The worst of the unforgettable storm that pulverised Newcastle was over but gusting wind and spluttering rain persisted as I made my way to a meeting at Honeysuckle with then NSW Treasurer and Hunter Minister Michael Costa. The meeting, with my client Port Waratah Coal Services, was a routine affair until a staffer poked her …

Ask anyone else who’s been at the pointy end of a big maritime crisis what the worst part was, and their response will typically be “Dealing with the media!” After reliving the terrors of standing before packs of demanding journalists and camera’s, the recount usually takes this course: “Things happened so quickly. We just felt …

This week’s subject of the Grill is managing director of Repute Communications, Matthew Watson. He was ‘Highly Commended’ by the Public Relations Institute of Australia for crisis, media and stakeholder management during the Rena container ship crisis of New Zealand. On behalf of Svizter Salvage, Matthew lead the PR consultancy’s response to the ship’s grounding. …

Turning to two recent maritime salvage scenarios from the Australasia region, Matthew Watson, Managing Director, Repute Communications, Australia writes. Scenario one: Cronulla, 17 nautical miles south of Sydney Harbour, February, 2013 A large fishing vessel runs aground on rocks at this populated locality, a stone’s throw from a busy public walk way. Media outlets and …

He’s an average bloke, a family man in most cases, and probably enjoys a beer or two at the end of the day. If you saw him in the local super-market, as many Mt Maunganui locals will have, you’d never pick him as anybody special. But a special person he is. Because while most of …

The fact that *antimacassars adorn the armchairs in our home library, that I know what the word antimacassar means, and that I am teaching myself to crochet so I can make more of them like my late grandmother used to do, contradicts my innermost belief that I am still young. Sometimes I feel like I …