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Late on Monday, ACFS Port Logistics announced that chief executive Arthur Tzaneros had resigned after the Herald revealed that he had downplayed the seriousness of sexual assault allegations against three students of Scots College in a WhatsApp group with former classmates.
The messages, in which Tzaneros described the alleged victim as a “willing participant” in the attack, have sparked mounting intrigue in Sydney business and sporting circles, as Tzaneros’ billionaire family battles to save its logistics company from liquidation.
But another subject of the Tzaneros chatter has been focused on the outgoing executive’s links to the Sydney Roosters NRL club.
The Roosters “money man”, as Tzaneros was described to CBD by one source, has previously appeared as a guest panellist at an end of year event hosted by the club’s “Roosters Business Club”, alongside coach Trent Robinson. He was in the top job at his family-controlled company when it was a back-of-jersey sponsor during the Roosters’ 2013 premiership-winning run.
Tzaneros is also a member of the club’s exclusive Chairman’s Club and was introduced on a 2023 “Roosters Radio” segment as a sponsor of star fullback James Tedesco.
Tzaneros didn’t respond to our queries about how he would characterise his current involvement in the Sydney Roosters, and whether he has made contact with senior figures at the club, which, of course, has a premiership-winning women’s team. In a statement to the Herald about the WhatsApp messages, Tzaneros unreservedly apologised for his comments and said he regretted making them.
Tzaneros isn’t the only link to Scots at the club. The current first team includes a number of Scots old boys, including Angus Crichton. In a blog post to pay respect to the late former Roosters player Brian Smith this month, the Roosters lauded him as a key figure in developing the relationship between the Roosters and Scots.
“Players such as Billy Smith, Siua Wong, Blake Steep, Hugo Savala and Max McCathie were all beneficiaries of that relationship, having played rugby at Scots and first grade rugby league at the Roosters,” the club said.
But when we reached Nick Politis on Tuesday, the Roosters chairman downplayed Tzaneros’ involvement in the club and would not be drawn on Scots at all. “He’s a member, that’s about it,” Politis said of Tzaneros before acknowledging the outgoing logistics CEO was also a member of the Roosters Chairman’s Club.
Comyn’s bachelor era
Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn has had a lot on his plate recently.
The golden boy of corporate Australia has had to contend with a fall in mortgage applications after the Albanese government announced it had restricted housing investor tax concessions in the May budget. He’s also had to find a way to fit Felix Lee and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese into his stacked diary.
But if all of that wasn’t enough, the Commonwealth Bank boss has also had the breakdown of his marriage to work through. Comyn and his wife, Lucy, have split up, a spokesman for the bank confirmed on Tuesday.
“Matt and Lucy have been separated for some time,” the Commonwealth Bank spokesman told CBD. “They are working through the terms privately. Matt’s concern is for his family.”
Comyn and his wife, who is English, according to a 2020 profile in The Australian Financial Review, have three children – two girls and a boy. In that profile, Comyn admitted that finding time to spend with his family could be tough with the demands of his job.
“They understand and are supportive, but that’s not to say you don’t miss things,” Comyn said at the time.
In the years since, Comyn has accrued untold influence in Australian business and in the halls of Parliament House. The Commonwealth Bank boss is so beloved by Treasurer Jim Chalmers that the treasurer reportedly signed off on an orange pass granting Comyn access to Parliament last year.
He was also among the gaggle of notables who showed face alongside Albanese at the Point Piper fundraiser organised by Felix Lee, as revealed by The Australian Financial Review just last month.
Following the release of the Albanese government’s May budget, Comyn has emerged as a lonely supporter of Labor’s reforms among the nation’s executive class, for whom the budget has been the subject of a protracted wave of breathless consternation.
The Commonwealth Bank boss, whose pay rose to $9.1 million in the last financial year, is well liked and respected by almost everyone he comes into contact with. Comyn has not a single blemish on his public image, which has been constructed largely by a business press completely enamoured with the CBA boss’s candour and success.
But something tells us there’s at least one issue we won’t be hearing him talking about anytime soon: his marriage.
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John Buckley is a CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.From our partners
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