Albo’s full dance card in Perth, Fox tries to calm investors, and Marles’ changing tune

Blame it on Rio

“Anthony Albanese dined in Perth last night at private residence with Rio Tinto CEO and other mineral resource execs,” a tipster told us yesterday. “Think public should know about this.” Indeed, Albanese held a quiet dinner on Monday with 150 of his closest friends from the resource and finance sectors at the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in Peppermint Grove — something The West Australian reported on and, like most things in Perth, no-one else paid much attention to.

And one would expect Rio Tinto CEO Kellie Parker to be on the guest list given Albanese had been touring the mining behemoth’s rail and port operations the day before.

While the PM’s office didn’t explicitly confirm the event when asked by The West Australian, one could scarcely argue Albanese, pictured below wearing a personalised Rio Tinto hi-vis shirt, is being opaque about his current buddies:

This event forms part of a packed social calendar for the old tory fighter, following his dinner with the Business Council last week.

Regardless, we’re always keen to hear about this stuff — if you spot a politician keeping interesting company, let us know.

Fox in the henhouse

Here’s one to keep an eye on: US activist investor Arjuna Capital has withdrawn a shareholder proposal it filed with Fox Corporation over the “significant reputational and legal risks” posed by the misinformation broadcast by the network after the 2020 election.

Citing the US$787 million settlement of the lawsuit brought against it by electronic voting company Dominion Voting systems, and the ongoing defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic (which is seeking $2.7 billion in damages), the proposal, filed in May, argued: “Fox must address how it is assessing and mitigating risks such as misinformation and disinformation.”

The proposal has now been withdrawn after Fox committed to hiring a law firm to assess its oversight of these risks. Last month, Fox asked the US Securities and Exchange Commission to be allowed to omit the proposal, arguing it was already implementing the requested measure via language which has the same relationship with caveats that Bonnie and Clyde’s V8 Ford had with bullets:

After discussing the proposal, the board concluded that conducting an evaluation of the merits of establishing a risk oversight committee is an advisable exercise and is taking steps to implement the proposal.

Unequivocal stuff. It’s hired law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton to undertake the review. We’ll see what happens — qualifiers aside, Fox trying to mitigate the risks of disinformation is rather like advising lions on the risks of attacking zebras.

Being a good sport

[As senior members, you’re] saying you’re not prepared to be public about what you were paid to actually develop a business case that has seen Victorian taxpayers fork out hundreds of millions of dollars for non-existing Commonwealth Games.

So fumed Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie, as members of consulting giant EY refused to share with a Senate inquiry how much it was paid to advise the Victorian government on the now-cancelled Commonwealth Games.

And certainly the farrago deserves forensic scrutiny. But of all the people the Coalition might put forward to complain about misuse of more than $100 million in public money for distinctly pork-flavoured sports infrastructure, why in the name of Tea Tree Gully Golf Club’s new lift would they choose McKenzie?

In case you’ve forgotten (which the Coalition must be counting on), it was McKenzie’s office which took control of the $100 million Community Sport Infrastructure Program grants process and systematically hurdled all legal and procedural barriers to direct it to marginal seats in the lead-up to the 2019 election, possibly the defining rort for a government riddled with them.

No one twigged

It’s easy to slam journos for what appears to be a compromisingly cosy relationship with power, but who can deny it, such access can lead to important stories. Take the soiree held over the weekend by Fortescue Metals chair and biggest shareholder, billionaire Andrew Forrest. The 20th anniversary party for his company was held at Fortescue’s Solomon mine in the Pilbara. Besides Forrest’s fellow billionaires, politicians and others, there was an impressive list of media heavies howling at the moon (or singing along with Jimmy Barnes — it’s easy to confuse the two).

The Daily Telegraph editor Ben English, Shevan Bevan Shields of The Sydney Morning Herald, Sky News’ Laura Jayes, Paul Garvey of The Australian, Joe Hildebrand and Jennifer Hewett from The Australian Financial Review and the SMH’s Elizabeth Knight were all there, according to The Australian on Monday.

But with all those journalistic heavyweights on the ground, you might wonder why not a breath appeared in Monday’s papers about the impending departure of CEO Fiona Hick, suddenly out the door on Monday after less than six months in the role.

That was then, this is now

Richard Marles, writing in the Geelong Advertiser July 31 2015:

Recently, the country dropped its collective jaw at the arrogance of Speaker Bronwyn Bishop using taxpayer money to fly in a helicopter from Melbourne to Geelong.

… Governing in a way that improves people’s lives is not about photo opps, Hollywood glitz or ranting tweets. It is about serious policy work, determined advocacy and follow-through. In this respect there is a vast difference in the way those of us in Labor go about our work.

News.com.au, August 29 2023:

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles is booking military planes to pick him up and drop him off at Avalon airport closer to his home in Geelong, saving himself a one-hour chauffeur-driven car ride from Melbourne.

But the flights are contributing to a staggering $3.6 million bill for Mr Marles’ VIP private plane costs since last year alone.