas feels the heat

It was the hottest ticket in town in Sydney on Friday night — literally.

The thousand or so guests who packed into Qantas Hangar 96 at Sydney Airport for the airline’s 95th birthday bash knew what they were in for as the temperature gauge nudged 43C by mid-afternoon and probably another five degrees more on the tarmac. At least the airline had planned ahead, offering the ladies (and the gents with them) Japanese folding fans upon entry — which could double as flight aids for anyone left stranded by its sister airline, Jetstar.

No cancellations at Qantas though. As the guests took their seats under the wings and in the shadows of the Paul McGinness A380 aircraft parked in the hanger, master of ceremonies, Sky News politics boss David Speers mercifully gave the gents some relief when he announced it was no longer a black-tie affair and promptly undid his collar, followed by hundreds more in the room.

Not so Qantas chair Leigh Clifford and boss Alan Joyce, who both took to the stage still collared up. Even the normally T-shirt wearing Qantas director and ad guru Todd Sampson turned up in suit and tie, complete with matching pocket handkerchief.

In his speech Joyce revealed that it was in fact not the hottest Qantas party ever — the record was the airline’s 90th birthday bash at Longreach, when the temperature reached 50 and the waiters kindly put ice in the Irishman’s favourite red wine. The cool change that roared into Sydney around 8pm also made sure this affair would not be a record-breaker.

Looking on from the floor as Joyce impressively recited key events from the airline’s history without a note or autocue in sight were Qantas mascot John Travolta and wife Kelly, Treasurer Scott Morrison, who earlier was spotted in earnest conversation with Clifford, and Governor-General Peter Cosgrove, a former Qantas director. Also in the dress circle seats were former Telstra boss David Thodey, former transport minister Anthony Albanese, Daily Telegraph editor Paul “Boris’’ Whitaker next to Toll CEO Brian Kruger, HSBC CEO Tony Cripps, Sydney Airport CEO Kerrie Mather, RBA board member Heather Ridout and Qantas marketing whiz ­Olivia Wirth with Paul Howes.

Further afield and mercifully closer to the bar were busy Nine personality Richard Wilkins, Angela Bishop and — fresh from their first week in the job — the new executive chairman of News Corp Australasia Michael Miller and local chief executive Peter Tonagh.

Warners’ Sydney move

Another US studio has entered town. Warner Bros Television held drinks in Sydney’s Double Bay this week to reintroduce itself to the biz as it takes over production of Ten hits The Bachelor and The Bachelorette from Shine Australia.

After Nine dropped its expensive output deal with the studio, Warners has established a local outpost, recruiting a number of key Australian staff from the Shine shows and also pitching hard to local networks its new game show, 500 Questions (hosted by CNN’s Richard Quest in the US).

Yet Warners is yet to appoint a local boss. At least it’s not Netflixing it; it has a Sydney office, although British CEO Tim Carter flew in to host the party. Three’s a trend now with NBCUniversal moving in buying Matchbox Picture to produce local formats such as The Real Housewives, and British studio ITV expected to push its local production of its formats with David Mott now at the helm.

Weir won’t GetUp!

Deanne Weir was in the running to become the ABC’s first female managing director in the public broadcaster’s 80-year history, as revealed by The Australian. She was also one of the original backers of activist group GetUp! She donated $25,000 to GetUp! in 2006-07, according to the group’s website.

A lot of the money donated that year went to campaigning against the Coalition government, before John Howard lost the 2007 federal election to Kevin Rudd. We wonder if Weir’s apparent slant hurt her chances for the ABC gig? Weir followed up with a $40,000 donation the following year.

We’re not so sure, as it becomes clear Weir was not getting much traction with ABC chairman James Spigelman. Indeed, all we know is another list of eight ­contenders published by Fairfax Media recently was way off the mark.

At this point, none of the eight, including Kim Williams and SBS’s Michael Ebeid, would be ­regarded shorter than 20-1 for the gig.