Michelle Rowland taps James Chisholm, bureaucrat of Optus debacle fame, as chief of staff

It was only in October last year that James Chisholm, then-deputy secretary of the department of communications, was torched by senators for his department’s failure to set up automatic email replies after Optus emailed the wrong address to notify them of a catastrophic Triple Zero outage.

The Optus inquiry, as it turns out, served at least two purposes. Along with the revelations about the failures of Optus and Chisholm’s department, it also appears to have handed Chisholm the opportunity to audition publicly for his new gig – running the office of Attorney-General Michelle Rowland.

On its face, you could say Rowland liked what she saw: Chisholm, who held a senior leadership position in a department that could barely manage an email inbox, was the best man to run her office.

The Attorney-General’s office did not respond to questions about when discussions with Chisholm kicked off, whether Rowland had any concerns about Chisholm’s performance in the inquiry, or its revelations.

“James is a highly experienced former chief of staff and lawyer and we look forward to him joining the team as we progress the government’s ambitious second term delivery agenda,” a spokesperson for the Attorney-General’s office told CBD.

Chisholm’s future was the subject of (admittedly dull) hallway gossip in Canberra this year after Jim Betts, secretary of the department of communications, told staff his deputy would be taking a period of “extended leave”. The email, passed on to CBD, rattled off some of his greatest hits.

He was thanked for the work he’d done on “world-leading” policy reforms including, but not limited to, the social media ban, “establishment of the Triple Zero Custodian”, the NBN rollout, journalism grants and the government’s efforts to improve outdoor mobile coverage.

“James has been a valued member of my executive leadership team since he joined the department and I would like to wish him all the best for his leave,” Betts wrote in his missive.

Chisholm is a lawyer and, importantly, a Labor former. He worked as chief of staff to Chris Bowen, now energy minister, during the Gillard government. He also ran the office of Labor minister David Bradbury. Happy homecoming, Mr Chisholm.

Packer’s investment vehicle reshuffles decks

James Packer’s private investment vehicle, Consolidated Press Holdings, may offer us only a small glimpse into the wealth of the Australian billionaire. Still, we like to keep an eye on the lieutenants who keep his humble operation ticking over, even if only to take the opportunity to check in on some of the bets he’s making.

Among the most recent changes over at Packer’s family office was the departure of the investment vehicle’s long-time general counsel and company secretary, Catherine Davies, who stood down as a director of the company and as its secretary late last year, according to documents filed with the corporate regulator.

Her departure leaves Lawrence Myers, CPH’s chief executive and the deputy chairman at Breville, along with Michael Uzunovski, who works as the investment vehicle’s finance director, as the last remaining directors on the books. (The pair didn’t get back to us.) But that’s not to say the operation has stopped throwing off cash.

In CPH’s most recent filings last year, Packer stood to reap a $110 million dividend, thanks to major bets on Sportsbet’s owner, Flutter Entertainment, and the gaming firm Light & Wonder.

Not long after these documents were lodged with the regulator, Packer sat for an interview with Rampart, where he offered up a brutal assessment of former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews, and bemoaned the treatment of gaming regulators while he was still involved in Crown Resorts.

“Daniel Andrews is about my least favourite person in the world. I think Daniel Andrews not only ruined Victoria, he almost ruined my life,” he said. “With three weeks to go [on the sale to Blackstone] f—ing Daniel Andrews changes the tax rates on Crown and rips 50 million of [earnings before interest and tax] out of Crown and gives no compensation.”

Australian tech stalwart in frame for OpenAI job

Ever since the federal government unveiled its lofty ambitions to turn Australia into a regional hub for the global AI build-out last year, attention has turned to who is in the running for the top local jobs at two of the world’s biggest AI firms: OpenAI and Anthropic.

One of the earliest names to surface in chatter among local tech executives and the sector’s lobbying apparatus is Kate Pounder, who CBD is told is in the frame for a senior role at OpenAI’s Australian operation and has naturally been linked in discussion about Anthropic’s local recruitment efforts.

Pounder rose to prominence during her time as chief executive of the Tech Council of Australia, the nation’s highest-profile tech industry association. She was there for three years before stepping down in early 2024. The tech policy stalwart then popped up again last year when she signed onto a six-month contract advising OpenAI, which we hear is due to expire imminently.

OpenAI, Anthropic and Pounder all declined to comment.

Late last year, ChatGPT maker OpenAI celebrated the opening of its Australian head office with an event at the Museum of Contemporary Art, along with a spate of partnerships with some of Australia’s biggest companies, and a $7 billion deal for a data centre in Sydney’s Eastern Creek.

Anthropic, which operates one of ChatGPT’s biggest AI rivals, Claude, is also laying the groundwork for a hotly anticipated push into Australia, this masthead revealed last month.

The arrival of OpenAI and Anthropic in Australia has put both companies at the centre of a whirlwind of speculation about who will be tasked with leading their local operations, and what their priorities will be. The Australian government, meanwhile, will no doubt be keeping a close eye on the developments, as they can ramp up efforts to get a cut of the AI gold rush.

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