Archive for Australia
August 23, 2010 at 9:29 am · Filed under Australia
In the film “Groundhog Day” poor Bill Murray can’t escape the one day he’s sent to small town Pennsylvania to report on whether an animal sees its shadow. The title of the film has entered the vernacular for anything that feels endlessly repetitive. Like Lindsay Lohan’s personal life or the Melbourne Storm.
Or the Australian federal election.
Australians awoke on Sunday to find little has changed. Both candidates were filling with the airwaves with their moral imperative to lead the nation. Both parties attacked the other stressing their failures. And instead of leadership we, as a nation, are stuck in neutral.
In the coming days one party will cajole, bribe or canoodle enough Independents to lay claim to the leadership. Yet with a near-even split our nation will lack solid government. The squandering of the Labor Party majority and the rise of Tony Abbott are subjects for other postings. For now, however, there’s a nation to govern. And the even split - while shockingly reminiscent of Bush-Gore - is less emotional and more mundane.
This Groundhog Day election is bound to continue for weeks to come. And in my strong opinion, won’t be resolved until another poll is called. I bet it’ll be just around Christmas time…
August 5, 2010 at 8:23 am · Filed under Leadership, America, Workplace, Australia
I met a former boss of mine for lunch yesterday. He’s originally Australian but lives in New York, and I reported to him when I was in Hong Kong (confused yet?). It was great to spend time and hear what’s happened in the ensuing 10 years since we worked together.
Over the years he’s had a plethora of titles - Vice President, Senior Vice President, Executive Vice President, CEO, Chairman of the Board. Clearly he’s been a success.
Yet as the business card holder was filled and refilled again and again by increasingly posh cards with weightier titles, the glamour of the card began to fade. When he approached retirement he quipped to his wife that he’s had every title known to man - spare one.
Today as a retiree he carries a card with the title, “Chief Tribal Warlord.” To those who had the good fortune to work for the man, he’s not that fierce (unless you missed your margin for a month!).
When I did run the business in Hong Kong one man had been with the business forever. In his latter years he wondered who no one had the title “Queen of the Nile” anymore. Can you guess what the brass plaque presented for his birthday read?
I also did an assignment for one of the smaller European nations. The Prince visited and as a thank you gave me platinum cufflinks that featured the royal seal. We had to address him as “His Most Serene Highness.” Yet he was much like any other businessman.
Corporations run amok with grandiose titles. What are the more extreme you’ve seen? And if you could have any title on your card, what would it be? Twitter away and use the hashtag #mytitle.
July 30, 2010 at 4:39 pm · Filed under Australia
by guest author Victoria White
On Sunday night the Prime Minister Julia Gillard took on Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, in the one and only live debate of the Australian Federal election campaign. Commentators called the debate a draw, and therefore a win for the opposition, whilst live audience tracking made it clear: the women preferred the smooth talking, neatly coiffured PM, whilst the men preferred the alpha strength of the opposition leader.
In the end Julia won on points, but it was Tony who’d narrowed the expectations gap and off they went to the marginal seats where the sniping continued around climate change, immigration figures and cost of living pressures.
Then, late on Tuesday night Channel Nine broke the news of the first election scandal. It was revealed that as Deputy Prime Minister, Ms Gillard had argued against a rise in cash for age pensions and parental leave because ”old people never vote for us”. The responses from Labor HQ appeared disingenuous whilst Tony Abbott, who’d fought his own party for an increase in paid parental leave was able to tout himself as the only leader looking after families.Labor were quick to point the finger at the newly deposed ex-PM Kevin Rudd as the source of the leaks, but both the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader were keeping quiet, preferring to continue a campaign of ‘issues and substance’.
The biggest issue of the week? Julia’s front cover issue of the classic, must-read mag, The Australian Women’s Weekly, of course.
July 22, 2010 at 9:37 am · Filed under Leadership, Australia
Australia is in full election mode. Prime Minister Julia Gillard called the poll for 21 August just last Saturday. Now the airwaves are full of bickering leaders and freshly-kissed babies. If we need more serious content, we can watch PM hopeful Tony Abbott judge talent competitions on Channel Nine. Apparently songstress Kylie Minogue got through, but dogs dancing in tutus got the gong.
This is the stuff of which nations are built.
To help us better understand the policies of each leader, one national debate has been called for this Sunday evening. Then we’ll hear the promises and policies of the Labor and Liberal leaders. Gillard’s promise to clamp down on population growth goes head-to-head with Tony Abbot’s call for billions of dollars of savings. Finally - substance!
Yet before we rush to embrace this vision of democracy in action, there’s been a fly in the soup. A real big, popular, crowd-pleasing fly in the soup.
Channel Ten is now home to one of the highest ranked shows in television history. “Master Chef” is a reality competition program where aspiring cooks compete for the ultimate prize - adoration from millions of strangers and gushing acceptance on broadcast television. (Amazingly in a USA survey, high school students were asked how they would fund their retirement - 50% said with the winnings of a reality TV show.)
But here’s the conundrum. “Master Chef” is on at 7:30 pm and that’s the time the debate was scheduled. What to do? National politics and the future of Australia, or the conclusion of a cook-off?
To satisfy the national appetite, the debate time has been changed. So now we can have our debate and eat it too.
In the last two thousand years so much has changed, and yet so little. Saturday I watched “Gladiator” again and am reminded of the Roman senator’s comments as Russell Crowe prepared for a nation-winning battle:
“I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them and they’ll be distracted. Take away their freedom and still they’ll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the senate, it’s the sand of the coliseum. He’ll bring them death - and they will love him for it.” - The Gladiator
In two thousand years what’s changed? Perhaps now it isn’t “bring them death” but instead “bring them death by chocolate.”
July 16, 2010 at 10:01 am · Filed under Globalisation, Australia
I’ve been in Auckland for two days now and no one has stuck out their tongue, crossed their arms, bent their legs and started chanting. Why is it Australians immediately think of the Haka - the warrior dance performed before rugby games?
I hope to be back soon. I’ll let you know if anyone goes Haka on me!
July 2, 2010 at 9:46 am · Filed under Leadership, Australia
In Australia we get to change Prime Ministers when we want. It’s a rejuvenating experience - much like dropping weight or buying a new outfit. Out with the old! In with the new!
And if a week is a long time in politics, eight days is surely longer.
Just that many days ago a leadership spill saw Prime Minister Kevin Rudd shuffled from the top job to the very last row in Parliament. His new seat - in restaurant terms - is jammed between the kitchen and the toilets.
The night before I was in Canberra and checked into my hotel late at night - just as Kevin came to the lectern to defiantly announce he was proud of his achievements and would defend his role. That very night Julia Gillard was caught in the hallway by the media flock. With ashen face she said she would be contesting the leadership in the morning. It was a terrible image - pale, unhappy, caught in the cross-hairs.
Now we have a new Prime Minister - and the central issue that brought down Kevin Rudd has been successfully resolved. The front page of The Australian shows Gillard striding with immense confidence.
From a media relations perspective, this is another example of how reporters, editors, layout artists and photo editors work to present a holistic story. There’s no confusing the message here - Julia is on top of in Australia!
May 21, 2010 at 8:45 am · Filed under Globalisation, Australia
In my years in an office, I’ve never witnessed such a fast-acting and widespread contagion as has attacked our office this week. In a team of 16 there were seven sick. What was surprising was the speed and ferocity of the illness. Within a day I went from fully functional to flat on my back. This must be the contagion that scared the World Health Organisation. While we’ve not had tests to confirm, if it looks like a pig and acts like a pig, then this must be swine flu.
One hundred years ago the world was hit by a deadly virus.
The Spanish flu pandemic hit a world ill-equipped to handle maladies. Doctors were trained to Victorian era standards. Pharmaceuticals were nowhere near today’s grade. Masses of young men were barracked together in preparation for deployment to World War One. Add to that mix a fast moving flu and you have deadly consequences. Between 50 and 100 million died, and those most targeted were young and healthy. Today scientists are still trying to calculate the death toll.
Just 101 years later the World Health Organisation issued its strongest advisory possible for H1N1 - also known as Swine Flu. This fast traveling flu mutated from a fresh source - meaning any antibodies developed to previous flus were worthless. And just as in 1908 our office lost its young and healthy workers. While we were fine and working one day the next we were home racked with coughs, fever and lethargy.
Thankfully the strain hitting Sydney is nowhere near as lethal as 100 years ago, because if it was, I’d be dead.
March 7, 2010 at 11:35 am · Filed under Issues Management, Australia
Today I received your bank statement. It was addressed to me, and it had my private, family company name on the top. After that, it had all your personal information.
I know you receive benefits from Centrelink, and that you shop on iTunes. Your medical coverage is with Medibank - there’s even your account number. You’re self-employed because I see the deposits of the client invoices, and the project descriptions. I know you live near Leichhardt because that’s where you buy petrol. When you were on holiday in Perth I know where you stayed and that you even got a traffic fine, which you paid on 23 February. I know where you grocery shop (Woolworths Leichhardt).
What do you know about me?
Last month St George Bank mailed the wrong personal banking information to the wrong customers. I got your statement. You have mine. See story here:
But the bank cares. In their letter they said they’re investigating and will be certain this doesn’t happen again. They have a 24-7 dedicated telephone line. I called on Sunday at 12:00 noon - and was put on hold for 10 minutes (”Because your call is important”). When I asked who received my statement, the female operator started lecturing me that no one could tell who I was by my banking information.
Yet I know your wife is named Leanne - because when you made an Internet Withdrawal you wrote the memo that it was for Leanne’s hair products.
So tell me St George. I know this other person. I have their detailed financial history. You’ve made no effort to reclaim these statements and your bossy operator told me I needn’t worry. You’re taking this seriously. You’re conducting an investigation. Yet the front page of your web site gives none of that away - there’s no mention.
Great job St George. At least I know this statement isn’t for Westpac-St George CEO Gail Kelly. I don’t believe she received Centrelink payments. Nor would she like her personal information in another person’s hands. Just like me.
March 6, 2010 at 9:34 pm · Filed under America, Australia
I need to hire good people and I need to hire them now. Australia is approaching technical full employment. That’s when anyone who wants a job is able to find one. There are always that cannot work or choose to lay low for awhile. The skills demand is even tougher in some technical areas of public relations (technology, healthcare, finance, digital). See the role we’re recruiting for now on Linked In.
Yet across the Pacific it’s bad news in America. Not only is unemployment static at just under 10%, the length of unemployment exceeds anything seen in recent history. NPR reports the average length is six months - with some reporting of a year or more without work.
The fall-out in America of long-term unemployment is going to be felt at the polls. Any government in power when the economy is down fares badly. In Australia we may be unhappy with elements of government, but since the economy is doing so well we’ll just leave the incumbents in power. Obama’s mid-term elections occur in November.
Will this be the “Change” he spoke so passionately about?
March 5, 2010 at 7:02 pm · Filed under Issues Management, Media Industry, Public Relations, Australia
Poor Jothy Hughes. This “publicist” couldn’t get his client on national television. The firm bought gold, so Jothy arranged for actresses to pose as divorcees. At a staged event they would sell their wedding jewels and act excited by the value. Hooray for divorce!
But Jothy’s emails trying to tempt gold-diggersgold sellers were published. Now Jothy’s dodging camera crews in car parks and his employer refuses to acknowledge his existence. The story received national airplay in AUstralia on “Today Tonight” and “A Current Affair”.
A PR man’s worst nightmare? Maybe not.
One conspiracy theorist notes the responses and car park interviews are too polished. Was this guy caught out or stage managed? The crisis has forced gold buying parties into prominence never-before seen.
Now I know I’m supposed to be creative in my job. But it never occurred to me to fake a crisis in order to propel further media.
Is that what those Exxon Valdez guys were thinking?
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