CBD Melbourne: Liddell, a smoking gun and cigargate

It’s been six years since then Treasurer Joe Hockey and still Finance Minister Mathias Cormann were snapped puffing cigars on a cold Budget Friday outside Treasury. The pictures did not go down well at the time.

Labor, which hasn’t had many wins in Canberra recently, isn’t keen to forget. Cigargate reared its head early last week when Bill Shorten’s former chief of staff, Ryan Liddell, tweeted in response to a call for “most mundane celebrity encounters”.

“My celebrity encounter was seeing Joe Hockey smoking cigars outside Treasury in Canberra in 2014,” Liddell noted.

Liddell's tweet suggested to some he was responsible for tipping off SBS, which got the footage of Hockey and Cormann puffing away. It was certainly noticed by Seven’s political reporter, Mark Riley, who repeated the claim on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday.

One problem: Liddell wasn’t in Canberra on the day the photo was taken. He was in London.

It’s possible Liddell was monitoring events from afar. But it's worth noting the opposition research team he managed during Shorten’s term as ALP leader is still regarded as the best in the business. But we don’t think he can take all the credit.

Either way, there’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then. Labor has a new leader, Shorten is on the backbench and Cormann is still in Canberra.

As for Hockey, he hasn’t ditched the cigar habit since leaving Australia in 2016 to become Australia’s Ambassador to the US. In fact, during his time in DC, Hockey was known to have invited visitors at the ambassador’s residence in Foggy Bottom to enjoy a Cuban in a courtyard apparently set up for smoking.

Hockey wasn't the one who first used the special alcove for smoking. That trail was blazed by Hockey’s predecessor, former Labor leader Kim Beazley.

THE TRADING POST

Music manager Glenn Wheatley has a fair bit on his plate planning John Farnham’s latest comeback tour. The tour slated for early next year sounds like a challenge in itself, as Wheatley navigates COVID-19 restrictions in each state. Even so it’s not the biggest challenge on his hands.

He is also waiting on the outcome of his bid to secure local newswire Australian Associated Press after expressing an interest in March to proceed to the next round of offers.

Wheatley, who was part of digital startup EON Sports Radio, which went into voluntary administration in 2017, is up against other prominent bidders including former Foxtel executive Peter Tonagh in the race for the asset.

Wheatley’s bid has a few holes and hasn’t been given much encouragement from the AAP board, which is controlled by News Corp and Nine Entertainment Co (publisher of this masthead), according to sources familiar with negotiations. But he’s still happy to talk up his chances of saving the 85-year-old newswire.

"I would have taken [AAP] a lot more digital than it is now. They still rely on print as their major inventory,” he told CBD. “The major side of the business, the newswire, is what was of interest to us. The content − they are still putting out 320 stories a day and the photographic side.

"The board will make a call on this. They certainly have an offer on the table from us but what they want at the end of the day is up for them to decide."

The value of the newswire, which doesn’t make money in its current form, is certainly up for debate. AAP’s board, which is led by News Corp corporate affairs director Campbell Reid, will meet this week to discuss the bids. AAP is still operating on a business-as-usual basis. Even though it’s far from it.

MAKING HAY

CBD reported on Monday that Bain Capital’s rock-star adviser on its Virgin Australia bid, Jayne Hrdlicka, is working for free.

This apparently was news to A2 Milk given Hrdlicka remains on the dairy company’s payroll until June 30. Hrdlicka was chief executive at A2 Milk for just under 18 months before abruptly stepping down in December. She was given a six-month consultancy gig worth about $700,000 to ease the pain, which ends on June 30.

Bain has been careful in the way it has phrased Hrdlicka’s involvement with its Virgin bid. The private equity giant chooses to say Hrdlicka, who also led Jetstar for four years until 2015, is working “with” the private equity group rather than “for” it.

The wording can be explained by the fact the consultancy gig is meant to prevent her from working for another employer. Don’t take our word for it. Bain operatives were in touch with A2’s board this week to clarify the arrangements and to smooth over any tensions.

No matter. Hrdlicka’s free-of-charge status will change considerably come July 1 providing Bain makes it that far in the Virgin bid process.

Second offers are due to administrator Vaughan Strawbridge of Deloitte at the end of this week. He has the job of whittling four bidders down to two.