Christian Porters undergraduate humour

The money or the ministry? Christian Porter has decided on the former, and the ex-attorney general and industry minister is out of Cabinet and keeping the anonymous money from the blind trust to help pay for his aborted defamation action against the ABC.

Porter’s decision to quit reminded us of some extracts from Briefs, the magazine from the law students at the University of Western Australia that Porter featured in during his time as an undergraduate in the 1990s.

The mag featured a tacky advice column called Dear Dr Chilla. (Chilla being Porter’s nickname in recognition of Charles “Chilla” Porter, his father who won a silver medal at the Melbourne Olympics).

Christian ’Chilla” PorterCredit:Alex Ellinghausen

One entry was from an E McPherson (apparently a reference to 90s supermodel Elle Macpherson) who wrote: “You are a spunk! I will die if you don’t go out with me soon.”

Chilla’s response to The Body came with characteristic self-assured flair. “Please take a ticket and wait until your number is called. If desperate, contact the aforementioned B. Wyatt or J.Giles.”

Surely not a reference to Ben Wyatt, the former Treasurer of Western Australia now sitting pretty as a non-executive director of Woodside Energy?

A separate entry profiling Porter written by his uni chums made a bold prediction about the future. Under the section headed: Where will they be in 10 years’ time? Compilers wrote Porter would be: “Running for PM. Being kicked out of the Liberal Party for being a fat unattractive, sexist, political power broker who tried to stick his tongue in a secretary’s ear.”

RIGHT PEOPLE

ABC chair Ita Buttrose checks out applicants for chief people officerCredit:John Shakespeare

It’s been almost a year since the ABC’s chief people officer Rebekah Donaldson swapped David Anderson and Ultimo for Alan Joyce and Mascot when she was appointed to the coveted position of Qantas’ executive manager of people. The broadcaster is yet to announce her replacement. But that hasn’t stopped sources close to the process from tipping recruiter and HR consultant Dharma Chandran as the favourite for the gig, after a near year-long search handled by the US-based headhunters Russell Reynolds.

A one-time strategy and HR general manager for Westpac, Chandran comes to the role from the Sydney office of Boyden Australia - another executive recruitment outfit which was appointed in November last year to fill the chief executive’s role at NSW’s troubled workers compensation insurer icare following CEO John Nagle’s dramatic exit. As CBD revealed, the firm was very well-placed to search for the hard-to-fill role given Chandran had spent almost two years as a member of icare’s Independent Advisory Panel on the Prevention and Management of Workplace Bullying. A spokeswoman at the time insisted Chandran’s experience at icare played no role in the agency’s choice to hand the contract to Boyden. She also said Chandran had “not been involved or had any contact” with icare over the recruitment process. His other roles include directors’ positions with Mortgage Choice and 7Eleven. But we digress.

An ABC spokesman wasn’t able to provide an update on the recruitment process.

HUNTING HEADS

Then again, it’s not the first time the broadcaster has kept shtum about an expensive recruitment process. Last year it tapped Russell Reynolds to find a new chief financial officer, which ended up going to internal candidate Melanie Kleyn. The role pays a base salary of $424,000. In other words, a big day for headhunters who usually charge about a third of the salary for their services. And yet there’s no record of the contract in ABC’s 2020 annual report despite its extensive efforts to provide a consultants register. Despite the omission, the register makes for intriguing reading. Management consultants at LEK scored $1.6 million for “strategic advice”.

SORRY SORRY

The dangers of letting it all hang out in a media interview are now clear for Andrew McConville, chief executive of The Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association. McConville has been forced to issue a humiliating mea culpa to the Australiasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility after giving an interview to The Australian in May, where he said it was “time to call out the extreme environmental movement’s dodgy shareholder tactics” targeting the oil and gas sector. McConville spoke to The Oz as APPEA handed a submission to a parliamentary inquiry probing the prudential regulation of local export industries which spoke out against activist investors and advisers.

McConville’s tune has changed, given the apology released on Monday: “APPEA and Andrew McConville accept that there is nothing dishonest or dodgy about the ACCR, as a shareholder in ASX-listed companies, co-filing shareholder-initiated resolutions.

“APPEA and Andrew McConville sincerely apologise to the ACCR, its Committee of Office Bearers, Research Committee and staff for any damage caused by the comments in the article.”

For its part ACCR legal counsel James Fitzgerald said it accepted the apology: “We trust that APPEA and Mr McConville will observe the usual courtesies of public debate in our future dealings.

“We hope this leads APPEA towards promoting an orderly and prompt transition from fossil fuels to less harmful renewable energy sources. ACCR is ready and willing to partner with APPEA in that effort.”

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.

Stephen Brook is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is a former features editor and media editor at The Australian, where he wrote the Media Diary column and spent six years in London working for The Guardian.Connect via Twitter or email.Samantha Hutchinson is a CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. She recently covered Victorian and NSW politics and business for News Corp, and previously worked for the Australian Financial Review.Connect via Twitter or email.

Share this post