Who made the list for lunch with Rupert
In case you haven’t seen the media sections of today’s national newspapers News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch is in Sydney inspecting the troops.
And to celebrate he threw a lavish lunch at restaurant Catalina, where he served up an “entree of marron tail or pork belly, and main of kingfish or beef tenderloin.” according to The Australian’s newly founded lunch column.
But while the papers made much of the tight security and who’s who of the political establishment who made the journey to pay homage, Dr Mumbo was most interested in which media buyers had caught the favour of the newspaper baron.
Among the senior agency figures in the room were: Dentsu Aegis’s CEO Luke Littlefield and Carat chief investment officer Paul Brooks; Omnicom head Leigh Terry plus OMD’s CEO Peter Horgan and PHD’s boss Mark Coad; GroupM had Mindshare’s CEO Katie Rigg-Smith and Maxus’s outgoing CEO Jon Chadwick; IPG Mediabrands had UM’s CEO Mat Baxter and Initiative’s CEO Lee Leggett; while Publicis had ZenithOptimedia’s CEO Ian Perrin and Match Media’s CEO John Preston enjoying a feed.
The event appears to be relatively light on intrigue, although many noted the presence of the NRL executives such as CEO Dave Smith just one day after Nine announced a bumper new deal, while one media buyer admitted that security was so “hyper vigilant” one of them even followed him into the bathroom at the restaurant.
Sadly the speeches were short with Robert Thomson serving as a the warm up for Rupert who praised NSW Premier Mike Baird, who was among the powerful in the room, noting how he had brought a “business focus ” to the state something which he noted former (Labor) Premiers had not.
The media mogul even tried his hand at humour telling the room: “This is the first time I have brought the whole News Corp board to Australia and given it’s the middle of winter, I’m sure they’ll be back.”
Dr Mumbo can only hope the next time the board comes to town his invitation to lunch doesn’t get lost in the post…
What was more interesting was Clive Palmer’s tweet Rupe was in Canberra the morning Pollies returned for Parlt. Why? Who’d he meet with?
Rupe’s Canberra visit was followed by an editorial in The Australian cataloguing Abbotts failures, and again targeting Peta Credlin and the PMO.
Remember Rupe once told us: Australia Needs Tony. What Australia needs is for Newscorpse to pay more tax, and remove itself from the political process.
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Australia Needs Tony? Well, that did the trick, now Australia needs to move onto Scott.
We all know it right?
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Given the hype in the media, the interesting image of the one time Sun King’s visit is the paucity of big shots in attendance. No doubt he saw whomever he liked in private (as per his recent habit of attending 10 Downing St by the rear entrance). But there wasn’t exactly a stellar showing at his public parades.
One thing is clear: he gave Mitchell and Whittaker the clear mail that the Libs are a risky bet. Hence the immediate signals. It will be amusing to watch how old Fox lays his each way stakes in the run up to the next poll. Can Miranda Devine discover the virtues of Shorten? Will Sheridan suddenly think less of Tony and more of Bishop? It’s like Kremlin-watching.
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