Bubbling along, making sacrifices for and on behalf of members
When Outsider watched Hostplus boss, David Elia, exchanging banter with parliamentarians as he Skyped into a hearing of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics in early September, he imagined that the Melbourne-based Elia was, with thousands of his members, enduring the Stage 4 lockdown in the Victorian capital.
But if what Outsider reads in the Sydney Morning Herald is correct, then Elia was not enduring the Victorian Government’s interminable COVID-19 lockdown and the daily updates provided by Premier Daniel Andrews. No, far from it. It is reported that Elia had managed to escape the ring of steel around bleak city to be part of the AFL bubble on the Gold Coast.
Now Outsider will be the first to admit that he views Queensland’s border closure and its approach to quarantine – mugs step to the left to two weeks confinement in a small hotel room while AFL bubble boys and movie stars can step to their luxury poolside accommodations on the right – with deep cynicism and he really does wonder what Elia’s Hostplus membership makes of his peregrinations and, indeed, the cost.
But you see, Hostplus is a major sponsor of the Australian Football League, and David is simply keeping an eye on things for and behalf of the members whose balances have contributed to the sponsorship monies. It’s a fiduciary duty, really.
Still, if Outsider was reading the Sydney Morning Herald's coverage correctly, then Elia has been accompanied on this arduous mission by members of his family so credit to them too for helping keep an eye on Hostplus members’ funds.
And it all has the blessing of Queensland’s chief health officer – someone happy to explain the underlying economics of separating the well-heeled wheat from the chaff but whose CV seems light on specific epidemiological expertise.
AUTHOR
The Outsider
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