PM faces tough crowd as corporate bosses assemble for Business Council dinner

Few events in business and politics get the high-calibre turnout that the Business Council of Australia’s annual dinner has come to deliver.

And that’s before factoring in the will-he-won’t-he speculation over whether Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn would be among the major corporates to show face for the get-together at the Sofitel Hotel in Sydney’s CBD on Tuesday evening. (To our surprise, Comyn was there.)

The guest list had no shortage of talent. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was billed as the headline guest, with a gaggle of senior Labor figures in tow.

Also from the government, Trade Minister Don Farrell showed up to mingle with execs before the dinner, as did Assistant Science, Technology and Digital Economy Minister Andrew Charlton, and Assistant Productivity Minister Andrew Leigh, who, if our eyes didn’t deceive us, arrived to the ballroom with his backpack slung over his shoulder.

But if reporting from our colleagues on Monday was any indicator, Albanese was no doubt bracing for a tough crowd. The star-studded audience was led by BCA chief executive Bran Black, who was preparing to send the government a warning shot on productivity, according to speech notes reported by this masthead.

Our guess is Black will have no shortage of backers for his message. The top executives of Australia’s biggest companies were expected to turn out in force for the annual get-together, including Telstra chief executive Vicki Brady, Coles chief Leah Weckert and representatives from the big four banks.

Apart from Comyn, the bankers included NAB chairman Philip Chronican, who was on the list but who we didn’t get eyes on, as well as Westpac chief Anthony Miller and ANZ chief executive Nuno Matos. Also expected were Citi chief executive Mark Woodruff and Macquarie boss ⁠Stuart Green.

Public servants were well represented. ASIC chair Sarah Court and ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb were each set to turn out for the function, as was Steven Kennedy, secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Treasury secretary Jenny Wilkinson. Jan Adams, secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, was also expected to go along, as was Department of Climate Change and Energy secretary Mike Kaiser.

With all of these types of functions, there is always a reliable turnout from the hangers-on. So it was little surprise to see former federal treasurer turned Trump whisperer Joe Hockey back on the list this year, along with former defence minister Christopher Pyne. The pair were among the eager and enthusiastic who turned up unfashionably early. (Those relationships aren’t going to cultivate themselves.)

A grand final Albo-Kylie tete-a-tete? We should be so lucky

It was only last month that Australia discovered Anthony Albanese would “shag” pop icon Kylie Minogue in a game of “shag, marry, date” after the unfortunate revelation emerged on comedian Nikki Osborne’s Bush Deep podcast.

The unedifying response has haunted the PM ever since and makes the prospect of Albo potentially crossing paths with Minogue at the AFL grand final at the MCG next month quite delicious. Imagine that tete-a-tete – not awkward at all.

Minogue, of course, is performing at the grand final’s pre-game show on September 26, and usually the star at the centre of the game day entertainment sticks around for the match.

The AFL extends an invitation to the prime minister, various premiers and dignitaries each year as standard practice. Invitations are usually dispatched in early September.

But it might be the United Nations, of all things, that stops the meeting of Minogue and Albanese.

Albanese is expected to head to New York to attend the high-level General Assembly at the United Nations in the last week of September. While there, he will collect a global citizen gong on the sidelines from the Atlantic Council, which loftily recognises him for “seeking to improve the state of the world”.

CBD put a call into Albanese’s office to work out the odds of an MCG encounter with Kylie.

At the time of writing, CBD understands the PM’s travel plans are yet to be determined, so it remains unclear if the grand final will fit into his jet-setting schedule this year. To paraphrase a Minogue hit, we should be so lucky if it did.

Elite tennis club starts hunt for another chief

Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club is back in the game, finally starting its hunt for a chief executive three months after the sudden departure of its most recent executive leader, Ian Robson.

In a note to members on Monday, the club advised it was getting a wriggle on and the search was commencing for “an exceptional leader with the vision, capacity and commitment” to deliver “our long-term strategic objectives”.

The esteemed tennis establishment has certainly been through the wringer recently. The club’s finances came under scrutiny in 2023 when it was forced to call in independent auditors to investigate millions of dollars in losses from its dining operations.

The audit found poor financial management and reporting were to blame for the substantial losses from its dining arm.

The club revealed in October last year it was negotiating to buy the nearby Vision Australia premise as part of its Centenary Master Plan to expand its footprint and facilities. That deal fell through in December 2025, and Scotch College is now in talks to buy the Vision Australia head office for about $60 million.

Then, at the end of May, club CEO Robson, a former chief executive of Essendon Football Club, departed just 17 months after being appointed.

The club put out its call for new leadership on Seek this week, describing it as a “rare opportunity” to “steward the Club’s next chapter” and “lead the execution of the Club’s strategic vision”.

Applications, which close on September 20, and interviews are being managed internally by the club. CBD reached out to the club, hoping to find out if the new boss would be anointed before the Kooyong Classic in January, but didn’t hear back by deadline.

Tiley rings the changes in New York

Former Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley is rapidly increasing his profile in his new gig as the head of the United States Tennis Association.

The now Florida-based sporting executive rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday before the US Open main draw this weekend.

It’s a fair step up from doing the rounds in Melbourne.

While his focus might be America these days, Tiley was in the conversation this week about future-proofing Melbourne’s sporting infrastructure. The sporting administrator added his voice to calls for a roofed 20,000 seat multipurpose arena to be built in the Melbourne and Olympic Parks precinct.