It looks like News Corp could finally have Australian headquarters worthy of the presence of its billionaire chairman Lachlan Murdoch, after the company kicked off construction on a multi-floor renovation of its Holt Street headquarters.
Word from our colleagues on the other side of Sydney Harbour is that News Corp Australia has officially started the “next phase of work” on its Surry Hills offices, which the company’s employees have privately acknowledged were long overdue for some TLC.
In a recent email to staff, the commercial director of News Corp Australia’s tabloids, John Lehmann, told staff to expect some construction noise, temporary desk moves and disruption to facilities and meeting rooms as work gets underway on the Holt Street makeover.
“While further developments are planned for the future, the next phase of work includes new production studios (Lower Ground). Construction has begun behind the cafe to create three new photography studios, including two kitchen studios and one dedicated product studio,” Lehmann wrote in the missive.
“Canteen area (Lower Ground): A new seating area will open in July – perfect to connect with colleagues over coffee or lunch, or to hold informal catch-ups.”
Lehmann went on to alert colleagues to the opening of the company’s “Future Media Lab” from May 1, and some new “private booths”, along with a new “multi-use event space” on level one, fitted out with a “state-of-the-art” audiovisual setup. Much needed facilities, no doubt.
But perhaps not as much as the company’s need for some new loos, which Lehmann noted would be renovated “floor-by-floor” throughout the year.
Of course, regular readers of this column will no doubt recall that CBD first brought word last month of a News Corp Australia development application proposing an upgrade to the building’s bathrooms.
The new loos, as CBD reported at the time, were estimated to cost about $281,000. A second development application, meanwhile, was lodged in relation to a proposal for “minor alterations and additions” to the building, at a cost of $704,655.
According to the site plans filed with the council, it looks like the men’s and women’s bathrooms on levels one through five, where the company’s executives sit, are set for a revamp. We hear they’ve long been due for a refresh.
Better late than never, we suppose. But even then, it’s not like the state of the citadel has deterred News Corp executives from playing host. It wasn’t that long ago that former prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson, and Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn were guests of the company for the unveiling of Sky News Australia’s new name, “News24”.
News Corp has also been known to send executives from its New York City mothership to Australia for executive catch-ups, given Murdoch continues to spend roughly half of his time in Australia. (A penny for the thoughts of News Corp CEO Robert Thomson and News UK boss Rebekah Brooks on the decor last time they were out.)
All a part of the charm, we’d guess. We’re just glad they’ll all have, er, worthy facilities the next time there’s cause for celebration.
Annastacia Palaszczuk set to go ahead with book tour as partner faces charges
Fans of former Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk who may have been worried that revelations of the charges laid against her partner may have derailed her book tour can rest assured that, for now, Palaszczuk will still appear as scheduled.
Whether or not Palaszczuk would go ahead with the events scheduled for the launch of her new book, The Politics of Being Me, was one question raised in some circles over the weekend, after her partner and prominent surgeon, Dr Reza Adib, was charged with three counts of rape.
But there have not been any discussions about withdrawing from a string of events set to go ahead later this month as scheduled, according to a spokeswoman for Palaszczuk’s publisher, Harper Collins Australia.
Dr Adib was charged with three counts of rape following a police raid on his Gold Coast apartment late last week, this masthead reported on Friday, with Adib turning himself in at Southport police station on Friday afternoon. His lawyer Dan Rogers said the surgeon maintains his innocence, and that he was “shocked” by the allegations made against him.
The night before, Palaszczuk was at a launch event for her book at Robina Library, where she was asked about the police raid, which the former premier said she wasn’t aware of. That event, which had at least one television news crew stationed by the entrance, was among the earliest stops on a book tour set to continue through this month.
Palaszczuk is scheduled to appear at Brolga Theatre on Queensland’s Fraser Coast on May 7, before heading south to Canberra for an event in conversation with Dr Jill Sheppard at the Australian National University on May 13, and then stopping by Melbourne for an event at Readings in the Victorian State Library on May 18.
John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.