Alexander steps in to the hospitality trade

The Crown Resorts executive deputy chairman already had plenty on his plate. He’s a member of the casino group’s investment committee, a director of the company that runs James Packer’s Melbourne money pit and on the board of its joint venture with the Aspinall family, Asper Holdings, which is registered in tax haven Jersey and runs a bunch of British casinos.

And then there are JA’s non-Crown duties, which include sitting on the board ofKerry Stokes’ Seven West Media.

Add to that a new role: vetting the VIP guest list for Crown Melbourne’s new Fat Duck restaurant, which celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal is bringing to the Southbank pokies palace for a limited run of just six months, starting in February.

If Alexander gets a taste for the hospitality trade, Margin Call is sure he’d also be welcome in the kitchen polishing the silverware. With hungry foodies already jamming the restaurant’s website, there’ll be no shortage of forks needing a clean.

Thorburn’s hurdles

WELCOME to NAB, where even chief executives miss their performance benchmarks.

Yesterday, the bank said new head teller Andrew Thorburn was $1.55 million poorer — at least on paper — after rights to shares granted under the bank’s long-term incentive scheme lapsed “due to performance hurdles not being met”.

But NAB reckons he did a great job in his last gig, running the New Zealand division, presumably keeping the note drawers neat and accounting for all the paperclips. Apparently the missed targets relate to NAB as a whole and date back some years. Thorburn took charge of the bank at the start of August.

Devine intervention

VETERAN developer David Devine celebrated 30 years in the business last night with a bash launching his autobiography, hosted by Brisvegas’ big banana, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk.

As The Australian reports today, DD takes a swing in his book at Wal King’s Leighton over its behaviour as a major shareholder of Devine during the GFC.

But there’s plenty more inside, including a foreword from Queensland PremierCampbell Newman, who of course lauds Devine’s “can-do attitude”.

There’s also a story about Devine’s brush with disaster in 1986, when he’d just become a full-time land developer by pulling off a deal to develop 2000 lots at Logan, south of Brisbane.

Devine was making heavy use of the Hawke government’s Housing Loan Insurance Corporation scheme to underwrite deposits. “With business going so well, in December 1986 I decided to treat myself to a new Mercedes Benz for Christmas, a 380SEL model worth $92,000,” Devine writes. “The only one available was in Melbourne, so I flew down on a Friday to buy it and stayed over for a few days.

“Ken (Woodley, who became Devine’s business partner) rang me on the Monday morning and his first question was odd. ‘Did you buy that Mercedes?’

“I told him yes, it was all mine, still pleased with the purchase. There was a short silence on the other end of the phone. ‘F. k,’ Ken said. ‘I wish you hadn’t.’”

Overnight, the government had increased the minimum income needed to qualify for the HLIC scheme. Devine was forced to tear up 70 contracts.

Wirth a pot of gold

HOW much do the flight attendants who trundle trolleys down the aisles of Qantas jets love the flying kangaroo’s CEO Alan Joyce and company spin doctor Olivia Wirth?

Enough to feature them during the annual Pathfinders revue, put on by cabin crew to raise money for the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children. The satirical bash runs until Saturday at the North Sydney Leagues Club.

This year’s show features a Joyce-alike, dressed as a leprechaun, prancing around a pot of gold with a Wirth impersonator, singing about the importance of money.

As the song drew to a close, someone in a Jetstar uniform leapt out and stole the pot. You can’t buy that kind of devotion.

Trimble suspense

THE listed strip club run by John Trimble, Planet Platinum, took a tentative step towards lifting its suspension from the exchange when it finally secured the services of an additional director: one Michael Trimble.

Michael is John’s son and John is the nephew of the late drug lord “Aussie” Bob Trimbole, although he hates it when people mention that.

The company runs Melbourne strip club Showgirls Bar 20 and also owns the building that houses suburban brothel Daily Planet.

Trimble Sr said he’d put Trimble Jr’s name forward some time ago but the appointment had been held up pending approval from liquor authorities.

And when might investors see the company’s suspension lifted?

“I’ve given up thinking of that,” Trimble said. “I’ve no f..king idea any more.”

Source: The Australian - 16th October 2014