12 October 2011

Three years of Lauren Jackson to 2016

| johnboy
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lauren jackson

As I write the great and the good are still in the foyer of the ActewAGL building telling each other how great it is that basketballer Lauren Jackson has been lured back to Canberra for the 2012/13, 14/15, and 15/16 seasons. (thus skipping 2013/14)

With ActewAGL CEO Michael Costello saying he was “only too pleased to galvanise the corporate support” one has to wonder just what the community is paying for this privilege.

actewagl foyer

UPDATE: She’s had this to say on Twitter:

lauren jackson tweet

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SportForWomen2:08 pm 13 Mar 12

I’m so stoked we’re going to get to see Lauren play regularly in Australia again.

Chop71 said :

toriness said :

zomg call out the guard! what a dreadful win-win situation for company to choose to market itself through sports team sponsorship and our city gets the #1 women’s basketball player in return! outrage!!

from ACTEWAGL website concerning their community sponsorship program:

Through our community sponsorship program, ActewAGL currently provides sponsorship assistance to over 150 charities, schools, community groups, sporting teams and businesses throughout the capital region, including:

the ActewAGL Royal Canberra Show
Floriade
the Australian Science Festival
the CA Brumbies
Canberra Raiders
Sydney Swans games at Manuka Oval
Christmas and New Year in the city
The Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal
ActewAGL host a BBQ for Camp Quality
Koomarri

don’t suppose any of you wants to take away the ACTEWAGL dosh from the brumbies or raiders to (in your mind) lower your electricity bills?

That is exactly the problem…. why should I support over 150 charities, schools, community groups, sporting teams and businesses through my utility bills.

surely you would rather part of the inevitable marketing budget spent on our local community than spent on direct advertising such as tv ads from which you/broader ACT community gets no benefit at all?

Chop71 said :

toriness said :

zomg call out the guard! what a dreadful win-win situation for company to choose to market itself through sports team sponsorship and our city gets the #1 women’s basketball player in return! outrage!!

from ACTEWAGL website concerning their community sponsorship program:

Through our community sponsorship program, ActewAGL currently provides sponsorship assistance to over 150 charities, schools, community groups, sporting teams and businesses throughout the capital region, including…

don’t suppose any of you wants to take away the ACTEWAGL dosh from the brumbies or raiders to (in your mind) lower your electricity bills?

That is exactly the problem…. why should I support over 150 charities, schools, community groups, sporting teams and businesses through my utility bills.

It should be noted that Australians/Australian companies generally are some of the least giving when it comes to handing over dosh to community/sporting/educational initiatives and charity generally (outside of major disasters). Which inevitably means it falls to government to fork out tax payers dollars to fund these things. It’s a simple public good story, so if you don’t want to have your tax dollars/power bills handed over to various groups, start giving to what you do support because if everyone had the ‘i don’t want to fund that’ point of view, nothing would ever happen anywhere in this country.

toriness said :

don’t suppose any of you wants to take away the ACTEWAGL dosh from the brumbies or raiders to (in your mind) lower your electricity bills?

I love to see them stop supporting the brumbies and the raiders. Why should my energy and water bills be jacked up to support Australia’s sport fetish?

toriness said :

zomg call out the guard! what a dreadful win-win situation for company to choose to market itself through sports team sponsorship and our city gets the #1 women’s basketball player in return! outrage!!

from ACTEWAGL website concerning their community sponsorship program:

Through our community sponsorship program, ActewAGL currently provides sponsorship assistance to over 150 charities, schools, community groups, sporting teams and businesses throughout the capital region, including:

the ActewAGL Royal Canberra Show
Floriade
the Australian Science Festival
the CA Brumbies
Canberra Raiders
Sydney Swans games at Manuka Oval
Christmas and New Year in the city
The Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal
ActewAGL host a BBQ for Camp Quality
Koomarri

don’t suppose any of you wants to take away the ACTEWAGL dosh from the brumbies or raiders to (in your mind) lower your electricity bills?

That is exactly the problem…. why should I support over 150 charities, schools, community groups, sporting teams and businesses through my utility bills.

2604 said :

Welcome back Lauren.

+1

Welcome back Lauren.

$50,000 to bring the best women’s basketball player in the world back to the Can sounds like money well spent to me.

zomg call out the guard! what a dreadful win-win situation for company to choose to market itself through sports team sponsorship and our city gets the #1 women’s basketball player in return! outrage!!

from ACTEWAGL website concerning their community sponsorship program:

Through our community sponsorship program, ActewAGL currently provides sponsorship assistance to over 150 charities, schools, community groups, sporting teams and businesses throughout the capital region, including:

the ActewAGL Royal Canberra Show
Floriade
the Australian Science Festival
the CA Brumbies
Canberra Raiders
Sydney Swans games at Manuka Oval
Christmas and New Year in the city
The Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal
ActewAGL host a BBQ for Camp Quality
Koomarri

don’t suppose any of you wants to take away the ACTEWAGL dosh from the brumbies or raiders to (in your mind) lower your electricity bills?

for all their corporate detractors, let’s appreciate this for what it is: a chance to see on of the sports greatest (ever?) players playing in Canberra, for a Canberra team. Anyone who watched the few matches she played a couple of years ago would have to agree that she is head and shoulders above the majority of the players in the WNBL at the moment.

I for one will be taking my children to see her play. Anyhow, ActewAGL could have spent the money keeping Matt Giteau here for another couple of seasons. That would rank below public art and worker’s memorials in my top three wastes of money.

Thoroughly Smashed4:52 pm 13 Oct 11

Little_Green_Bag said :

After less than six months I couldn’t wait to get back to Telstra

Sweet jesus!

Little_Green_Bag3:51 pm 13 Oct 11

Chop71 said :

Those who are standing up for ACTEW may like to look at the books of their other companies like Ecowise, Ecowise VIC, Transact and Grapevine.

Ah yes, TransACT and Grapevine, the mob who offer cable Internet but throttle it to the point where it is slower than dialup but still charge like a wounded bull for it. It is garbage.

Being sucked in by their slick door to door salesman was one of my life’s biggest regrets. After less than six months I couldn’t wait to get back to Telstra and their faster, more reliable and much cheaper Bigpond ADSL2+. Bye bye small town hillbillies, welcome back the professionals. When Telstra tried to reconnect my Net, they found that TransACT had completely and deliberately trashed the old connection and a whole new portal from the telephone line had to be installed.

I will never deal with TransACT or any of its affiliated companies ever again.

Those who are standing up for ACTEW may like to look at the books of their other companies like Ecowise, Ecowise VIC, Transact and Grapevine.

Thoroughly Smashed12:07 pm 13 Oct 11

dungfungus said :

If they are throwing the level of money reported at Jackson, imagine how much ActewAGL will be throwing at marquis players for the Canberra A League (soccer) team that is being promoted by executive enthusiasts from that same institution.
This has got to stop.

Just be thankful they aren’t recruiting archdukes.

caf said :

It’s not ACTEW (the public corporation) spending this money and putting up your power bill, it’s ActewAGL (the joint venture half-owned by AGL Corporation). ActewAGL is a commercial organisation run entirely along commercial lines. If they didn’t think it was profitable to engage in this kind of marketing, they wouldn’t do it.

At any rate, we have retail competition in the ACT so if you want to change suppliers, you can.

This is the same outfit that has blown about $80 million dollars investing in TransACT. That was a real commercial profit earner for them too, eh?
Name me two people you know in Canberra that have been “guests” at the corporate boxes supplied to ActewAGL as part of their “sponsorship investments”
The point is, all this largesse is to the benefit a few egos and it is all underwritten by the ACT ratepayers in the end.
If they are throwing the level of money reported at Jackson, imagine how much ActewAGL will be throwing at marquis players for the Canberra A League (soccer) team that is being promoted by executive enthusiasts from that same institution.
This has got to stop.

Waiting For Godot9:07 am 13 Oct 11

Did you see Barr on WIN News saying that the ACT government kicking in $50,000.00 to help sign Jackson was “a great investment”.

Will Jackson playing for the Capitals help pay my carbon tax bill? Will it get my kids a job? Will it improve roads and infastructure?

Bread and circuses . . .

Kerryhemsley5:55 pm 12 Oct 11

Yeah that’s terrible a local company helping to attract one of the best players in the world to the local team.

On the other hand why doesn’t the local governement shell out a lot of money to a western Sydney AFL team. Now that makes sense.

diced_mango said :

Both of you get over it. If it wasn’t for ActewAGL we’d practically have no major sports or arts here. It gives Canberrans something to be proud of and something to aspire to.

I’d rather pay less for electricity and water and not have them sponsor the yarts, thanks!

Chop71 said :

I just love how ACTEW spend my power bills on warm fuzzy community projects and advertising. Most expensive in the country but gee we feel good about it.

Please provide evidence that we have the most expensive power in the country? Do some research and you’ll quickly discover that ACT Electricity prices aint bad.
Here’s a quick summary:
ActewAGL – 16.665cent pkWh in ACT
Country Energy (Origin) 24.33cents pkWh – NSW (across border)
Origin VIC – 19.83
TRUenergy 16.72 p kWh in ACT
TRUenergy 20.09 p kWh in VIC
TRUenergy 22.94 p kWh in NSW – Sydney

Obviously the above can change dependent on usage / supply charges etc and does not include any discounts. But VIC and NSW are much more expensive than little old ACT on face value.

If you don’t like the way ActewAGL conducts its business (like sponsoring things), have you considered taking your business elsewhere? There is no competition for water or distribution (and very little in electricity), but no one forces you to get billed for electricity and gas through ActewAGL.

It’s not ACTEW (the public corporation) spending this money and putting up your power bill, it’s ActewAGL (the joint venture half-owned by AGL Corporation). ActewAGL is a commercial organisation run entirely along commercial lines. If they didn’t think it was profitable to engage in this kind of marketing, they wouldn’t do it.

At any rate, we have retail competition in the ACT so if you want to change suppliers, you can.

One could suggest that those who buy an apartment solely on the recommendation of a well-compensated sportsperson are getting pretty much what they deserve.

Lauren Jackson lost my respect when she started flogging those horrible flats in Woden. Like she would even spend a night there herself! I wonder how many poor first-home buyers are living under low ceilings or looking out over boring Woden from their tiny balconies and wishing they hadn’t been sucked in by Lauren Jackson.

Love the pics = “Thrilled to be here”

diced_mango said :

Both of you get over it. If it wasn’t for ActewAGL we’d practically have no major sports or arts here. It gives Canberrans something to be proud of and something to aspire to.

I am an absolute sports nut, but I don’t run around thanking ACTEW for any of it.

Now if one day Actew wants to build a new Canberra Stadium (with a roof) then yes, god bless their cotton socks. Till then, stop putting up my Electricity, Gas and Water bills.

diced_mango said :

Both of you get over it. If it wasn’t for ActewAGL we’d practically have no major sports or arts here. It gives Canberrans something to be proud of and something to aspire to.

Yeah, we’d just waste that money if they let us keep it.

Both of you get over it. If it wasn’t for ActewAGL we’d practically have no major sports or arts here. It gives Canberrans something to be proud of and something to aspire to.

It sh!ts me how ACTEW spend so much of OUR MONEY on what is NOT their core business. If they have that much excess funds, it should result in cheaper supply costs.

I just love how ACTEW spend my power bills on warm fuzzy community projects and advertising. Most expensive in the country but gee we feel good about it.

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