Governance talk, City Pacific, campaign finance, two new videos and Fairfax transcripts
March 4, 2008
Dear Mayne Report subscribers,
greetings from Sydney with a brief update. Firstly, check out this presentation I gave to 700 internal auditors at Darling Harbour a couple of hours ago. It was basically a one-hour summary of the big governance issues at the moment and a no holds-barred assessment of the crop of current collapses - along with predictions of what regulatory response we'll see. It seemed to go down well with one bloke coming up afterwards saying it was the most interesting presentation he'd seen in ten years.
The Woolworths internal auditor who set up the gig, Kathryn McLay, must have been a touch nervous as were back in the very same auditorium where I'd given her boss Michael Luscombe a big spray about pokies a few weeks earlier. There was a bit of naming and shaming - but nothing too bad and the sponsors were spared.
After Kevin Rudd's fascinating appearance on The 7.30 Report last night, I've been giving campaign finance reform a big push with this story in Crikey, plus this chat with Deborah Cameron on 702 ABC Sydney this morning. The internal auditors also got a strong burst on the topic as did Lateline host Tony Jones when we caught up for an hour this morning after he chaired a session at the conference. He was pleased with this interview about ABC Learning last Wednesday and let's hope Lateline cranks up the coverage on political donations and the need for reform.
There are two new videos on the site - starting with this scruffy rave about governance in light of the ABC Learning debacle and then today's video on City Pacific's bone-headed defamation attack on Fairfax journalist Michael West. We'll update it tomorrow to take in today's 50% City Pacific share price plunge and suspension in light of CBA calling in a $240 million loan to the firm's high-risk mortgage fund.
The only ASX announcement related to the trading halt, so it was actually this strong story in the News Ltd dailies this morning which did the damage. It is interesting that the City Pacific spokesman is a bloke called Greg Price. Steve Price has a spin doctor brother called Greg. Maybe that is where the idea to sue Michael West came from?
The only trade today was the purchase of 186 shares in White Energy Company at $2.70 a pop. This Sydney-based outfit is capitalised at $280 million and is involved in mineral exploration and coal technology.We've now produced an alphabetical list of the full portfolio complete with purchase and sale details - plus links to the company website. It took a pile of work so check it out here.
Finally, Fairfax Media have been good enough to send through transcripts of all the AGMs I've attended over the years. In return, I've jokingly promised not to run for their board this year. We've edited them down just to the relevent bits and some of the struggles with Brian Powers, Dean Wills and Ron Walker are worth revisiting.
1998 Fairfax AGM
1999 Fairfax AGM
2000 Fairfax AGM
2002 Fairfax AGM
Do ya best, Stephen Mayne
greetings from Sydney with a brief update. Firstly, check out this presentation I gave to 700 internal auditors at Darling Harbour a couple of hours ago. It was basically a one-hour summary of the big governance issues at the moment and a no holds-barred assessment of the crop of current collapses - along with predictions of what regulatory response we'll see. It seemed to go down well with one bloke coming up afterwards saying it was the most interesting presentation he'd seen in ten years.
The Woolworths internal auditor who set up the gig, Kathryn McLay, must have been a touch nervous as were back in the very same auditorium where I'd given her boss Michael Luscombe a big spray about pokies a few weeks earlier. There was a bit of naming and shaming - but nothing too bad and the sponsors were spared.
After Kevin Rudd's fascinating appearance on The 7.30 Report last night, I've been giving campaign finance reform a big push with this story in Crikey, plus this chat with Deborah Cameron on 702 ABC Sydney this morning. The internal auditors also got a strong burst on the topic as did Lateline host Tony Jones when we caught up for an hour this morning after he chaired a session at the conference. He was pleased with this interview about ABC Learning last Wednesday and let's hope Lateline cranks up the coverage on political donations and the need for reform.
There are two new videos on the site - starting with this scruffy rave about governance in light of the ABC Learning debacle and then today's video on City Pacific's bone-headed defamation attack on Fairfax journalist Michael West. We'll update it tomorrow to take in today's 50% City Pacific share price plunge and suspension in light of CBA calling in a $240 million loan to the firm's high-risk mortgage fund.
The only ASX announcement related to the trading halt, so it was actually this strong story in the News Ltd dailies this morning which did the damage. It is interesting that the City Pacific spokesman is a bloke called Greg Price. Steve Price has a spin doctor brother called Greg. Maybe that is where the idea to sue Michael West came from?
The only trade today was the purchase of 186 shares in White Energy Company at $2.70 a pop. This Sydney-based outfit is capitalised at $280 million and is involved in mineral exploration and coal technology.We've now produced an alphabetical list of the full portfolio complete with purchase and sale details - plus links to the company website. It took a pile of work so check it out here.
Finally, Fairfax Media have been good enough to send through transcripts of all the AGMs I've attended over the years. In return, I've jokingly promised not to run for their board this year. We've edited them down just to the relevent bits and some of the struggles with Brian Powers, Dean Wills and Ron Walker are worth revisiting.
1998 Fairfax AGM
1999 Fairfax AGM
2000 Fairfax AGM
2002 Fairfax AGM
Do ya best, Stephen Mayne