By Kylar Loussikian & Samantha Hutchinson
There’s nothing quite like Sydney private school discontent to round off the year.
And it doesn’t get any more high-end than the parental rumbling emanating from SCEGGS Darlinghurst, which counts High Court Justice Virginia Bell, nuclear physicist Joan Freeman and Frenchs Forest chicken shop spinner Roxy Jacenko as alumni.
Illustration: John ShakespeareCredit:
Of particular concern: the continued involvement of dumped AMP chairwoman Catherine Brenner and former Commonwealth Bank chief executive Ian “Temper Your Sense Justice” Narev on the school board. Both emerged from the Hayne Royal Commission in poor shape.
But there they were — Brenner and Narev — earlier this month at the school’s annual speech night at the Sydney Town Hall in their finest academic attire making their way down the aisle with the teaching staff as parents and students looked on.
We’ve heard from a number of parents (Jacenko sadly not among them) about the looks of bemusement and annoyance.
It was, after all, only days later that James Shipton’s corporate cop shop sued top-tier law firm Clayton Utz and AMP for refusing to hand over documents relating to the fees-for-no-service scandal which ended up forcing Brenner to resign.
Curiously, neither Brenner’s nor Narev’s SCEGGS board biographies mention their respective roles at AMP and the Commonwealth Bank, even if they have the room to publish other corporate gigs including Brenner’s role at Coca-Cola Amatil and Boral.
(She has left Boral and is leaving Coke next year.)
The second issue is the HSC — it seems the girls at SCEGGS have slid further behind arch-rivals Kambala and Ascham, where Skye Leckie and Gretel Packer went to school.
Only three years ago the three eastern suburbs institutions were but one point apart in the annual HSC rankings – Ascham was 12th, followed by Kambala and SCEGGS.
And while Kambala has subsided two points to 14th this year, and Ascham to 18th, it is SCEGGS which has fallen to 25th place. It’s hardly the end of the world but, when many of the parents are banker and lawyers, league tables do count.
Lunch watch
Lunch watch: Former Israel ambassador turned Wentworth Liberal hopeful Dave Sharma at Bacco Osteria in Angel Place, Football Federation Australia boss David Gallop holding court at Rockpool Bar & Grill and Gold Logie-winner Jana Wendt at the Pitt Street Woolworths.
Hands in the till
Graham Burke, chief executive of Village Roadshow, has seen a company which has made a grand total profit of less than $7 million in four years.Credit: Eddie Jim
They say nepotism is fine as long as you keep it in the family.
And so we return to the Graham Burke-run theme park and movie business Village Roadshow, whose accumulated losses over the past four years totals $6.9 million.
It's a remarkable effort given Burke’s three decades in the game.
At his side, loyal sidekick Robert Kirby, he of the wealthy Melbourne Kirby clan, concurrently holding the titles of co-chief executive and co-chairman until August this year.
And the reward for delivering such a pittance in profits?
An astonishing $19.8 million between them in total remuneration, enough to pay for the longest lunch the poolside cabana at the Beverly Wilshire.
But the bounty of the family-run yet publicly-listed fiefdom goes further with Kirby’s son Clark J Kirby now an executive in charge of the company’s theme park business.
He’s managed to ring out $4.6 million in remuneration since 2015.
We’ve already brought you news Village Roadshow splashed out some $700,000 in the last two years (and precisely $1.38 million since 2015) purchasing wines from Kirby’s Mornington Peninsula vineyard Yabby Creek and a further $88,000 renting the family artwork.
But shareholders have also shelled out about $70,000 – according to related party disclosures in their financial results – to buy bikinis from Burke’s daughter Lisa.
(She's best known for sparking a minor diplomatic incident with India after sending down the Australian Fashion Week catwalk a swimsuit depicting the goddess Lakshmi in 2011.)
We thought the NSW Labor Ferguson clan kept it in the family, but this is something else.