Ten Attracts Big Bruce Of Bermuda

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday December 8, 2005

James Chessell

James Chessell finds Wollongong more attractive than the Atlantic dominions.

THERE was nary a question at Ten's annual meeting yesterday, which was a shame, as some shareholders had travelled quite a way to enjoy more than chairman Nick Falloon's prepared remarks about the yoof network.

Among the crowd were WIN Corporation boss Bruce Gordon, son Andrew and chief lieutenant George Papadopoulos. Gordon Senior has lived in Bermuda since 1985 but visits Australia about three or four times a year. He makes a point of attending the PBL annual meeting each year, as WIN owns 1.1 per cent of the Packer's gambling and media enterprise.

This year the trio journeyed from WIN's Wollongong head office to attend the meeting and meet Falloon and his new chieftain Grant Blackley (they were fans of his predecessor, John McAlpine). The WIN lads own about 9 per cent of Ten and are aching for the Feds to deregulate the media industry so they can start doing deals.

Packing the pub

'Tis the season to be drinking and one of the more interesting gatherings in recent weeks took place in the little-known Victorian village of Redesdale.

Quite literally a one-pub town, the local is owned by Bell Potter operative Hugh Robertson, erstwhile JBWere broker Sam Brougham, Macquarie banker Peter Thomas, and their wives.

Brougham, who runs the private Ceres Capital these days, hosted 75-odd city dwellers including UBS heavy Brett Paton and IOOF chief Ron Dewhurst.

Never before have so many Toorak residents been exposed to the many delights of regional Australia (cheap beer, flies, poor mobile reception) in the one spot. Whip cracking featured but the star of the show was Thorney's head stock-picker, Alex Waislitz, who arrived in the helicopter of father-in-law Dick Pratt.

In Sydney, the broking community, which has a proud history when it comes to hangovers, will be imbibing at the IRESS party for all and sundry at the GPO this evening.

Singo's birds

At the risk of flogging a dead parrot, here's one last story about John Singleton's passion for our feathered friends.

STW Communications director Bill Currie recalls a "vicious bugger" of a cockatoo Singo used to keep at the Hunters Hill offices of John Singleton Advertising in 1986.

The bird would become particularly aggressive when anybody except Singleton tried to put it in its cage. Currie says he usually sank "three beers" before tackling the problem if Singleton was out. "Once we just couldn't do it and when we got in the next morning the heritage bloody handrail was buggered completely.

"When John decided to go on holidays, he said: 'The cockatoo needs a change in environment - you take him home, a couple of his feathers are falling out and get Elaine, your wife, to nurse him back and he'll be as good as gold'. I took the bloody cocky home and he proceeded to bite Elaine and fly around the lounge room and pooped everywhere".

It wasn't Elaine's first altercation with an irate animal. Back in the '60s, Singleton began making his name at Berry Currie Advertising. One day he presented Currie with a box containing a black cat. It was a birthday present for Currie's son, Billy. As soon as the cat got out of the box "it went wild, bit my wife and tore the drapes down," says Currie. "It was a stray from Chinatown he'd found. It took three months to get house in order."

A ball without Ball

A couple of weeks ago Singleton hopped in a helicopter and visited his mate and fellow adman Michael Ball at Ball's Comfort Hill property near Sutton Forest. Ball, who once ran Ogilvy & Mather in London, is another bird enthusiast and the pair compared notes.

Ball still keeps birds though he's sold a few - along with a herd of Angus stud cattle - a few months ago in an effort to simplify his life. Having recently returned from a tour that included a cruise down the Amazon, Ball won't be braving Peter "Talky" Newton's Christmas drinks at the Republic Hotel tonight. Newton and Ball have several common business interests including property and exporting bull semen to Vanuatu.

While Ball won't make it, the usual suspects are expected to drop by. We know this because Newton's associate, Bobby Pittorino, has flown in from Monaco to help host the bash.

What a crew

There should be plenty to talk about Newton's struggling tin miner, Bluestone, and the soap opera that is Sydney Gas.

The latter this week lost its board, including chairman Michael "Mr Olympics" Knight, after a bunch of supposedly unrelated dissident shareholders mysteriously began voting the same way two weeks ago.

They included Newton, Melbourne finance house Chimaera, Alan Bond's broker mate Yosse Goldberg and Mulpha, the investment company run by the son of admitted fraudster and Malaysian billionaire Lee Ming Tee.

Knight's predecessor, Domenic Martino, yesterday tried to visit Sydney Gas's Camden project with Chimaera founder Sal Catalano just two days after Knight's sudden departure. They were both told to go away.

Any remaining Sydney Gas shareholders without an agenda should experience a sharp intake of breath hearing about the aborted study tour.

Martino - whose past achievements include resigning from accountants Deloitte amid controversy over his role in failed Perth telecom NewTel - spent a few productive years at Sydney Gas. He trousered $737,192 in 2005 and a whopping $1.5 million the year before. Not a bad effort for chairing a small company that still burns more cash than gas. No wonder Martino's sniffing around again.

George was good

Should George Gregan find himself at a loose end some time in the future a career in money broking awaits.

The Wallabies captain worked the phones manfully at the ICAP charity day yesterday, with commissions and profits made on trading the likes of interest rate swaps going to several charities, including the George Gregan Foundation.

All this, of course, involved dress-ups with local boss John Lockhart going as Popeye while Colin Gilbert and his well-upholstered chums on the bond desk went as jockeys. Best on ground, however, was the energy desk - Billy Payne, Forrest Moebes, Stewart Terry and Kellee Ward - which went as the three wise man and the Virgin Mary. No, we didn't ask.

It was a big day for Citigroup's redoubtable equities trader and former international flanker Simon Poidevin, appointed to the Australian Rugby Union selection panel that has the job of searching for the new coach of the Wallabies.

© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald

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