Tips and rumours, Jun 16, 2014

Privatising the Future Fund ... Where are the Fairfax papers? ... Solar panels and firearms ...

From the Crikey grapevine, the latest tips and rumours …

Privatising the future. Could management of the $100 billion Future Fund chaired by former treasurer Peter Costello be next candidate for privatisation by the cash-strapped federal government? Respected finance commentator Greg Bright used the appointment of investment chief David Neal as Future Fund CEO to run the idea up the flagpole this morning in this piece in super funds site Investment Operations and Custody, adding the suggestion that privatisation of the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation might be thrown in. Similar privatisations have been tried at state level — management of NSW State Super scheme was sold off for $160 million — and there is constant speculation about the future of Queensland’s QIC and Victoria’s VFMC. In an exceedingly well-paid industry, privatisation helps attract talent by ensuring remuneration is competitive. The two top guys at the Future Fund, outgoing CEO Mark Burgess and Neal, received $1.1 million and $914,000 in 2013 — not sure which was which — but they would easily get twice that in the private sector. It would be an interesting move for a sovereign state to sell off management of its sovereign wealth fund. Apparently the potential privatisation was raised with Treasurer Joe Hockey at a recent Liberal Party function in Sydney, and apparently his reaction was receptive, describing it as an “interesting idea”. We are chasing comment from the Treasurer’s office.

No Fairfax papers at Woolies? This photo has been doing the rounds on social media, and we’ve heard of other Woolies supermarkets where a copy of a Fairfax paper is hard to find. Is it a News Corp conspiracy or are supermarkets giving up on papers that gather dust on the shelf? If you still buy a physical paper, have you noticed a change at your local supermarket? Let us know.

Bernardi and the Liberals — will it last? Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi has been announced as a speaker at the National Press Club next month, on the topic “Australian politics is in need of serious reform”, and today the South Australian Senator spoke out against the government’s debt levy. Labor is supporting the levy, so even if Bernardi crossed the floor it wouldn’t affect the outcome, but he said he wanted his opposition on the record. Tips canvassed the idea that the conservative Bernardi might consider a move to Family First back in January, and talk like this only encourages our imaginations — after all, if Bernardi jumped ship, his vote would carry more weight with the government.

Latte-sipping gun enthusiasts. Solar panels are for the “champagne sippers and the latte set,” according to Queensland Treasurer Tim Nicholls, so one tipster was surprised to see solar panels adorning the roof of Cleaver Firearms in Brisbane. Of course, enjoying champagne and lattes is not mutually exclusive to an enthusiasm for firearms, but perhaps it is a sign that the appeal of solar power is wider than that expected by Nicholls. It seems our tipster didn’t want to get too close to reveal that Cleaver’s enjoys lattes and solar panels as well as firearms, so follow the arrow.

All in the family. Which high-profile gang of management consultants have been terminating staff in Australia and NZ in the past week or so, and have come a cropper on one particular sacking? It seems over in the land of the Long White Shroud, the axe fell on one consultant, who turned out to be the son of the NZ general manager of a major Australian financial institution. That Australian institution and the consultancy had been about to sign a major contract that would have been the consultancy’s biggest bit of business in Kiwi land. Now the boss of the institution is very unhappy at not only his son’s termination, but the high-handed and brutal way it was done. Hence a “please explain” to the consultancy, which has created consternation and paranoia in the Australian HQ because more senior heads could roll if the big contract is lost.

Media Watch Dog Watch. Ms Tips was outraged while reading last Friday’s edition of Media Watch Dog when she came upon an item that seemed to copy Crikey’s exclusive story about Guardian columnist and leftie firebrand Van Badham’s OkComrade entry, which Crikey readers would remember from Tuesday’s edition. Nancy is normally quite good at attributing, so we wonder where she (or her editor, The Sydney Institute’s Gerard Henderson) went wrong.

Nonetheless, in the same spirit, we’ll point readers to Nancy’s OkTory profile, contained in last Friday’s missive. Australia’s favourite conservative canine is looking for love — we suggest interested parties get in touch.