No beef here, Joe
There may have been a big reshuffle in Canberra but The Note knows Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Minister Joe Ludwig still has his job because he released an announcement forecasting a rise in farm export earnings.
In it, Mr Ludwig mentions livestock is expected to improve but puts that down to conditions on the land. Oddly, there was nothing about beef exports rising after being shut down without notice by his government.
The mysteries of PR
The Note, like many in the fourth estate, has a love-hate with the world of public relations.
Generally we have cordial relationships with spin doctoring types who, to be fair, generally at least try to be helpful unless directed to be otherwise by their clientele.
The Note also understands the PR world and its need to be close to the story but not actually part of it. Which is why this week’s announcement by ZYL, an ASX-listed coal-exploration-and-development company operating in South Africa, was just so much fun.
Revealing its development priorities and board changes, it took a highly forensic operative for The Note (one who reads the whole page, right to the bottom) to realise that two versions of the same notice had arrived at WA Business News; both the same except for one unusual detail – the PR company.
Arch commercial rivals PPR and Purple Communications had both sent out the same announcement – albeit with PPR getting its out a good hour and 34 minutes earlier by our records.
Given that sharing a client is such a rare thing in the cutthroat world of communications, The Note thought we should follow up.
A Purple rep claimed it had recently picked up the client who had previously used PPR, although PPR said it had not been aware of any change in its relationship with ZYL.
The Note will be interested to find out if ZYL gets two bills as well – and twice the coverage.