Batchelor pad is Idol idyll

NO SIGN of a rental crisis when a dozen kids can rent out a Batchelor pad in Mosman for 6000 clams a week.

The former AMP boss Paul Batchelor has found a few tenants for his dress-circle pile in the form of a bunch of pimply kids screaming their lungs out for a bit of fame and fortune.

One has even promised to move out each week with no threat to the rent.

The kids from TV karaoke show Australian Idol have moved into Batchelor's shack in The Grove, which we recently noted was on the market for $6000 a week.

No doubt the kids are enjoying Batchelor's interior-design touch in the four-level, five-bathroom humpy featuring a pool, temperature-controlled wine cellar, er, butler's servery, marble ensuite with spa, walk-in wardrobe and private deck with water views.

Still, all that singing practice can't be much fun for some of Batchelor's neighbours, including Coca-Cola's boss Terry Davis and the St George and AGL director Graham Reaney.

While we're at it, the streets of Mosman are home to another reality TV show in the form of Make Me A Supermodel. The host of the glamourpuss teens property, the developer David Zubani, has rented out his $2 million pile for $10,000 a week to the producers of the pay-TV show.

Part of the picture

Surely after leading the Seven Network to the No.1 spot in the ratings, David Leckie and his chums couldn't possibly have taken a pay cut?

According to the annual report, that would appear to be the case, with Leckie appearing to be down to $900,000 from more than $3 million. But actually, no.

The report details executive earnings only from the latter-day listed media investment company. You know, the one that just announced a profit warning because of its dud stock tipping.

The Seven Media Group that controls the TV station and other media assets is a private investment so we don't see any details of the salaries the joint venture paid to executives. We can only assume the modest salaries from the listed entity are a reward for an excellent stock-tipping efforts.

All at sea

There's nothing like a pirate ship appearing on the horizon to convince a rudderless ship to doll up one of the crew in a captain's uniform.

And as the good ship Foster's lolls around the high seas having forced Trevor O'Hoy to walk the plank, the small matter of a 5 per cent stake held by Deutsche Bank has got the crew thinking.

Best put midshipman Ian Johnston up to at least make it look like someone's running the show. Even if we did decide only a month ago he wasn't the guy to run the ship.

Still, appearance is everything and we would hate the pirates to think no one has their hand on the tiller. We can only hope the crew haven't enjoyed too much of the sponsor's product.

Native habitat

Spotted going up on a new building overlooking the King Street Wharf precinct at Darling Harbour is a sparkling new "Macquarie" sign.

It appears the silver doughnut will fit in well with its new neighbours. It is right next door to the Sydney Wildlife World, home to a whole bunch of other protected native species.

Expense accounting

It is never a pleasant feeling when your pay cheque is missing a few bucks. Imagine Jon Gidney's surprise at JPMorgan when his was missing a few million.

After JPMorgan ran an 18-month defence for Consolidated Minerals, it sent a bill to the victor, the Ukrainian billionaire Gennadiy Bogolyubov's Palmary Enterprises. Gidney and his chums at JPMorgan were seeking as much as $86 million for their work.

While UBS, Palmary's adviser during the bidding process, is understood to have received its fees, JPMorgan wasn't happy when a cheque for just $20 million landed.

The matter has ended up in court, where the rather delightful prospect has presented itself of JPMorgan being required to detail its expenses in takeover defences between June 2005 and June last year.

Consmin wants documents that contain "any reasonable expenses incurred by JPMorgan including any out-of-pocket expenses exceeding $5 million".

Gosh, what could they include? An 18-month takeover is bound to contain a few more receipts than just for a few airfares and dinner and martinis in the hotel bar.

Budget promotion

Jetstar's new boss, Bruce Buchanan, was told late on Thursday night over a bottle of red about his ascension at the budget airline. "I had a session with Alan [Joyce] over dinner and then a call from Geoff [Dixon] at the same time and that was how I was told. It's all new to me. I'm just settling in at the moment," he said.

Joyce returned to Oz on Thursday after investor roadshows in Europe and the US.

"He occasionally doesn't mind a good glass of red. He probably does enjoy the odd pint of Guinness occasionally as well," Buchanan said of his former Jetstar chum.

But they weren't drinking the Qantas of choice: 2001 Grange or 1998 Dom Perignon.

"No mate, it was much more down to earth - 2005 South Australian shiraz, pretty much in the $20 to $30 range. We were definitely in the Jetstar price range," he said.

We suspect, however, his salary won't be in the Jetstar range.