Pay cheque: Craig McLachlan finally settles legal bill

1 week ago 8

CBD reported past week that histrion Craig McLachlan, who dropped a defamation assertion against this masthead, the ABC and erstwhile co-star Christie Whelan Browne implicit allegations of intersexual harassment 10 days into a trial, was plotting a vocation comeback acknowledgment to personage cause Max Markson.

Now, astir 2 years aft McLachlan’s abrupt courtroom capitulation, the Herald has yet received the $1.2 cardinal successful costs owed by the actor.

It’s taken a while. Negotiations with McLachlan’s ineligible squad implicit the last magnitude bubbled on betwixt May 2022 and December past year. Then, McLachlan dumped his erstwhile solicitors, Mark O’Brien Legal, the steadfast besides acting for Alan Jones, Ben Roberts-Smith and Bruce Lehrmann.

He began instructing Nash Allen Williams & Wotton Solicitors, a tiny store based connected the Central Coast. In February, McLachlan agreed to wage $1.2 cardinal pursuing a connection from Nine, owners of this masthead. We perceive negotiations with the ABC are inactive ongoing. Nine requested outgo via slope transportation – the modular mode these things are handled.

Instead, past period McLachlan’s solicitors sent a insubstantial cheque via explicit station from the firm’s spot account, payable to Christie Whelan Browne and Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd.

Now, unless you’re surviving successful the 1990s, oregon are American, you’ve astir apt not utilized a cheque successful years. But McLachlan’s lawyers refused requests to cancel the cheque and wage by slope transfer.

Happily, the cheque was successfully banked this week. A important triumph for public-interest journalism, if we bash accidental truthful ourselves.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Lendlease, the storied aged commercialized spot giant, is successful request of urgent renovation. At least, that’s the presumption of large investors including Tanarra Capital, tally by high-profile concern seasoned and sporting head John Wylie.

This month, Wylie penned a melodramatic missive to the Lendlease committee lashing its “bureaucratic, arrogant” absorption culture, and arguing the institution faced an existential menace if it didn’t flog disconnected its planetary business.

And it seems Tanarra’s presumption has been validated by immoderate caller accounts lodged with the British regulator Companies House past week, related to the firm’s ambitious Deptford Landings improvement successful southbound London.

Lendlease Deptford’s 2023 fiscal twelvemonth accounts, filed connected April 12, amusement the subsidiary constructed cumulative losses of £64.8 cardinal implicit the past 2 years (about $112.8 million).

The cognition managed to crook a gross nett of £5.3 cardinal ($9.4 million) successful 2023, but this was wiped retired by soaring financing costs of astir £11 cardinal ($19.6 million). The last nonaccomplishment for 2023 was £4.9 cardinal ($8.7 million). Not large but a large betterment connected the £60 cardinal it mislaid the twelvemonth prior.

Lendlease Developments Europe, the improvement manager for a swath of London-based projects, besides filed its numbers, successful which pre-tax losses roseate from £2.8 cardinal ($5 million) to astir £3.5 cardinal ($6.2 million). LD’s accounts besides showed an astir fivefold summation successful financing costs.

Now, Wylie and co reckon that portion Lendlease’s sprawling overseas operations might’ve been bully bets successful the epoch of inexpensive money, the blowout successful financing costs to Deptford, astir wholly involvement payments to 3rd parties, has wrecked that project’s profitability.

And portion those numbers aren’t large, we reckon they amusement Lendlease’s planetary operations are dragging the company’s performance. With February’s shaky half-yearly results showing a statutory post-tax nonaccomplishment of $136 million, each cardinal counts.

Needless to say, it’ll enactment Lendlease nether unit to warrant not scaling backmost its European operations astatine an capitalist time coming up adjacent month, oregon supply thing to disgruntled shareholders. Curiously, there’s inactive nary day scheduled for that.

REBEL FALLING

Homegrown Hollywood prima Rebel Wilson has cancelled 3 shows scheduled for Melbourne, Brisbane and the Sydney Opera House adjacent period arsenic a quality with erstwhile co-star Sacha Baron Cohen continues to canine the work of her memoir.

Ticket holders were told connected Thursday that the Evening with Rebel Wilson events, scheduled arsenic portion of the promotional effort for the publication Rebel Rising, are cancelled, with refunds to beryllium processed automatically.

On the upside, the ineligible issues delaying the work look to beryllium sorted, and disappointed devotees tin usage their summons refunds to spot a pre-order for Rebel Rising, which is present owed to deed the shelves connected May 8.

The publication was delayed aft Wilson made accusations against Baron Cohen astir his behaviour portion they were moving connected the movie Grimsby.

She alleges that she did not privation to look bare successful the movie and that Baron Cohen asked her to instrumentality her digit up his bum during the filming of a enactment scene.

The British comedian subsequently released a connection denying the claims, saying they were “demonstrably false”.

Publishers HarperCollins person repeatedly refused to sermon the effect the menace of imaginable ineligible enactment by Baron Cohen had connected the archetypal determination to postpone it.

JUST FOR LAUGHS

CBD’s spies spotted erstwhile ALP legislator Sam Dastyari – erstwhile a rising prima successful the party, earlier his spectacular autumn from grace involving a Chinese-linked donations ungraded – catching Nina Oyama’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival amusement connected Wednesday night. Current autarkic ACT Senator and ex-Wallabies skipper David Pocock was besides seen astatine the bar.