THE JACKSON WELLS REPORT

Jackson Wells' Bob Lawrence on Spin Doctors Thursday

Benjamin Haslem

Jackson Wells' Account Director Bob Lawrence (left) is making one of his regular appearances on ABC Radio Sydney's Spin Doctors segment this Thursday at 9.15am (11.15pm Wednesday GMT). If you're in Sydney tune in on 702AM or you can stream it. The Spin Doctors panel analyses the week’s best and worst spin in the media.

Royal Flying Doctor raises $45,000

Benjamin Haslem

The Australian cricket team wore commemorative shirts bearing Royal Flying Doctor Service 80th Anniversary logos on the first day of the just-completed Perth Test, each shirt  signed by the individual player who wore it and auctioned on-line through the Flying Doctor website. Proceeds go to the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).

Bidding closed yesterday with $45,626.01 raised! Jackson Wells assisted the RFDS and Cricket Australia with media marketing services, securing numerous interviews across the breadth of the country with RFDS National Chairman, Tim Fischer. We also organised the on-line auction through GoingGone, a Sydney-based firm that specialises in auction management and bidder verification, and eBay.

Here are the final bids:

Ricky Ponting $7,200

Adam Gilchrist $5,100

Andrew Symonds $5,100

Michael Clarke $4,150

Mike Hussey $4,050

Brett Lee $3,600

Matthew Hayden $3,550

Chris Rogers $2,651

Stuart Clark $2,550

Phil Jaques $2,075

Shaun Tait $2,025

Mitchell Johnson $1,850

Brad Hogg $1,725

Cricketers auction shirts for flying doctor

Keith Jackson

Today, to mark the 80th Anniversary of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, the Australian cricket team is wearing commemorative shirts for the first day of the test match against India in Perth. Each shirt will be signed by the player who wore it and is now being auctioned through eBay. You can join the auction here.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service is an Australian icon. It is a not-for-profit charity providing emergency and primary health care services in rural and remote Australia. Its aircraft fly over 21 million kilometres a year tending to 240,000 patients.

The Flying Doctor is also a Jackson Wells client and naturally we’re keen to see the auction go real well.

Cricket Australia says it is the perfect official charity partner for the Royal Flying Doctor  Service: “Both are national Australian icons. Just like cricket and the baggy green cap, the Royal Flying Doctor Service is truly and uniquely Australian. It is exciting to see two Australian icons join together to work for Australians. Both share our message of healthy living.”

The top five bids so far are for the shirts of Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist and newcomer Chris Rogers. Tailing the field is fast bowler Mitchell Johnson.

You can bid for a shirt or just keep up with the auction action here.

Working with the Rudd government

Keith Jackson

On Saturday Australia experienced a profound political shift: and one that contradicted the prevailing political wisdom that incumbents are not voted out of office in the context of a benign economy. Labor's victory raises a number of important questions for organisations. Jackson Wells is offering a political briefing to address them. Kerry Sibraa, Rodney Cavalier and I will conduct these briefings, which will be customised to client requirements.

Politics. What sort of government will Labor offer? What will be the political goals of its first term in office? As neither major party controls the Senate, what does this mean for Labor’s program? Where do the Labor factions stand? How will ‘wall to wall’ Labor governments affect political decision-making? How friendly will a Labor Government be to business? How accommodating will it be of the aspirations of unions, whose influence diminished greatly under the Coalition?

Policies. What key policies will Labor pursue? How rigorously will they stick to their pre-election commitments? How are these likely to impact on your industry and your organisation? What Labor policies are relevant to your industry and your organisation? Are they able to be influenced or are they immutable? What formal processes are available to provide industry input to policy?

People. How will Kevin Rudd govern? Who are Labor’s movers and shakers? What have been their influences, and what may be their approach? How do they view business? Where will the tensions in Cabinet be?

Government relations. How best can you make your voice heard at the decision-making centre of the nation? How should organisations pursue their government relations with the incoming administration? What preconceptions does Labor have about your industry? What is the best way to put an effective case?

Kerry Sibraa was elected a Senator in 1975, beginning an 18-year career which culminated in his serving as President of the Senate. He was also chairman of the Joint Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee. In 1997, the University of Southern Queensland honoured him with the award of an honorary doctorate for his services to the Australian Parliament.

Rodney Cavalier was a NSW State MP from 1978-88, serving as Minister for Education for four years. He then worked for two years as a journalist with the Financial Review. He was Deputy Chairman of the N ational Council for the Centenary of Federation and is now Chairman of the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust. He has written extensively on politics and history. For the past 11 months, in a private newsletter, he has been predicting a Labor landslide. 

The program. 2-3 hour briefing and discussion customised for your organisation

The fee. $6,000

Further information. Keith Jackson. Email here or call 02 9904 4333

Great demand for our on air gurus

Benjamin Haslem

Australia's Federal election has less than a week to go (Saturday is D Day) which gives Jackson Wells CEO John Wells one last chance to explain what's happening on Sky News Australia at around 8.30 am Thursday. If you can't get Sky, try news.com which has a slightly delayed web feed. If you're more a radio person, you may have heard account director Bob Lawrence in his regular appearance on Spin Doctors, each Thursday at 9.40 am on ABC 702. Bob's also been making regular appearances on ABC Regional Radio providing analysis of the political battle in Australia's rural areas, the so called 'wombat trail'. Bob was the Director of Communications and Public Relations at the NSW Farmers Association for more than a decade up to 1999 and maintains an extensive network of contacts throughout rural and regional Australia.

Bob can be heard in NSW this Tuesday, November 20, at 5.40pm (AEDT) on ABC Regional Radio's Drive program. Scroll down here for your local station.

Meanwhile, Jackson Wells' special counsel, Kerry Sibraa, told Sky News recently that it's almost certain that neither major party will command a Senate majority after the election, giving the minor parties - and especially the Greens -  much more clout in Australia's political fabric.