The retail king Gerry Harvey may have a personal fortune of about $1.6 billion but the Harvey Norman founder thinks donating to charity is "just wasted".
Asked in a new book about the role he and Harvey Norman play in the community, Mr Harvey said giving money to people who "are not putting anything back into the community" is like "helping a whole heap of no-hopers to survive for no good reason".
He said he believed in helping "develop people to their potential" because "when they achieve [their potential] they will put a lot more back into the community".
"You could go out and give a million dollars to a charity tomorrow to help the homeless. You could argue that it is just wasted. They are not putting anything back into the community.
"It might be a callous way of putting it but what are they doing? You are helping a whole heap of no-hopers to survive for no good reason. They are just a drag on the whole community.
"So did that million you gave them help? It helped to keep them alive but did it help our society? No. Society might have been better off without them but we are supposed to look after the disadvantaged and so we do it. But it doesn't help the society."
Mr Harvey added: "That is not to say we don't give money away to charities because we have given plenty away over the years. At the end of the day, the more quality individuals you develop in the community, the better off the community should be."
Earlier this year, Harvey Norman donated beds to a charity, Bridge Back to Life, that helps homeless men find rental accommodation.
The comments are in a new book, Master CEOs, by the Sydney funds manager Matthew Kidman.
Clare Martin, the chief executive of the Australian Council of Social Service, said: "I have really been impressed at corporate Australia and their real involvement in the wider community … and I always thought that Harvey Norman shared that as well.
"It does surprise me that Gerry Harvey, who's a very significant business figure, should not share the values of many other corporates."
In the interview, Mr Harvey also said that despite his wealth, "I still have a fear about going broke. I always think about it."
(Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald)
Media Man Australia Profiles
Gerry Harvey
Friday, November 21, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Marketing push under way for new James Bond book - Media Week - 27th May 2008
LONDON - Sebastian Faulks' new James Bond novel 'Devil May Care' is to be published tomorrow by Penguin, supported by a major marketing campaign.
The book will travel in style up the Thames to HMS Exeter at Tower Bridge, where the novel will be launched to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Bond creator Ian Fleming.
Copies will then be delivered to Waterstone's in Piccadilly, which will open at 8am tomorrow.
The campaign is being supported by a Bond promotional campaign that includes a rail and London Underground poster campaign, sales promotion activity such as a Waterstone's postcard giveaway, an online push, as well as extracts in The Times and a digital strip banner at Piccadilly Circus.
In addition, the Royal Mail has issued a series of commemorative stamps and there is a Bond exhibition at the Imperial War Museum London to mark the Fleming centenary.
'Devil May Care' has an initial print run of 400,000 copies in the UK and America, with it being tipped as a possible film as well as novel. Set in 1967, the book has the heroin trade during the Cold War and a character called Poppy at its heart.
The cover of the book, the 22nd authorised Bond novel since Fleming's death in 1964, features a blood-spattered poppy with the stem in the shape of a woman's body.
Faulks is best known for his novels war novels 'Bird Song' and 'Charlotte Gray', but won the chance to write a Bond novel after the Fleming family read his Cold War novel 'On Green Dolphin Street'.
Faulks wrote the book in just six weeks and he follows in the footsteps of other famous writers including Kingsley Amis, to try their hand at Bond.
The book comes ahead of the 22nd Bond film, 'Quantum of Solace', which is currently in production and will again star Daniel Craig as 007 and is due to be released later this year.
A 23rd Bond film will follow in 2010, but no details have yet been released.
(Credit: Media Week)
Media Man Australia Profiles
James Bond
Books and Authors
The book will travel in style up the Thames to HMS Exeter at Tower Bridge, where the novel will be launched to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Bond creator Ian Fleming.
Copies will then be delivered to Waterstone's in Piccadilly, which will open at 8am tomorrow.
The campaign is being supported by a Bond promotional campaign that includes a rail and London Underground poster campaign, sales promotion activity such as a Waterstone's postcard giveaway, an online push, as well as extracts in The Times and a digital strip banner at Piccadilly Circus.
In addition, the Royal Mail has issued a series of commemorative stamps and there is a Bond exhibition at the Imperial War Museum London to mark the Fleming centenary.
'Devil May Care' has an initial print run of 400,000 copies in the UK and America, with it being tipped as a possible film as well as novel. Set in 1967, the book has the heroin trade during the Cold War and a character called Poppy at its heart.
The cover of the book, the 22nd authorised Bond novel since Fleming's death in 1964, features a blood-spattered poppy with the stem in the shape of a woman's body.
Faulks is best known for his novels war novels 'Bird Song' and 'Charlotte Gray', but won the chance to write a Bond novel after the Fleming family read his Cold War novel 'On Green Dolphin Street'.
Faulks wrote the book in just six weeks and he follows in the footsteps of other famous writers including Kingsley Amis, to try their hand at Bond.
The book comes ahead of the 22nd Bond film, 'Quantum of Solace', which is currently in production and will again star Daniel Craig as 007 and is due to be released later this year.
A 23rd Bond film will follow in 2010, but no details have yet been released.
(Credit: Media Week)
Media Man Australia Profiles
James Bond
Books and Authors
Saturday, November 1, 2008
The Gambling Man, by Kevin Perkins
THE BOOK THEY STOPPED YOU FROM READING -
ALL ABOUT THE WORLD'S BIGGEST GAMBLER
It’s back! - the sensational bestseller they tried so hard to ban!
The Gambling Man is available again after court action forced it off bookstore shelves. First published in 1990, this book follows the colourful career of Big Bill Waterhouse and his gambling bookmakers' dynasty.
What it takes to be the world’s biggest gambler:
It exposes the intrigue, treachery and skulduggery involved in the upper echelons of gambling, polished crooks in high places, mind-blowing betting duels, the truth behind the Fine Cotton ring-in scandal and other fascinating racing stories.
After The Gambling Man was first published, it shot up to be an instant bestseller. But further distribution was prevented by determined litigants claiming they had been defamed.
Long court battle:
As a result, the book attracted extraordinary notoriety in the longest-running defamation battle in Australian history. The author spent 22 years researching, writing and publishing the book, then another 10 years personally defending it in the New South Wales Supreme Court.
Complete and unabridged:
The Gambling Man is an Australian classic and a collector’s item. Readers have paid up to $400 and more for a copy. Now you have the chance to buy a complete and unabridged copy in mint condition, at a great bargain price.
Secure your own exclusive copy of this explosive rare book! Hurry, while stocks last!
Price: $66.00 includes handling, packaging, postage and GST.
Website
The Gambling Man
ALL ABOUT THE WORLD'S BIGGEST GAMBLER
It’s back! - the sensational bestseller they tried so hard to ban!
The Gambling Man is available again after court action forced it off bookstore shelves. First published in 1990, this book follows the colourful career of Big Bill Waterhouse and his gambling bookmakers' dynasty.
What it takes to be the world’s biggest gambler:
It exposes the intrigue, treachery and skulduggery involved in the upper echelons of gambling, polished crooks in high places, mind-blowing betting duels, the truth behind the Fine Cotton ring-in scandal and other fascinating racing stories.
After The Gambling Man was first published, it shot up to be an instant bestseller. But further distribution was prevented by determined litigants claiming they had been defamed.
Long court battle:
As a result, the book attracted extraordinary notoriety in the longest-running defamation battle in Australian history. The author spent 22 years researching, writing and publishing the book, then another 10 years personally defending it in the New South Wales Supreme Court.
Complete and unabridged:
The Gambling Man is an Australian classic and a collector’s item. Readers have paid up to $400 and more for a copy. Now you have the chance to buy a complete and unabridged copy in mint condition, at a great bargain price.
Secure your own exclusive copy of this explosive rare book! Hurry, while stocks last!
Price: $66.00 includes handling, packaging, postage and GST.
Website
The Gambling Man
I'll Toss You For It: The Wit, Wisdom and Wrath of Kerry Packer
Introducing the latest Kerry Packer book:
is an exciting new book about Kerry Packer, which is a cross between a Business Management text book; a motivation book and an autobiography of Kerry Packer.
100 printed pages.
Don't go to Business School just yet! Learn from the Master himself.
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer was larger than life wherever he went. This first ever collection of Kerry Packer’s wit and wisdom, reveal a great passion for business, for gambling and for life itself.
Read the thoughts and ideas behind the multi-million dollar deals. Learn about Life, Luck, Leadership and much more. “I’ll Toss You for It!” with more than 130 quotes by Kerry Packer is a cross between the businessman’s Shakespeare and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.
Read a bonus chapter with more than a dozen quotes from Sir Frank Packer.
The book is funny, it is serious and everything in between with quotes from Kerry Packer's ancestry to the afterlife. Each of the pages of stories and anecdotes form a layer of understanding of the Master Businessman.
It is the must have book if you are in business, or intrigued by the Big Fella. Why not order one as a gift? Order Now
"The Chairman is the board." - Kerry Packer
Website
Media Man Australia Profiles
Kerry Packer
Books and Authors
is an exciting new book about Kerry Packer, which is a cross between a Business Management text book; a motivation book and an autobiography of Kerry Packer.
100 printed pages.
Don't go to Business School just yet! Learn from the Master himself.
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer was larger than life wherever he went. This first ever collection of Kerry Packer’s wit and wisdom, reveal a great passion for business, for gambling and for life itself.
Read the thoughts and ideas behind the multi-million dollar deals. Learn about Life, Luck, Leadership and much more. “I’ll Toss You for It!” with more than 130 quotes by Kerry Packer is a cross between the businessman’s Shakespeare and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.
Read a bonus chapter with more than a dozen quotes from Sir Frank Packer.
The book is funny, it is serious and everything in between with quotes from Kerry Packer's ancestry to the afterlife. Each of the pages of stories and anecdotes form a layer of understanding of the Master Businessman.
It is the must have book if you are in business, or intrigued by the Big Fella. Why not order one as a gift? Order Now
"The Chairman is the board." - Kerry Packer
Website
Media Man Australia Profiles
Kerry Packer
Books and Authors
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