Gerry Harvey has been gifted yet another megaphone, though not quite as large as the furniture, white goods and electrical retail behemoth Harvey Norman, which he chairs.
Frequently called upon by our Fourth Estate to share his “insights” into business, poor people and how we should all be living our lives, Harvey has, on this occasion, broadcast his opinion on one of his company's biggest rivals, online marketplace Temu.
Of course, the fact that Harvey Norman is also Australia’s biggest advertiser had no bearing on The Nightly “article” titled, ‘Why Harvey Norman chair Gerry Harvey doesn’t think Temu will survive’, in which Gerry shared unbiased gems such as:
‘…Temu is unlikely to survive, as quality over quantity will win out with consumers preferring to buy from trusted brands.’
The article revealed that Harvey isn't 'worried by the presence of cheap Chinese retailer Temu', its 'growing popularity' or even its business model, which relies 'on keeping costs rock bottom by connecting consumers directly with suppliers'.
The Nightly’s featured expert and unbiased commentary from Harvey about his competition was backed up by several subsequent articles detailing concerns about the Chinese retailer and even an editorial warning of the pitfalls of its 'shockingly low prices', titled, ‘Temu seems too good to be true. That’s because the Chinese-owned company is’.
The Nightly editor-in-chief Anthony De Ceglie completed his ominous takedown of Temu with:
'In every bargain, someone has to pay.'
Indeed.
A Kerry Stokes-owned digital publication – also backed by billionaires Gina Rinehart, Katie Page and Chris Ellison and 'with Google behind the scenes' – The Nightly’s “exclusive” interview of Harvey, was also obviously not influenced by the advertising dollars bestowed upon it by Harvey Norman.
And so, in the spirit of unbiased reporting on one’s competitors and/or their vested interests – and irrespective of whether Temu succeeds – listed below are our top seven reasons why Harvey Norman should fail.
While perusing this list, bear in mind that all the following actions coincide with Harvey Norman regularly posting record profits and its billionaire chair, Gerry Harvey – whose estimated current personal wealth is $3.21 billion – steadily pocketing massive bonuses.
1. RIPPING OFF WORKERS
While making record profits and pocketing huge bonuses, Harvey Norman boss Gerry Harvey lobbied for a cut to the minimum wage.
In 2023, the same year Harvey Norman posted pre-tax profits of $1.13 billion, Harvey pushed, loudly and publicly, of course, for a cut to the minimum wage because, you know, why should workers be rewarded for helping the retail giant rake in billions?
2. RIPPING OFF CUSTOMERS
In 2022, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) launched legal action against Harvey Norman and finance company Latitude over alleged misleading advertisements promoting "no deposit" and "interest-free" purchases.
According to ASIC, the advertisements misrepresented the true costs involved because they failed to disclose that consumers needed to apply for and use a Latitude GO Mastercard', or the associated 'establishment fees and monthly account service fees''.
There have been other instances of abuse of consumer rights by Harvey Norman over the years, including pressuring customers to buy dodgy extended warranties, misrepresenting consumer law on faulty product returns and not giving this Australian consumer the $100 gift card promised with purchase.
3. RIPPING OFF TAXPAYERS
Gerry Harvey referred to the pandemic as:
“… the greatest boom I’ve ever seen in my lifetime.”
And is it any wonder? In the first half of 2020, Harvey Norman collected $22 million from the JobKeeper subsidy and then reported a 25% increase in profits to $462 million, compared to the same period in the previous year. The corporation also recorded a 116% increase in net profits and paid dividends totalling a whopping $249 million.
Billionaire Harvey, who also opposed a 3.5% wage rise for Harvey Norman staff, personally collected a $78 million bonus from his shareholding in the company and then refused to pay back JobKeeper, which was intended to assist companies adversely affected by the pandemic.
After much public pressure, largely directed by then Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh, Harvey Norman paid back just $6 million of the $22 million JobKeeper handout.
Harvey refused to comment about the gift or its partial return saying:
“I’m not going to talk about JobKeeper. Every time I open my mouth about JobKeeper I get into trouble."
4. WISHING HOMELESS PEOPLE WOULD JUST DIE
To add more salt into impoverished Australians' wounds, Harvey is an outspoken critic of welfare for the needy to whom he refers as “no-hopers”.
Harvey said in 2008 that giving a leg up 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.'"
5. TRYING TO EVICT DYING PEOPLE
In 2022, Peggy Luker sued Gerry Harvey after he tried to evict her from her home, which she said Harvey had given her late partner, Gerry Dent, as part of a business deal.
Harvey, who had been friends with Dent for 50 years and even delivered a eulogy at his funeral, told Dent’s terminally ill widow to:
'...move out and get the pension.’
According to Mr Harvey's own affidavit, he also told Ms Luker:
“Maybe you can get into a housing commission or something. Surely you have a Plan B?”
Ms Luker was forced to settle out of court (details undisclosed) after her health rapidly deteriorated. At the time, Harvey was worth an estimated $2.83 billion.
6. RIPPING OFF FRANCHISEES/SUPPLIERS/SHAREHOLDERS?
Read more in the members-only article here.
7. CALLING FOR JOURNOS TO BE 'HUNG...STRIPPED AND FLOGGED'
While going about his public interest journalism business back in 2017, the AFR’s Joe Aston reported on Gerry Harvey's dodgy affairs surrounding his company’s financial result, describing it as ‘nothing but a copiously-lipsticked pig’.
Aston also reported that while he denied that ASIC was investigating Harvey Norman and claimed that “criminal” short sellers were attacking his company, Gerry Harvey was later forced to confirm that ASIC was indeed reviewing the retailer’s accounts. The corporate regulator was investigating Harvey Norman after questions arose from its franchisee losses.
Harvey responded to Aston’s scrutiny with the following:
"He should be hung (sic) or he should be stripped and flogged, the bastard."
And added:
"In the old days when Rupert Murdoch runs it, or Kerry Packer runs it, those sort of bullshit things don't happen. Because they pull them in and they tell them 'it's not on'."
As De Ceglie sagely pointed out: 'In every bargain, someone has to pay'.
Indeed. In Australia, the many bargains struck between our Fourth Estate and obscenely wealthy corporate actors like Harvey Norman, are paid for in some form or other by all of us.
Related Articles
This is not the whole story! Subscribe today to read the whole article and access all our work.
You can follow managing editor Michelle Pini on Twitter @vmp9. Follow Independent Australia on Twitter/X @independentaus and Facebook HERE.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
Support independent journalism Subscribe to IA.
