quote:

Justin Milne wanted Kylie Minogue to sing about the ABC - with a potential price tag of $750,000

Former ABC chairman Justin Milne wanted to hire pop queen Kylie Minogue to sing about the public broadcaster as part of a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign.

Multiple sources have told Fairfax Media the idea was shot down by senior ABC management, including former managing director Michelle Guthrie, because the singer's $750,000 price tag was deemed too expensive.

Ms Guthrie is understood to have "hit the roof" when she discovered the proposal.

The revelation exposes another source of tension at the highest levels of the ABC, with those close to Ms Guthrie insisting Mr Milne pushed for Minogue's involvement behind her back.

Mr Milne, who has a marketing background, confirmed he thought the idea was "cool", but denied having knowledge about how much it would cost or pushing it on ABC management.

"It wasn’t my idea," he told Fairfax Media on Tuesday. "An emotional campaign with Kylie singing a song ... I thought that could be cool."

Several sources confirmed the cost of the campaign was about $3 million, including $750,000 for Minogue. They said Mr Milne backed the idea at meetings earlier this year, when the broadcaster's top managers were seeking to replicate a BBC promotional drive featuring some of that network's biggest stars.

Mr Milne was said to favour an "all singing, all dancing" promotion that involved "all the bells and whistles", such as Minogue.

"Justin was certainly enthusiastic about the idea," said one person familiar with the discussions.

Managers agreed a public relations campaign was needed as the ABC prepared to negotiate its triennial funding agreement amid elevated pressure from the Coalition government over editorial content.

Mr Milne confirmed on Tuesday that intense scrutiny from Canberra – including complaints about chief economics correspondent Emma Alberici – solidified his view the ABC needed a major promotional drive in 2018.

The broadcaster recently launched a campaign called "ABC Yours", which features testimonials from actors Claudia Karvan and Sam Neill, musicians Tim Minchin and Jimmy Barnes, and others.

The ABC considered approaching Hollywood stars such as Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman during the early stages of planning the promotion.

Mr Milne quit as chairman last Thursday – just three days after his board sacked Ms Guthrie – following Fairfax Media's publication of an email he sent Ms Guthrie in May telling her to "get rid of" Alberici.

It was one of a number of attempts to intervene in staff and editorial matters following complaints from the government.

A source close to Ms Guthrie alleged Mr Milne had gone directly to the ABC's senior financial team about the Minogue proposition, asking them to have the plan costed.

Mr Milne denied this, but acknowledged he did not speak to Ms Guthrie about the idea. "I think Michelle was away at that time," he said.

Staff at the ABC suggested a $3 million advertising campaign starring Minogue would have raised eyebrows in newsrooms given the broadcaster had shed about 1000 jobs since 2014.

In a dossier circulated to the board days before she was sacked, Ms Guthrie named the ABC's $71.2 million loss in 2017-18 as one source of tension between her and the directors.

According to Ms Guthrie's version of events, Mr Milne had in several conversations and emails "expressed the view that he was very comfortable and there was no issue with the numbers".

Mushroom Records, which represents the London-based Minogue in Australia, did not return calls. The ABC also declined to comment.

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/po...002-p507b4.html

Anidav posted:

Re: Max Brenner collapse

Anidav posted:

Re: Max Brenner collapse

LIVE AMMO ROLEPLAY posted:

It doesn't even mention lowering prices, just paying employees less will somehow attract customers?

Lid posted:

Scandaaaaaaaal

Anidav posted:

Re: Max Brenner collapse

Dude McAwesome posted:

jfc the idiocy of these people.

Who’s gonna buy your products if they’re not being paid properly, you loving idiot.

Cpt Soban posted:

You'd think these true believers in free market Capitalism would understand the basics: The less workers are paid- The less disposable income they have. Which means less money going to places like Delis/Bakeries/Cinemas/Restaurants/Pubs etc. When you're paid less, and your bills/mortgage/living expenses stay the same- You're gonna spend less on luxury goods.

The first nail was removing penalty rates for an entire class of workers. Now they have less money (see above).

BUT HEY, lets cut worker's pay, giving it all to the managers, that'll give the economy a good sugar hit of stimulus!

Anidav posted:

snoremac posted:

I don’t know much about expenses for small businesses but are these people all basically that dril tweet where he’s spending all his money on candles and can’t figure out the problem?

Anidav posted:

Re: Max Brenner collapse

fiery_valkyrie posted:

It couldn’t possibly be because there just isn’t enough demand in the market for another speciality chocolatier cafe.....

JBP posted:

My favourite part of this is when those business council stickers came out for businesses to campaign for cutting penalty rates and everyone in Newport/Spotswood just stopped going to that cafe until it closed and the others enjoyed a surge in patronage.

e: those stickers also attracted a very cost effective upswing in vandalism as well, great campaign

fiery_valkyrie posted:

It couldn’t possibly be because there just isn’t enough demand in the market for another speciality chocolatier cafe.....

snoremac posted:

I don’t know much about expenses for small businesses but are these people all basically that dril tweet where he’s spending all his money on candles and can’t figure out the problem?

fiery_valkyrie posted:

It’s pretty likely that wages are their biggest controllable line item on the P&L, which is why they focus on it so much.

Cpt Soban posted:

Hey they could cut their wages cost right down to 0 if they do all the work themselves. To think some business owners think of wages as "THEFT" or a "COST"... You're INVESTING in your business- Skilled workers = More business. Isn't that what they always talk about while begging the Government to cut taxes? "I CAN HIRE MORE PEOPLE THINK OF OUR BUSINESS"

JBP posted:

They have constant problems with teen employees not giving a gently caress and think making their job less attractive to prospective employees and ensuring they give even less fucks is a great idea.

Cpt Soban posted:

MFW they hired said teen employees who "don't give a gently caress". Not to mention you have portions of EVERY age group where some people don't give a gently caress- Being paid peanuts with poo poo conditions tends to exasperate the problem. If you're not listened to, or trusted, or treated fairly- Expect said person to eventually not give a gently caress.

JBP posted:

I worked selling phones for two smart dudes who also sold phones as teens and figured it was a booming business (this was in 2001 I think I started). They paid us $2-3 above award and $5-25 commission on phones which places like Telstra shops didn't do. I can't recall them not keeping a casual for less than two years and I worked there for nearly five years including a short stint as a full timer when I finished uni and was aimlessly living my life for a bit. They'd put on three parties a year for staff and do bonuses. In turn we would absolutely shovel phones out of that place. The startup cost for that business (when the two of them worked solo in a small hole in the wall shop) was most likely less than building a bloody kitchen and cafe.

I still go to their houses for BBQs and events and one of the casuals I worked there with has been with them for 15 years now as the store manager. The entire reason for their success is having worked as a floor sales dude and understanding how to make that job good for their employees.

Cpt Soban posted:

We had a local pub spend thousands on a fancy sign that "calculated" what the cost of food should be during public holidays.... The moron who designed it simply multiplied the current prices by 2 because - DOUBLE TIME, as if to say wages made up 100% of the pub's expenses... It hit the local news, their Facebook page was spammed with hundreds of people saying "fine we'll go elsewhere". My own comment was even printed in the local newspaper (I refuse to go to businesses that mistreat their workers). We used to do gaming meetups at that pub often- Never been since. Oh and even the local ABC radio station had a segment on it, a business/economic expert was invited to comment, and yeah he demolished them saying "no it's completely wrong".

People need to do this more everywhere- Any businesses that whinge/complain about paying their workers LEGALLY should be boycotted. "Welcome to the free market motherfucker".

Cpt Soban posted:

Hey they could cut their wages cost right down to 0 if they do all the work themselves. To think some business owners think of wages as "THEFT" or a "COST"... You're INVESTING in your business- Skilled workers = More business. Isn't that what they always talk about while begging the Government to cut taxes? "I CAN HIRE MORE PEOPLE THINK OF OUR BUSINESS"

Senor Tron posted:

Bombay Bicycle Club? We used to go there reasonably often and haven't been back since they did that.

fiery_valkyrie posted:

Are you angry at me, or just the issue in general?

I don’t agree with the constant pushes to reduce wages, I was just explaining why the total obsession from retail/hospo for government to reduce minimum wage.

bell jar posted:

State & Territory Treasurers have come together to agree to scrap the tax on tampons and other feminine hygiene products. Another nail in the coffin for the Liberals, who spearheaded and accomplished this reform on tax, while Labor will definitely coast to victory in the next election, having rejected the notion for the entirety of its time in opposition apart from the last 6 months, when Bill Shorten learned that women vote