It isn't simple - here is an article from Moi's favourite website
www.crikey.com.au4. How Crikey helped save Richmond's TAC sponsorship
By Stephen Mayne, paid-up Richmond member
If the Richmond Football Club is really fearful that Victoria's monopoly
third party accident insurer, the Transport Accident Commission, will
withdraw its $500,000 sponsorship after 19-year-old backman Jay Schulz got
pinged for drink driving, maybe they should pull out that old favourite
tactic of political interference.
Remember how all those politicians forced Telstra to reinstate its funding
to Lifeline? Well, the TAC is also a political football because it's owned
by the Victorian government. Richmond supporters should start deluging
Labor MPs threatening to never vote for them again if the TAC pulls out.
Back when Crikey was press secretary to Victorian treasurer Alan
Stockdale, I played a role in stopping the TAC cancelling what was then a
$400,000 sponsorship.
The Kennett Government had just fired TAC CEO Leon L'Huillier and
installed Margaret Jackson as the new chairperson as controversial
privatisation plans were pushed before later being abandoned. John Stanway
was the acting CEO and then Richmond consultant and former Laurie Connell
mate Mal "biffer" Brown decided to call him a "f*ck wit" during
negotiations over the sponsorship.
The legal letter cancelling the deal was all set to be written when Mal
Brown pulled two political strings. The first was to lobby then transport
minister Alan Brown who was a keen Richmond supporter and the second was
to ring yours truly who was also a keen Richmond supporter.
I immediately bounded into Stockdale's office and said that some
controversy was brewing over TAC dumping Richmond and it could send the
club into insolvency. "There's no votes in sending a big club like
Richmond broke," I counselled.
Stockdale, a passionate Melbourne supporter, then muttered something about
Alan Brown also pushing the same line and immediately rang Stanaway and
said words to the effect of "I don't want to tell you how to run your
business but I'm being told that Richmond is under financial pressure and
might face serious problems if you pull out."
Game over. Stanway was only the acting CEO and with privatisation
beckoning, the last thing he was going to do was defy his shareholder
minister.
Fast forward 12 years and all this will require is one of the Richmond
directors to have a direct line to Labor treasurer John Brumby. One such
person who could have made that call is Colin Radford, the former press
secretary to John Brumby and Steve Bracks who is a passionate Richmond
supporter and just happens to be in charge of corporate affairs at the
TAC.
However, Radford was on the losing team during the recent bitter boardroom
battle at Richmond. How ironic that he now might be the man
delivering a financial bullet.
Radford will need to be careful here that a perceived over-reaction by the
TAC won't be seen as him exacting some revenge. TAC chairman James
MacKenzie is a well connected figure around town and close to both Brumby
and Bracks. Maybe the three of them should keep an eye on the situation
given the past baggage between the incumbent Richmond board and Radford.