Jozef Imrich, name worthy of Kafka, has his finger on the pulse of any irony of interest and shares his findings to keep you in-the-know with the savviest trend setters and infomaniacs.
''I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.''
-Kurt Vonnegut
Joe Aston’s bombshell Qantas book launches at embattled Merivale bar By Kishor Napier-Raman and Stephen Brook
‘A masterclass in investigative journalism … A scathing, unflinching takedown of greed, delusion and a shameless abuse of power, both jaw-dropping and brilliantly incisive’
Former Australian Financial Review Rear Window columnist Joe Aston’s new book on Qantas, The Chairman’s Lounge, had been generating headlines before even hitting the shelves, with revelations that Anthony Albanese had lobbied the airline’s former boss Alan Joyce for flight upgrades, sending the prime minister into days of damage control.
Generating headlines: Joe Aston at his book launch. CREDIT: WOLTER PEETERS
Hours before Tuesday’s book launch, this masthead published an investigation detailing allegations of widespread sexual harassment, exploitation of female staff and rampant drug use at hospitality empire Merivale’s venues. It meant that Hemmesphere, the Merivale-owned cocktail bar that hosted proceedings, made for a slightly awkward choice of venue.
Back in 2013, Justin Hemmes, the billionaire Merivale boss, put on a generous bar tab for his mate Aston’s star-studded 30th-birthday bash at the Ivy. It isn’t just the politicians getting freebies, after all. Hemmes, who is not accused of any misconduct or wrongdoing, wasn’t on the guest list for his mate’s other big milestone on Tuesday, but did show up.
Those game enough to watch Aston in conversation with Fin Review editor James Chessell included a cross-section from the top echelons of business, the media, politics and sport.
In the throng, CBD spied Qantas tormentor Senator Bridget McKenzie, Tabcorp director and former NRL boss David Gallop and ex-Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan. Also spotted before proceedings were board member at Crown Melbourne and Hawthorn Football Club Ian Silk and former Fairfax boss Greg Hywood.
The queue at the bar would’ve made Joyce proud.
Bad views day
Following Tuesday’s bombshell Merivale investigation, chief executive Justin Hemmes told staff he was “devastated” by the allegations of wrongdoing at his venues published by this masthead.
But whatever the impact on Merivale, with its dominance over Sydney’s culinary and nightlife scenes, we doubt much damage will be done to Hemmes’ charmed life.
Justin Hemmes told staff he was “devastated” by the allegations of wrongdoing at his venues.CREDIT: AFR
The Hemmes family owns the $100 million Hermitage mansion in Vaucluse, with some of the most pristine views of Sydney Harbour money can buy.
Those views got just that little bit more pristine after someone vandalised a few trees on the foreshore walk beneath the Hemmes’ mansion. CBD is trying to find the culprit.
The tree-vandal scandal was a mystery to Hemmes, who we hear was alerted to it by the neighbours six months ago and had nothing to do with it. The good folk at NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service are still busy investigating. Or so we thought. They directed us back to Woollahra Council, who in turn directed us back to … the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
By deadline the mystery remained unsolved.
On-time departure
Joe Aston’s book on Qantas hit the shelves at the worst possible time for both an airline trying to shed the “embattled” tag earned during its 2023 annus horribilis, and a prime minister trying to escape political attacks over his $4.3 million clifftop home purchase.
But as Albanese was scrambling to respond to revelations that he’d liaised with former Qantas boss Alan Joyce to receive flight upgrades worth tens of thousands of dollars, the airline was reminding its staff about the importance of integrity.
On Monday Qantas sent an internal memo informing employees that they would be required to complete a course on “acting with integrity”.
The online course, which they were told they were required to undertake by April 30 next year, is centred on “managing the risks associated with gifts, benefits and hospitality”, as well as conflicts of interest. Well then.
“The course will provide guidance on identifying and evaluating ethical dilemmas, considering the consequences and making informed and ethically sound decisions,” the memo said.
While CBD understands the staff assignment was planned long before the release of Aston’s book, clearly nobody at Qantas clocked the optics of pressing ‘send’ right when the headlines about political favouritism were kicking off yet again. The cockpit and cabin crew still seem woefully out of sync.
China’s economic emergence is nothing short of remarkable. Over the past four decades, it has lifted almost 800mn people out of poverty — and by some measures is already the world’s largest economy. But many now suspect that its growth model, centred around state-directed capitalism, has reached the end of the road. In Vampire State: The Rise and Fall of the Chinese Economy (Birlinn, £20) author Ian Williams — a longtime foreign correspondent, who has reported extensively from China — highlights how the Chinese Communist party has maintained a tight grip on industry, markets and entrepreneurs.
Williams argues that major policy decisions and reforms have always had the party’s continual survival as its primary motive. In effect, the Chinese economy has been largely a tool of the government, and that manipulation undermined its underlying development. Through several deeply reported chapters, he outlines how Beijing wields its influence on business: from regulatory coercion and boardroom intimidation, through even to the mysterious disappearance of entrepreneurs. He explains how rules, agreements and statistics can often be manipulated to meet the party’s ends. And how the Chinese bureaucracy is organised in Machiavellian schemes, globally and nationally — including industrial espionage — to simultaneously prop-up and maintain command of the economy.
This is a timely and important read. Williams’s sceptical prognostications about China’s economic future are hard to argue against, particularly as the state is right now struggling to revive “animal spirits” that have weakened, in part, because of President Xi Jinping’s recent clampdown on wealth-creators and tech firms. Still, with China’s dominance in emerging technologies, critical minerals and green industries, it is also difficult to write it off.
From China, to artificial intelligence. Billions of dollars are flowing into AI as companies seek to take advantage of the technology’s potential benefits for productivity. But many are worried about what the widespread use of AI might mean. In MoneyGPT: AI and the Threat to the Global Economy (Penguin Business, £18.99) James Rickards, a financial expert and investment adviser, convincingly argues that the greatest danger is not that AI malfunctions, but that it will function precisely as it was intended to. Rickards shows how the potential widespread use of AI in systemic sectors — including financial markets and nuclear defence — should worry us all.
The author slickly outlines, through an insightful hypothetical scenario, how an AI-induced financial crash might unfold in real time, from the perspective of traders, central bankers and malicious actors. It underscores how bank runs and self-reinforcing selling spirals can reach warp speed, under the influence of automated technologies. Indeed, the book makes a powerful case for better guardrails and limits around how humans might outsource decision-making as AI technology evolves.
In the UK, all eyes are on Rachel Reeves, chancellor of the exchequer, as she prepares to deliver her first Budget on October 30. The British economy is at a crossroads: growth has been poor for over a decade, demands on the state are rising, and the tax burden keeps pushing higher. In Return to Growth: How to Fix the Economy, Volume 1 (Biteback, £25) Jon Moynihan, a Conservative peer, provides a rare, detailed diagnosis and set of recommendations to get the country back on course. The author makes an often under-appreciated moral, as well as, economic argument for why growth should be central to policymakers — reiterating how the rising size of the state risks increasingly crowding out the private sector. He then incisively cuts through the UK’s tax system, regulation, government spending and civil service, outlining specific savings, reforms and tweaks that could unleash growth and reduce impediments to it. Moynihan does not mince his words, and while some may disagree with some of his assessment of Britain’s problems — and the solutions — this is a highly valuable contribution to a debate that can often be short on detail.
Finally. Bronwen Everill, a history lecturer at the University of Cambridge, in Africonomics: A History of Western Ignorance (HarperCollins, £25) provides a detailed historical account of how the west and its development agencies have approached Africa’s social and economic development over recent centuries. Everill attempts to explain through a series of case studies how western notions of trade, economic activity, debt and societal relationships may have jarred with realities on the ground. While it is indeed unclear how Africa might have emerged if local norms and cultures had emerged on their own, without western influence, Everill is convinced that the west’s economic agenda — while full of good intentions — created significant problems for the continent. A deeper exploration of the link between western-centric thinking and policy failings on the ground is certainly warranted. Still, this is a historically insightful read, with the author ultimately elevating the case for development policy to be rooted in a better understanding of local environments.
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