A $1.5 million subsidy for Indigenous enterprises was given to Rugby NSW.
The Wallabies’ catastrophic 2023 World Cup non-campaign, which included a $2.6 million expenditure, and the fallout from the soap opera surrounding former coach Eddie Jones and departing chairman Hamish McLennan have left the code reeling.
In addition, the financially struggling Melbourne Rebels have served notice to commence legal actions against Rugby Australia regarding millions they claim the governing body of the sport owes them.
Upon returning from Sin City, Peter “Showbags” V’landys and his associates were engaged in crisis negotiations, a rugby summit, and the release of an analysis regarding the French catastrophe by the rival code.
Maybe a trip to Aspen or Croatia for Super Rugby, or whatever Euro summer getaway is popular right now among the GPS Old Boys who still follow union, is in order. Can’t the strategists at McKinsey, whom Rugby Australia has hired to handle the situation, agree on that?
Although there has been no statement on that as of yet, CBD can disclose that rugby union has subtly profited from some substantial public money. The NSW Government’s Regional Aboriginal Partnerships program awarded Rugby NSW a $1.5 million grant, which is more than half of the $2.8 million distributed to boost Indigenous enterprises and education.
The funds will support the Rugby Creates Chances program, which is a far cry from the game’s eastern suburbs and north shore heartland. It is said to as a “school-based rugby and leadership program” and it operates throughout western New South Wales.
With the extra objective of growing the game’s audience beyond traditional tie networks and NRL converts seeing monetary signs, it all seems like a pretty noble endeavor. However, the CBD considered it an exceptional infusion of taxpayer dollars, given that public health projects received only $10,000 and many Aboriginal Land Councils received none. CBD Rugby NSW will receive funding for “a suite of school and community based programs run in far west NSW over the next three years,” a department spokesman confirmed to CBD Rugby NSW.
A WEBB OF WORDS
Last week, for a split second, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb lost her status as the top law enforcement official in the state and passed for just another bright-eyed Swiftie.
“Isn’t it true that Taylor Swift says that haters like to hate?” In response to detractors of her handling of the terrible, alleged killings of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, Webb stated on Seven’s Sunrise. A camera team was waiting outside the studio when she then refused to leave.
Later, Webb said that she had just fallen victim to the extremely contagious Taylor Swift fever—a remarkably inconsiderate statement coming from a senior government official.
According to Webb’s fans, those forceful media appearances don’t fully convey her abilities as a police commissioner.
Luckily for the commissioner, she will soon get the opportunity to rehearse in front of a (hopefully) less critical audience when she speaks to a members-only gathering at the prestigious Royal Sydney Golf Club next month.
Webb will discuss the “challenges and opportunities” of her 36-year career with the police in her speech at the Rose Bay institution. Webb would not even have been eligible to join the club when she began her police career because Royal Sydney only permitted female members in 1998. The establishment maintains a rigid, perplexing dress code that dates back to the 1920s (collars only, no blue jeans).
I’m sure the pop giant has a Tay-Tay song about it somewhere in their repertoire.
TEMPORARY SCYNE
The PwC tax leak controversy from the previous year continues to have an influence on Canberra and the consulting industry.
However, those ripples have become a gold mine for Scyne Advisory, the company that rose from the ashes of PwC’s government business. In November of last year, Scyne, which was established after Allegro Funds acquired PwC’s public sector division for a mere $1 during an enforced fire sale, received approval to begin obtaining government contracts.
So far, it’s doing really well. Scyne signed three contracts with the Department of Defense last month, totaling about $6.5 million. A separate $7.2 million arrangement is in place with the Australian Signals Directorate spooks. And it doesn’t even account for the other multimillion-dollar PwC contracts that were awarded to Scyne following approval from Finance earlier this year.
Scyne has now made a concerted effort to guarantee a degree of self-governance that PwC was obviously lacking from the beginning. However, the amount of money coming in makes it quite evident that Canberra’s hunger for consultants hasn’t been significantly tempered by the tax scandal.
Meanwhile, the firm is going through something of a PR test this week as a result of its application to the NSW Supreme Court to prevent partner Connie Heaney from defecting to competitor Downer EDI.
It even drew Jamie Briggs, Scyne’s lead on corporate affairs and a former Abbott government minister best known for wheeling out of the woodwork to address the troops in parliament the morning after the former prime minister was dumped.