A 17-year-old who sent Paul Bassat a cold email now has a $2m cheque
Fuller was 17 when he met with Bassat and a string of other investors on a short holiday to Australia from Dublin in March, when his precocious entrepreneurialism won him a $US1.4 million ($2.1 million) cheque.
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Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Chris Minns meeting with top Democrat 2028 presidential hopeful
Ever since billionaire man-child Elon Musk bought the beloved social media platform formerly known as Twitter, renamed it as X and turned it into a hotbed of reactionary conspiracy theories and racist memes, there's been an ongoing exodus from the app. Progressive posters have retreated to a rotating cast of new echo chamber-like Twitter dupes, and many serious people will still swear that BlueSky is a serious platform. More corporate types, and a fair few journalists, have migrated to LinkedIn, where the discourse is a little more cringe but a lot less insane than Musk's X. The latest to make the switch is the High Court of Australia, which announced last week it would be publishing its social media updates on LinkedIn rather than X, where it has been posting since 2018. It's all part of a much-needed online refresh for the nation's top court, which has a new website that now works on mobile and has shed some of its old bugginess and UX-confusion. Senior judges and many of the barristers who appear before them aren't known for their technical wizardry. Phillip Street rumours suggest at least one prominent Sydney silk still has all email correspondence printed out by an assistant. With the High Court now trying to get with the times, they have no more excuses. Nup to the cup Now to the Canberra bubble, where even reusable coffee cups are treated with suspicion. CBD hears there's been a hot beverage crackdown at Parliament House. Not long ago, staff entering the building handed their Craig Reucassel -approved KeepCup to security staff before retrieving it on the other side of the scanner. Some security staff made people take the lid off and show them the contents and even take a sip to prove it wasn't poisoned. Now, a reusable cup that has metal in it will set the scanner off, so takeaway hot drinks are placed in a perspex box and scanned for nefarious substances. CBD asked the Department of Parliamentary Services about the latest crackdown, but couldn't rouse them for a response. Wearing the Crown Nothing better sums up Australian TV's night of nights better than the fact it was hosted at a tacky casino whose operator is teetering on the brink of collapse and which has all the ambience of a suburban pokie den. Loading But before the leading lights of the small screen had walked the red carpet at the Star Sydney, another embattled casino operator across the harbour was unveiling its latest celebrity-ish ambassador. Zoe Foster-Blake, wife of entertainment dude-bro Hamish Blake and a beauty industry powerhouse in her own right, announced before the Logies she was a Crown ambassador, while posing for a pre-show snap in one of the suites at the private equity-owned casino group's phallic Barangaroo tower. 'Just on hashtags, here are some real ones: #sponsored @crownsydney #crownpartner #crownsydney because I'm a newly Crowned, er, Crown ambassador; they are now officially my home away from home,' Foster-Blake told her 791,000 Instagram followers. 'I'm chuffed, I bloody love this place.' James Packer and a revolving door of top executives.
Mercury
6 days ago
- Mercury
NAB's sexual harassment bombshell amid claims of ‘1980s long lunch' culture
Exclusive: NAB allowed an executive who was the subject of sexual harassment claims to have a farewell tour, amid an exodus of senior women from the under fire bank. A string of insiders with knowledge of the inner workings of the leading business bank have claimed the business suffers from a '1980s long lunch culture.' They say that the bank's drive to land new business crossed the lines between balance sheet success and providing a safe workplace for women. The details of the executive's departure emerged after separate media reports last month about questions being raised over the drinking habits of its chief executive Andrew Irvine, who claimed that the 'public scrutiny' was 'hard for me and for my family'. NAB has rejected suggestions that women were unsafe at work, saying it had 'zero-tolerance to all forms of discrimination, harassment, including sexual harassment, sex-based discrimination and workplace bullying.' It comes as it can be revealed that NAB hired a prominent law firm to investigate sexual harassment complaints against the male executive. The executive left the bank shortly afterwards. No further action was taken. But a 'morning tea' was organised at the bank's Melbourne headquarters in Bourke Street. The executive declined to comment when approached for this story and NAB did not answer questions about whether it paid out his short term incentives. An insider claimed that NAB did not practice what it preaches when it comes to creating a business culture that includes respect for women. 'NAB still has this 1980s long lunch culture. It works to bring money in at the Business and Private Banking arm,' the source said. Senior figures with knowledge of NAB's Business and Private Banking section claimed that the media had missed the story and should instead focus on the culture of the bank and the women who have departed. Rachel Slade, who was a frontrunner to become chief executive when the board gave Mr Irvine the job last year, left the bank in July. Ms Slade, was paid $3.5 million a year as NAB's Group Executive of Business and Private Banking, declined to comment. Maria Lykouras, who was chief executive at JBWere – one of Australia's oldest stockbroking firms which is owned by NAB – left in January. She has not taken up a new job since, according to her LinkedIn profile, and did not return calls. The departures come despite NAB spruiking its gender equality credentials, highlighting a program it has named 1500 degrees – the temperature at which glass melts in a reference to breaking the glass ceiling. NAB still promotes the program on its website under a page titled 'Gender Equity at Work'. 'We continue to deliver some great initiatives, including Business and Private Bank's 1500 Degrees Program. 1500 Degrees (the melting point of glass) is a nine-month program designed to prepare women for more senior roles,' NAB's website states. 'This is achieved through learning, networks, and sponsorship opportunities.' NAB Group Executive People and Culture Sarah White said in response to questions about sexual harassment and the alleged '1980s long lunch culture' that the bank was 'focused on pay equity and driving greater representation of women in leadership roles across all areas of the bank.' 'Our focus when engaging clients is on sharing insights through organised events and speakers, with many of these hosted at NAB offices. The way we do business is to provide clients with the best insights from industry and economic leaders, to build trusted, longstanding relationships,' Ms White said. 'There are clear guidelines on expected behaviours and expenses in line with NAB policies, customer and community expectations. If a colleague does not fulfil these expectations, there are a range of actions that we consider in response.' Ms White added that 'the proportion of women at the Executive level has increased since Andrew Irvine became CEO in April 2024 to now.' 'In the past 15 months three women were appointed to lead the three customer facing divisions (Personal Banking, Business & Private Banking, Corporate & Institutional Banking) – this was a first,' she said. 'We also appointed the first female Chief Economist (Sally Auld) and first female Executive of Markets (Krista Baetens). 'IT is imperative that our culture reflects the expectations of our customers and the communities we represent. 'NAB actively fosters an inclusive and equitable workplace culture, where every employee is valued and treated with respect. The bank continues to implement initiatives to advance gender diversity and ensure a fair environment for everyone.' Originally published as NAB's sexual harassment bombshell amid claims of '1980s long lunch' culture
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
1930s brick homestead smashes northside suburb record
A brick homestead in Bracken Ridge held by a family for nearly a century has smashed the suburb house price record by more than $700,000 after 10 bidders battled it out at a red-hot auction. In front of a crowd of more than 200, the four-bedroom property at 16 Childs Street fetched $2.727 million under the hammer, obliterating the record of $2.05 million set in April last year. Built in the 1930s on a 3381-square-metre block by Irish migrants, the home had been updated over the years and features expansive living areas, water tanks and a four-bay shed. The couple who owned it raised their family there, with the son buying it from his parents in the '80s. Selling agent Dwight Colbert of Ray White Aspley said the three-week campaign attracted 100 inspections, mostly from owner-occupiers chasing lifestyle space, with a few developers in the mix. At the Saturday auction 19 parties registered to bid, and 10 raised their paddles. Following an opening bid of $1.5 million, punters parried large leaps until the $2 million mark where 'four or five bidders were blown out of the water', Colbert said. From there, three buyers fought in $1000 increments until the hammer fell. 'A local family ended up losing the battle to another Brisbane buyer,' Colbert said. 'But the vendors were over the moon. They raised their three boys there. They all played hockey and just loved that parcel of land.' He said the result didn't just reset the suburb benchmark, but well and truly beat the reserve.
