New Seven CEO Jeff Howard wants to bring his clean-skin touch to the company.John Shakespeare
It’s fair to say that many staff weren’t thrilled about Monday’s news thatChris Dore,who departed the editor’s chair atThe Australianafter allegedly making lewd comments to a woman, in the shakeup that followed the “paying for Bruce Lehrmann’s sex workers and cocaine scandal”.
On an unrelated note,staff received an email from human resources two days later urging anyone who’d witnessed inappropriate behaviour in the workplace to “Be Brave and Speak Up”.
“It’s very important that everyone at SWM feels empowered to speak up if you witness inappropriate behaviour in the workplace,” the email from the company’s general manager (people and safety)Claire Taylorsaid.
Staff were also given a reminder about the whistleblower hotline,where employees could anonymously raise allegations of nasties like fraud,corruption or mismanagement of company resources. If only more were aware of the hotline when the network was spending $10,000 on a company credit card to order Thai masseuses for a man later found by a civil court to be a rapist. Maybe then,an adult might have stepped in.
While the timing of the reminder raised a few eyebrows internally,a Seven spokesperson assured us there was nothing to see here.
“We regularly send reminders to staff about Seven policies,processes and support programs,” they said. “This is simply an example of such a reminder. To suggest otherwise would be inaccurate and misleading.”
But the “Be Brave and Speak Up” mantra is firmly in keeping with the clean-skin vibe Seven’s goody-two-shoes new bossJeff Howard,who addressed troops at a town hall in Perth on Thursday,hopes to bring to the company.
As for Dore,whose supporters are adamant is a changed man,we hear the “acting” part of his job is a bit of a sham. There’s no timeline yet on finding a permanent replacement.
SHUL BE RIGHT
Anthony Albanese’s attempts to please everybody in his response to the war in Gaza continues to yield the time-honoured result from such a course of action. Nobody’s happy.
And now there are peeves in the nation’s rabbinical community after the Prime Minister finally agreed to meet a delegation of rabbis from around the country in Sydney on Friday to discuss the crisis.
Some in the Victorian contingent,who feel they’ve done much of the heavy lifting pushing for the meeting,aren’t happy about having to schlep north for the talks.
And in Sydney,too,some gruntles are dissed that the meeting is being held at Central Synagogue in Bondi Junction – the trendiest of the harbour city’s shuls,with the largest congregation,rather than the Great Synagogue in the CBD.
DeveloperHarry Triguboff,fashion designersCamilla Freeman-Topper andMarc Freeman-Topper are regulars,shopping centre billionaireFrank Lowy too,before he moved to Israel,and movie starSacha Baron Cohen has even been known to drop by when he’s in town.
Could the choice of venue have anything to do with someone from the Central camp complaining last month to US-owned broadsheetThe Australian that Albanese had “rebuffed” an offer to address the congregation at Bondi Junction?
Albanese’s office declined to comment on the choice of venue.
But Melbourne RabbiMoshe Kahn,president of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria told CBD he’d organised the meeting and reached out to Central Synagogue in Sydney as the most appropriate venue for everyone’s schedules. Which should hose down any theories about the choice of venue.
Meanwhile,the Great Synagogue told CBD that the “rabbis are happy to meet with the Prime Minister wherever is convenient for him and we are grateful for the time and the opportunity he has given us to express the views of the community.”
GOLDEN HOUR
On Wednesday night,Sydney’s White Bay Cruise Terminal provided another reminder that the cost of living crisis is for the many,not the few.
The Big End of Town had turned up in force for the annual Gold Dinner,the country’s most exclusive and lucrative charity do,raising a monstrous $33.4 million for the Sydney Children’s Hospital.
The event brought together an intriguing cast of CBD favourites. Sunrise hostsNatalie BarrandMatt Shirvingtonhad MC duties. Former NSW premier and Sydney Children’s Hospital chief executiveKristina Keneally,no doubt enjoying a job where she doesn’t have to face the electorate,delivered the welcome. Shock jockRay Hadleytook up auctioneering duties,with an anonymous bidder landing the top prize,a private audience with Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese.
Also up for an auction was a garish $50,000 pair of gold embellished sneakers created by custom kicks designer Chase Shiel in collaboration with Glenfiddich whisky,provided by event sponsor ABC Bullion.
Spotted among the glitterati was former top executiveRodney Adler,jailed for two and a half years in 2005 over his role in the HIH Insurance implosion. Adler and his wifeLyndiwere spotted in conversation with octogenarian billionaire property developerRobert Whyteand his 38-year-old fashion marketer girlfriendAlessandra Eddy.
Eddy is on the Gold Dinner’s committee,alongsideBernadette Nassif,sister-in-law of fugitive disgraced property developerJean Nassif,whose ex-wifeNissywas also spotted among the crowd. This is Sydney after all.