Spring racing hasn’t even begun but McLachlan’s on track to scoop $16m

The spring racing season, so vital to the fortunes of Tabcorp, the largest provider of gaming services in the country, hasn’t stuck a hoof in the turf yet, but the company’s chief executive, Gillon McLachlan, is already set for a substantial win.

Not, you understand, at the betting track, where the South Australian aristo and former long-time AFL head boy, despite being a mad-for-it punter, adheres to the Tabcorp staff policy of only betting outside working hours, as reported previously in this column. (Although what is outside working hours in the 24/7 workday of most CEO roles nowadays?)

Happily, Gill is already substantially in the money after the tall guy was granted 30 million share options late last year as part of his long-term bonus plan. Keep in mind that he officially took the reins at the gambling giant in January after a few months in an “observer capacity”.

Late last year, the options had a theoretical value of $3 million. But Tabcorp’s share price has surged by 44 per cent to more than $1 in just the past 10 days. And in the past year, it has soared by 155 per cent.

McLachlan can exercise these options at just over 47¢ a piece in two years, provided he clears a string of performance hurdles for three years running. Judging by the share price, the first year went pretty well, and it is fair to say he is on track at the moment.

CBD’s back of a beer coaster calculation shows that if the current share price remains buoyant, McLachlan stands to cash in more than $16 million on those options.

His pay package for the first 11 months of the new gig totalled $3.3 million, including more than $2 million in salary and cash bonuses.

Certainly seems a tad more lucrative for McLachlan than his old gig. And a far less ferocious press pack as well.

Brand new role

Former long-time Art Gallery of NSW director Michael Brand has followed the sun north to BrisVegas, but it seems he won’t be spending all his time there lying on a beach.

Brand last surfaced in CBD in August, when we reported the avowed Sydneysider for the past 14 years was ditching the harbour city for a lifestyle change.

Brand, a former director of the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the new Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, didn’t have a new full-time job last time we heard, but he’s adding to his list of part-time gigs, which includes casual work for the Bhutanese royal family advising in a new museum.

That is, if anything connected with the art-loving King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema can possibly be described as “casual”.

Closer to home, Brand will spend the next four years as a member of the governing board of Creative Australia, the federal government’s principal arts and advisory body. It comes with an annual stipend north of $35,000.

Time to speak up – and turn up

Staff at NSW’s Transport Department have been given every reason to speak up of late.

Many have been fuming since department chief Josh Murray, a former Labor staffer and 2UE radio journo, revealed six weeks ago that almost 1000 of them would lose their jobs.

For those who hang on, they’ll be delighted to know that they will soon have improved ways to voice their concerns – or at least dob in their workmates.

The department is on the hunt for a new contractor for its Speak Up hotline after concerns about its effectiveness were raised at an anti-corruption inquiry into allegedly wayward (and now former) Transport staffers.

Anyone who tuned into the first six weeks of hearings at the latest ICAC inquiry might agree that the transport agency needs an improved whistleblower hotline.

It is the fourth corruption inquiry into Transport for NSW since 2019, and the alleged mastermind of the latest kickback rort, Ibrahim Helmy, hasn’t shown any sign of turning up.

After allegedly pocketing $11.5 million in kickbacks from road contractors, Helmy has become NSW’s most sought-after former Transport official. In fact, he hasn’t been seen since he put the rubbish out one Sunday in May.

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