Are Australians being too hard on the Optus CEO and Executives? 'It's unfair!': Harvey Norman owner on why he's pro-Optus

Commander Shepard on 14/11/2023 - 10:45
Last edited 14/11/2023 - 11:20

Mr Harvey has come out in defence of Optus.

Are Australians being too hard on the Optus CEO and Execs?

“You get a situation where you’re the CEO of a public company, and it could happen to any public company, the CEO doesn’t run the IT department,” he told Gary Adshead.

https://omny.fm/shows/6pr-mornings/its-unfair-harvey-norman-…

https://www.6pr.com.au/its-unfair-harvey-norman-owner-on-why….

Telecommunications is an essential service. Its not a retail business like Harvey Norman.
If HN store goes down for 12 hours. Lives, jobs and businesses aren't at risk.
The CEO is the face of the business. Not the Technician at the arse end of the organisation.

Edit: Thanks to @Protractor for providing another great link:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12724441/Optus-CEO-…

Poll Options expired

  • 46
    Yes
  • 137
    No
  • 23
    Somewhat
  • 855
    Just another reason to not shop at Harvey Norman
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Comments

  • RichardL on 14/11/2023 - 10:48
    +105

    Not surprised as Harvey Norman exclusively offers Optus Mobile & Data Plan

    • WatchNerd on 14/11/2023 - 10:59
      +35

      Gerry always backs the wrong person / business. He will even back his staff for making errors & attack OzB members.

      • RichardL on 14/11/2023 - 11:00
        +22

        attack OzB members.

        You mean professionals.

      • CowFrogHorse on 15/11/2023 - 08:12
        +2

        NO…

        Gerry is backing the right person for GERRY.

        You dont appreciate his POV.

        And yes i agree he is a selfish pos, no need to expand.

      • Techie4066 on 19/11/2023 - 16:05

        They employ some lovely people

        When one user, @sisyphysical, said working for the company “drove me to suicide in 6 months” the company replied late in the evening with face palm and hand-waving emojis.

        The account also tweeted a kissing emoji in response to another tweet critical of the mass blockings.
        Source

        • RockyRaccoon on 21/11/2023 - 04:40
          -1

          @sisyphysical -> ROFL - A Ghost account!!

    • Save 50 Cent on 14/11/2023 - 18:56
      +1

      lol these plans and gift cards are a much worse value that Jb hifi / good guys Telstra plans. Who the hell would opt for that unless their in Telstra black spot maybe.

    • kungfuman on 15/11/2023 - 15:26
      +3

      Harvey norman sucks who still even shops there?

    • HeWhoKnows on 15/11/2023 - 17:08
      +7

      Yes
      Vested interest from Gerry Harvey - Big Time!
      The Optus CEO handled to outage horribly!
      And also the paltry compensation offered to various degrees depending on which MVNO you are with.

      The CEO is not to blame for the outage

      But the CEO is to blame for
      a) very poor communications and updates on the day
      b) not ensuring their network was protected against such events
      c) Paltry compensation offered

    • neonlight on 15/11/2023 - 20:57
      +2

      Gerry did it as revenge against professionals whom he feels got rip off by

  • JIMB0 on 14/11/2023 - 10:49
    +31

    If this had happened to Vodafone or Telstra would he defend them given Harvey Norman doesn't sell their plans.

    • BewareOfThe Dog on 14/11/2023 - 16:38

      In the mid to late 90s, I think HN had all 3 carriers at the one time.

      • resisting the urge on 15/11/2023 - 11:13
        +1

        And now he has all his eggs in one basket, just shows he has no idea about business risk and is just happy to make all the decisions on behalf of his business and his customers, and leave them up the creek without a paddle.

        He OTOH, probably has a Telstra account. If his businesses didn't go totally offline during the outage, the business will be running its phones and Internet via alt. providers too.

        Otherwise, he'd be slamming Optus too, hoping for some better compo along with every other rent-seeking, business leader with overseas accounts.

        • anonywhy on 15/11/2023 - 13:07
          +2

          Funny seeing a comment from an OzBargainer stating Gerry "has no idea about business risk". You may not like the guy (and I agree with shit creek) but he has clearly forged a path to massive multi-generational wealth (millions with a B) for he and his family through his businesses.

          • resisting the urge on 15/11/2023 - 13:09
            +2

            @anonywhy: Indeed, but it doesn't mean he gets risk in our connected world.

            It means he has succeeded regardless of that, in an environment that was golden for those who behave the way he does, leveraging bricks and mortar stores, finance, influence, etc.

  • ginormousgiraffe on 14/11/2023 - 10:51
    +85

    the CEO doesn’t run the IT department

    The CEO continues to underfund their own IT department at the cost of the customer. This isn't a unlucky situation, it's caused by years of lack of development and an increase in complacency.

    • RockyRaccoon on 14/11/2023 - 11:01
      +18

      And CEO’s are paid a lot more for that reason. The get bonuses when it goes ok, they get booted when it’s not

      • Protractor on 14/11/2023 - 11:09
        +10

        and it the case of OPTUS the CEO stays and keeps the job + bonus.
        She's an incompetent parachuted in, and it shows how much OPTUS Singtel "DILLIGAF" about our telco standards.They just take the $$$ and run. This is a common pillaging format in Straya

      • Cho0028 on 14/11/2023 - 12:01
        +19

        And in this case, the Optus CEO should get the boot. Within the last year Optus has had a major hack and system outage, both which affected about half the population of Australia and both were under her leadership.

        The lack of accountability and poor customer service start from the head down. It's a surprise she still has her job as most CEOs would've been fired after one major issue let alone two.

        • neonlight on 15/11/2023 - 21:20
          -4

          It's cause they want this gender balance bs. Apparently if you fire her, people will complain about females CEO being discriminated etc. don't deserve to step down due to being a woman, blah blah blah then being called sexist

          Let's be honest she is a dumb blonde. Don't mean to be rude. But we all see this. It's a fact

          She probably climbed thru the corporate ladder which probably a good skill but when things don't play well don't know how to respond

          She only knows to say sorry and sob

          Singtel for sure watching these events closely. Her job is at stake but she needs to finish fixing up this mess before she is allowed to be terminated

      • coffeeinmyveins on 14/11/2023 - 16:42
        +14

        LOL

        They get bonuses and huge salaries when things go OK due to nothing they've done

        They get the boot and a big golden parachute worth more than your entire lifetime earnings when it doesn't go well.

        Let's not pretend that CEO's pull their weight.

        • banana365 on 15/11/2023 - 13:57
          +1

          Let's not pretend that CEO's pull their weight.

          They do! Admittedly it's only to haul their fat arses out of their armchairs to get to another "business" lunch, but that's hard work okay?

      • CowFrogHorse on 15/11/2023 - 08:14
        +3

        The CEO thing is a game. ONe day she is at Optus next day she is at Vodafone, as they play the game of musical chairs.

        You are part of the problem, not sure why you imply she is responsible for good times or bad times. She isnt responsible for either. How can a potplant possibly contribute for good decisions when she hasnt a (profanity) clue.

        The only people who are respoinbsle are those that pay, when companies go bad, the people who pay are the people who get the sack.

    • JimmyF on 14/11/2023 - 11:14
      +9

      The CEO drives cost cutting and outsourcing, so again Gerry gets it so wrong.

    • MrFrugalSpend on 14/11/2023 - 22:31
      +11

      What a dumb statement … the CEO oversees and is responsible for everything - Chief Executive Officer

      Especially responsible for creating the management system that led to such a long outage on a critical service without appropriate testing in a separate replica test environment, confirmation it was successful and immediate rollback etc to ensure it was only minutes of outage in the middle of the night if it went wrong.
      He makes this statement like IT is an ancillary add-on tool in the background … it may be at HN (even that is a stretch, it isn't) - That's vastly different to critical operations of a telco. It is the core service.

    • George Washington on 15/11/2023 - 09:00
      +1

      Look at the CEO of Auspost that gave cartier gifts away. Grew the company devolpped the Aus post banking range/service now given at toll

  • AustriaBargain on 14/11/2023 - 10:52
    +21

    It would have cost Optus a few million maybe to have protocols in place to prevent it from happening and simulations of what would happen before each push or whatever. Australian economy is worth what, 6 billion per day? 10 million people without phone, mobile internet, hundreds of thousands of businesses with no Internet/ecommerce, trains down in Melbourne. The outage probably cost the economy many hundreds of millions. So the country as a whole pays a huge price just to save Optus a few bucks on basic internal procedures and policies.

    • Kongzi on 14/11/2023 - 11:26
      -3

      Doubt it costed hundreds of millions. Maybe millions

      • AustriaBargain on 14/11/2023 - 11:41
        +9

        It probably cost Facebook Australia Pty Ltd millions in ads they couldn't deliver to 10 million people alone. And then there's the things those 10 million people might have bought through those ads. Even OZB might have had fewer visits/purchases through deals.

        • GG57 on 14/11/2023 - 11:58

          Wouldn't FB have been paid for the ads regardless?

          • AustriaBargain on 14/11/2023 - 12:19
            +2

            @GG57: Facebook only charges you for ads that are displayed. You put in a budget and over what period you want that budget spent and where (click the wrong setting and your ad will play in India). I suppose if ordinarily the ad would hit 50% of people who on Telstra network and 50% who are on Optus network, that the ads could have instead hit 100% people on Telstra. Hitting half the amount of people with twice as much ads.

        • Repposh on 03/12/2023 - 00:28
          +1

          It's more likely Facebook Australia Pty Ltd lost nothing. Meta have an Australian company with an ABN but all invoices are issued by an offshore company with no ABN. Meta pay Jack bugger all in GST and company tax to Australia as the majority of their income is attributed to the offshore company

    • coffeeinmyveins on 14/11/2023 - 16:43
      +8

      All of those factoids pale in comparison to the real issue here that very few people are actually discussing

      people were unable to make emergency calls during this outage

    • whyisave on 15/11/2023 - 02:13
      +1

      to have protocols in place to prevent it from happening

      When a sequence of events take place, the errors cascade
      and even the largest, biggest U.S. companies are not immune to this,
      eg. Facebook had similar routing fault about 2 years ago,
      which took down Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook too.

      The internet networks are run on U.S. branded hardware
      eg. Cisco, Riverbed, Juniper, Fortigate, etc…
      and if one of them has a bug, … even the back-up systems will have the bug too.

      ( Some years back, Juniper Netscreen firewalls had a backdoor built-in into the actual OS,
      and imagine if this was discovered by a trouble-maker, they could have taken down
      entire global networks…even if you have protocols in place ).

      • banana365 on 15/11/2023 - 14:16
        +3

        Cisco have backdoors too. I remember a significant one being discovered a few years back. Network vendors will pretty much all have intentional back doors or at least known unpatched vulnerabilities (perhaps not known to them). The big stink that was kicked up about Huawei gear a few years back wasn't due to it being potentially accessible by government agencies, it was because it wasn't "friendly" government agencies.

    • CowFrogHorse on 15/11/2023 - 08:19
      +1

      Mistakes happen, the problem is they didnt have a procedure to rollback to a previous config. This plan should be ready and tested BEFORE, so if a release goes bad they can basically instantly rollback. ITs obvious from the timeline that they didnt have this.

      The problem is WHY they didnt have this, its because the CEO has not a (profanity) clue, she probably cant even setup wifi at home, so what chance has she of even makingdecisions to plan what i described. NONE, because she has no idea this is possible. THis continues all the way down, because shes an idiot she hires more management that also dont have a clue, and its all the way down like that.

      • localhost on 15/11/2023 - 13:07
        +1

        Without internal information I will tell you why (just guessing): software updates were pushed by Singtel (mother company), which means they don't have qualified network team here. A good network engineer costs $200-300k/year and they prefer those money to be paid to someone else overseas in the mother company. Why should pay locals good salaries, when you can give them peanuts.

        Also - how hard is to have redundancy access to critical infrastructure? Ask their CTO Jorge, who was responsible for a similar outage in previous company in Canada - https://www.smh.com.au/technology/identity-of-third-party-wh…

        • CowFrogHorse on 15/11/2023 - 13:22

          In the case of networking, like this Optus screwup, they were updating a previously prepared configuration files with their new networking details. THis is quite different from a binary update from the software provider eg, Ms Office has a new release.

          The two are not the same thing.

  • hamza23 on 14/11/2023 - 10:57
    +18

    2:28

    Gary: Are you tied too much to Optus though, is that one of the reasons that you come out to defend them?

    Gerry: Nahhh, well we were inconvenienced badly too, we've got deliveries going out across to Australia and we can't let people know when it's going to be delivered.

    Nice deflection.

    • GandalfTheCheap on 15/11/2023 - 23:49
      +1

      "Deflection" or "another outright lie from this whiny crook"?

  • RockyRaccoon on 14/11/2023 - 10:59
    +11

    Getting his own CEO defence prepared, for the “HN been hacked” scenario

    • Protractor on 14/11/2023 - 11:33
      +3

      The way these corps suppress the truth, HN have probs been illegally accessed already

      • bchliu on 14/11/2023 - 16:30
        -3

        You have evidence that shows this?

        • Protractor on 14/11/2023 - 16:42
          +10

          No I don't have evidence. But there's plenty of evidence that when these big companies DO get hacked they only fess up, when the media finds out or someone outside the top end speaks up.It's always a case of say nothing until necessary. After the horse has bolted out of sight.
          There's no reason that HN doesn't have the same cyber crooks knocking on their IT door, as all the other players.
          Have they poked their heads in? Don't know, but customers would be the last ones to learn.
          That's the pattern thus far, hence the law changes touted.

          • bchliu on 14/11/2023 - 16:54
            +2

            @Protractor: Assumption doesn't make it real buddy.

            For clarification: I worked (not anymore) for HN as a crucial IT member for many years and have worked on numerous IT and security projects. We do security by design, due diligence and invoked external security and auditors to come in on regular basis for risk assessments and we looked after the customer information with integrity. This is all the required diligence for a publicly listed company.

            In my time there - 13+ years, we had grown from an immature back end IT to a proper certified IT organisation and have never had an incident that have leaked any confidential information, nor had any break ins from "cyber crooks".

            So unless you have some credible evidence of this, then would suggest that you stop assuming BS that you have no idea about.

            • DarwinBoy on 14/11/2023 - 16:59

              @bchliu: Better then many replies ive seen on OZbargain.

              • bchliu on 14/11/2023 - 17:03

                @DarwinBoy: I have no specific love for my previous employer and usually "meh" when people bitch and moan about them.

                But it does hit a nerve though when there's an accusation that kind of associates with me during my time there, then I will make sure things are clarified just purely on levels of professional pride.

            • Protractor on 14/11/2023 - 18:19
              +6

              @bchliu: There's a CEO job going at OPTUS. They need your attention to detail. BTW,I'm sure Optus IT dude said the same thing(about how schmick everything was) till he was marched to the front gate with his cardboard box.

            • Indomietable on 14/11/2023 - 18:21
              +6

              @bchliu: You should always be humble about security.

              Just because there are no evidence doesn't mean HN systems hasn't been breached. Most companies (especially non-tech companies in consumer retail space) does not have the tool and resources to detect security breach.

              • bchliu on 14/11/2023 - 18:49
                +1

                @Indomietable: I normally do remain humble, but just didn't want to remain silent…

                As far as whether HN systems could have been breached without knowing: if there is evidence of system breach, then there will be some levels of business consequence that would have affected the company financially, or their reputation. None of this has ever happened. Most of this would have come up on 3rd party audits or in the news tbh.

              • Protractor on 14/11/2023 - 18:51
                +3

                @Indomietable: Yes I remember (10+ years ago) that iinet was short on facts when customer data showed up on the dark web for sale. I recall iinets response was something like, "Oh that's just OLD customer data" or "meh, that happened ages ago". Either way I'm sure the IT dude in charge at the time of that breach had no idea. If they did, why did he not warn customers.
                In fact (like most ISPs) they argued that emails were not an essential service , and have done till recently when thy dumped them.The law reform will be too late to undo all the lost customer data from multiple breaches in multiple locations/companies. If we can continue to be kept in the dark about this stuff to save CEOs I'm sure we will be.

            • Assburg on 14/11/2023 - 18:30
              +1

              @bchliu: Thanks Gerry

              (Just kidding)

              • bchliu on 14/11/2023 - 18:58
                -2

                @Assburg: Lol. Username checks out.. Thanks

            • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 14/11/2023 - 18:48
              +3

              @bchliu: No need to deepthroat the Monster cables.

              Harvey Norman apologises to customers for data breach
              https://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/harv…

              In b4 "oh they're a separate overseas team\entity\3rd party I had no involvement with"

              • bchliu on 14/11/2023 - 18:55
                -1

                @Typical16-bitEnjoyer: Lol. You are right - The Irish team ran their own IT that the Aussie team had little to no influence over from an operational perspective.
                Secondly - I left before 2018.
                Third.. it wasn't HN that breached - but a partner that did - "We wish to alert you to a data breach that has occurred in the systems of a third-party website service provider, Typeform, which has resulted in the unauthorised access to some Harvey Norman data".

                • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 14/11/2023 - 19:04
                  +2

                  @bchliu: Ah, spouts risk assessments and auditing….doesn't do risk assessments and audits of engaged third parties?

                  And this time?
                  https://www.smh.com.au/technology/customer-finds-nude-photos…

                  • bchliu on 14/11/2023 - 19:07
                    -2

                    @Typical16-bitEnjoyer: LOL. love how you're trying so hard..

                    Or you honestly don't know the difference between the IT part of an organisation to a franchise that is selling computer parts and equipment?

                    • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 14/11/2023 - 19:09
                      +4

                      @bchliu: How about the ancient POS that operated during your time, with easy access in various spots at every store? With the "cost prices" backwards, rather than secured?

                      Any risk assessments on that during your time? I love how you're the one trying to save face of a shithead CEO defending another shithead CEO, for no reason whatsoever. It's not your pride here.

                    • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 14/11/2023 - 19:13
                      +5

                      @bchliu:

                      Or you honestly don't know the difference between the IT part of an organisation to a franchise that is selling computer parts and equipment?

                      Ahhh, the good old school Gerry way. Blame it all on the franchisee :D

                      So we're expected to trust your former expert IT work when it can all be undone by some idiots at a franchise. That doesn't speak well for IT security lmao.

                      • bchliu on 14/11/2023 - 19:16

                        @Typical16-bitEnjoyer: Lol. That's basically saying Car Sales division's problems about selling a problematic car to a customer, ends up being an IT issue.

                        Err.. right.. LOLOL

                        • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 14/11/2023 - 19:18
                          +1

                          @bchliu: HN have probs been illegally accessed already via franchisees. Gotcha. Thanks for clarifying your lack of faith for HN's data integrity.

              • Jzzzz on 14/11/2023 - 18:59
                +1

                @Typical16-bitEnjoyer: Well, it wasnt HN that got breached. Typeform was breached. If we use that kind of logic all okta customers are responsible for oktas breach.

                • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 14/11/2023 - 19:07
                  +3

                  @Jzzzz: HN gave their data to that third party. Can't wipe your hands of responsibility.

                  Plus keep in mind this is a publicly listed retailer than has racked up how many 10s of millions dollars in penalties for breaching consumer laws again, and again, and again, and again. You don't think they push things to the limit in other areas to save/make a buck?

                  • bchliu on 14/11/2023 - 19:14
                    +1

                    @Typical16-bitEnjoyer: Not "my" responsibility - that was out of my jurisdiction (Ireland IT, Legal division) and I wasn't even with the org by that time. Whether it was directly HN Ireland's responsibility will really depend on the contract and what was executed with the third party along with the auditing.

                    As far as breaching consumer laws, how the hell is that a correlation to whether they had a direct data breach or not?

                  • Jzzzz on 14/11/2023 - 19:14
                    +1

                    @Typical16-bitEnjoyer: Sadly its no different to practically every other industry out there. Real estate is the one I'd be most worried about, rental market now wants all but a DNA sample and our data is passed around.

                    No love for HN, but it'd be like if the restaurant group i worked for had <one of the random 3rd parties breached> - not my fault, I designed and implemented the infrastructure…not which shitty 3rd parties the business departments decided to partner with, if anyone is to blame its ITIL :p

                • Protractor on 14/11/2023 - 19:48

                  @Jzzzz: I suppose HN doesn't take responsibility for who they hire. and do not do basic due diligence? And that's OK?
                  People hiring hitmen must love this recent precedent

                  • Jzzzz on 15/11/2023 - 01:19

                    @Protractor: You obviously are not familiar with SaaS.

                    HN didnt hire typeform, typeform provided a sevice and typeform was breached.

                    HN IT could have perfectly implemented Essential 8 L3 but if the BUSINESS (in this case, HN Ireland sales & marketing) has decided to turf privileged data to a third party that has the appropriate legal contract doco….HN IT isnt auditing a third parties systems, hold up let me get back to you once I've audited every third party software company that has a nose in where I work now, ill be back in 10,000 years.

            • Protractor on 14/11/2023 - 18:53

              @bchliu: "Assumption doesn't make it real buddy."
              Tell it to the cooker movement

              • bchliu on 14/11/2023 - 18:57

                @Protractor: So you going to put out some levels of evidence or not? Otherwise you know where you can shove your conspiracy theories right?

                • Protractor on 14/11/2023 - 19:01
                  +4

                  @bchliu: Technically zeggie provided evidence enough.But I'd temper your enthusiasm to have a crystal ball into a place you worked at over a decade ago.

                  Place your denial of the pattern in corporate Australian hacks in the same place ,bruh. If it's a conspiracy, the govt is in on it as of the NEED to reform the laws around this shite.

                  And define crucial IT member. Is that what you were or what your CV claims?

                  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 15/11/2023 - 08:07
                    -2

                    @Protractor: They were likely a low/mid tier IT drone. They definitely weren't involved in risk and compliance from their responses, so were definitely not very high up the chain.

                    • Protractor on 15/11/2023 - 10:00
                      +1

                      @Typical16-bitEnjoyer: News this morning 94000 cyber-attacks the last 12 months according to ASD. Lots of big names (businesses) in there, lots of big names not released. (attacks on companies up 14%) Go figure

                      https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-15/asd-reports-increase-…

                      I may have missed a few big names but with 1100 on the list that ASD was called to assist with, I am confident that some of the names on that list might raise a few eyebrows if it were publicised. The other point(as we already know and some of us DON'T deny is that many companies are staying Mum because they are shit scared of class actions. There it is. Avoid telling customers their lives have been hoovered up, cos profits.Of course certain retired IT gurus would poo poo all this.They know better.

                      • Speckled Jim on 17/11/2023 - 09:29

                        @Protractor: From linked ABC article:

                        "The sector is increasingly reliant on smart technologies, industrial control systems, and internet-based automation systems.

                        "Additionally, many entities in this sector hold sensitive data that may be of value to malicious cyber actors, such as personal information or intellectual property."

                        Translation:
                        Trousers down. Bend over. Spread wide. Now this may hurt a bit. Supply issues, no lube.

            • CowFrogHorse on 15/11/2023 - 08:20

              @bchliu: Haha IT certified ?

              Is that a joke ?

              Certified by whom ?

              The vast majority of experts are self labelled, there is no certification standard or body, anybody can call themselves an expert.

              Your certification is worth nothing.

              • banana365 on 15/11/2023 - 14:24
                +2

                @CowFrogHorse: Certification is a great money maker for vendors. Couple of thousand dollars for a course, a few hundred for an exam. Yes, there's some value in them showing you know something, but they're a terrible measure of how good you are at implementing that knowledge.

        • jonathonsunshine on 17/11/2023 - 00:07

          You have evidence that shows this?

          The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

          • bchliu on 17/11/2023 - 00:47

            @jonathonsunshine: of course not. But the burden of proof is up to the person who makes the claim that this has happened.

      • Kongzi on 14/11/2023 - 17:03

        Fake news

  • neo on 14/11/2023 - 11:03
    +21

    Companies like Optus should absolutely be crucified. They severely underfund IT areas, always cutting staff etc. and they expect everyone to forgive them.

    They are providing a critical service.

    • drfuzzy on 15/11/2023 - 08:22
      -1

      This is driven by customers wanting lower prices.

      It is a two-way street.

    • banana365 on 15/11/2023 - 14:27
      +2

      Not just that, they are a technology/comms company. Networks being able to communicate properly is their core business. They're not like a retailer whose primary business is selling stuff but has that function assisted by technology. Their business is IT.

  • Dollar General on 14/11/2023 - 11:05
    +10

    Billionaires always back self interest

    • JIMB0 on 14/11/2023 - 17:40
      +1

      I don't understand why. He's rather old, already has plenty of money to do whatever he wants. Does he not realise you can't take it with you.

      • try2bhelpful on 14/11/2023 - 17:49
        +3

        They seem to come in two varieties. The ones who think it is a score card and the ones who give it all away.

        • CowFrogHorse on 15/11/2023 - 08:22
          -2

          Haha what a joke, very funny the ones who give it away…

          Thats like pretending that most people win on the pockies.

      • whyisave on 15/11/2023 - 02:15

        Some people have so much money,
        that they still choose to work
        and impose their ego on everything around them.

        Their status & acceptance is derived from the image they have created for themselves.
        They need to sustain that image.

      • CowFrogHorse on 15/11/2023 - 08:21

        Because greed is a disease, and Gerry is sick with it.

  • Protractor on 14/11/2023 - 11:06
    +5

    Before the first hack the Cocktus CEO oversaw the appointment of HER FULLY approved IT security manager and also approved his strategy. GH lost any input to corporate parasitism when he became one.His opinion is almost certainly based on some background loyalty or personal affiliation, and the big one. His warm and toasty financial deal with Cocktus.
    GH was rolling in $ when he lobbied and got his online GST via backdoor to govt, and front door as well.
    There's too many of these rich AHs behaving like Gods and Presidents and getting political favours. Thanks to GH we pay more online and yet we are not covered in doing so by consumer laws and guarantees via those purchases. Ripped off twice.
    STFU Gerry

  • will05 on 14/11/2023 - 11:08
    +9

    $5.15 million salary, why she be spared?

    • JimmyF on 14/11/2023 - 11:16
      +7

      CEO gets $5m+ for screwing up, I got a useless 200GB of data that is no use to me.

      • BewareOfThe Dog on 14/11/2023 - 16:40

        Amaysim gave me 60GB.
        I had to fire up an Aldi Sim in one of my spare phones for the day. I had trouble getting through to QBE as well.

        • JimmyF on 14/11/2023 - 17:12

          and is 60GB of any value to you?

          As data is a token gesture of nothingness.

          • try2bhelpful on 14/11/2023 - 17:23

            @JimmyF: I’m getting 25gig that will roll over to next year. This could be the difference between me getting to 12 months or not on my current pre paid plan. However I suspect for most people it will be pointless.

            • JimmyF on 14/11/2023 - 21:12
              +2

              @try2bhelpful: Then you're on some prepaid plan at a guess.

              Optus post paid people got a single once off 200gb 'bonus' which is basically useless for them and me. I don't even go close to using 50% of my data each month, a bonus 200GB is of zero value to me.

              • try2bhelpful on 14/11/2023 - 21:27
                +1

                @JimmyF: Yup. I was looking at upping my prepaid plan but I might stick with the current one. Will decide as I get closer. I do agree that for most people this will be pointless. However, I suspect this will prove to be only the beginning if they lose significant numbers of patrons. There might be sweetheart deals to get people back.

  • EightImmortals on 14/11/2023 - 11:09
    +1

    My cash still worked.

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