“Denholm’s approach to enforcement of the SEC settlement,including unawareness of one of its key requirements,suggests a new lackadaisical approach to her oversight obligations,” she said.
In other news,an SEC filing this week revealed Denholm planned to sell 281,116 Tesla shares,worth about $80 million. She could be renovating her $27.5 million Cremorne Point penthouse in no time.
LOWE BLOW
Sometimes,you almost feel bad for former Reserve Bank governorPhilip Lowe.
The man who promised interest rates wouldn’t rise until 2024,then presided over a dozen rate rises – then told Australians struggling with the housing crisis to consider getting flatmates,moving home with parents or just working more – simply couldn’t catch a break.
After TreasurerJim Chalmers dumped him last year,the outgoing governor said he’d become unpopular because he’d made “tough decisions” and had a brief swipe at media clickbait. Perhaps we just misunderstood him!
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But if so,we weren’t the only ones. Australia Day came and went last week with the usual round of culture war nonsense – but Lowe did not receive a gong. You have to go back to the 1990s to find a departing RBA governor who wasn’t made a Companion of the Order of Australia on their way out the door.
The last one to miss out wasBernie Fraser,whose appointment by the Hawke government angered the Liberals such that we can’t imagine he was all that popular with John Howard and co,who were elected just before his term ended.
Fraser’s three predecessors all received gongs too,which makes Lowe’s snubbing all the more pointed. Then again,in the current climate,we can’t imagine making Lowe an AC would’ve gone down too well. We asked the governor-general’s office about all this,but didn’t hear back.
OPTUS’ LATEST LOSS
CBD reckons few have a way with language like the lateOscar Wilde,whose prescient words must be ringing through the ears of interim Optus bossMichael Venter:“To lose one may be regarded as a misfortune,to lose two looks like carelessness.”
The day after news broke that incoming head of corporate affairsDanielle Keighery had been poached by Qantas before she’d even begun at Optus,the telco’s senior director of corporate affairsSally Oelerich left her role on Wednesday,after six years.
Regular readers will recall Oelerich’s 2022 train wreck interview with now cancelled 2GB hostChris Smith,when she struggled to explain the reasons behind the Optus data breach.
A source close to Oelerich rejected suggestions she had been fired,and this denial was backed up by Optus’ vice president of regulatory and public affairs Andrew Sheridan.
“Sally’s commitment,determination and enthusiasm was evident in all her dealings for Optus,and we thank her for her contributions,” he said. “While we are sad to hear of Sally’s decision to leave Optus,we wish her all the best for the future.”
The telco is still recovering from the loss of chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin following last year’s outage. Whoever replaces Oelerich has their work cut out for them.
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