Nine has engaged John Howard’s former senior spin doctor as the company grapples with the fallout of a cultural review, the loss of a chair and CEO, as well as a tanking share price.
David Luff, Howard’s former press secretary, is working with Nine as a consultant through corporate advisory firm Bespoke Approach. Crikey understands he has taken over from James Chessell, who consulted for Nine on government relations and digital platform partnerships through Bespoke after leaving his role as Nine’s managing director of publishing late last year to join the firm. In July, Chessell then replaced Michael Stutchbury as editor-in-chief of The Australian Financial Review.
Luff worked for Howard during the 2004 and 2007 elections and has since worked for Rio Tinto and Telstra, as well as more recently being engaged by Optus following its 2022 hack that exposed the personal data of nearly 10 million customers.
The hire follows a turbulent period for the company in which allegations of widespread sexual harassment and toxicity in its newsrooms were aired, with former news director Darren Wick at the centre of a number of allegations of “drunken, lecherous” behaviour towards women in the workplace.
Wick resigned in March after a period away from the company, taking with him a reported settlement of close to $1 million. Wick’s departure was followed by chair Peter Costello, who resigned after allegedly shoving a News Corp reporter who was asking him questions about Wick at Canberra Airport. Costello served as treasurer under Howard for the entirety of Howard’s 11-year term, making him Australia’s longest-serving treasurer.
Nine’s journalists then went on a five-day strike during the Paris Olympics after failing to come to a pay agreement. CEO Mike Sneesby resigned earlier this month, telling staff in a note that 2024 had been “one of the most challenging in his career”. On the announcement of his departure, Nine’s share price was down 57% relative to its position at the beginning of Sneesby’s three-and-a-half-year tenure. A review into Nine’s workplace culture is due by the end of October.
Crikey asked Luff a number of questions, including whether he had worked on matters relating to Darren Wick, Peter Costello or Mike Sneesby’s departure, or the staff strike in July. Luff did not respond in time for publication.
Luff became somewhat of a political cult figure during the 2007 election for his apparent sex appeal. Howard even described him as the key to his “secret strategy” on the campaign trail, saying he was “attracting a very large number of young women to [the] campaign”.
During the election, Fox 101.9’s Matt and Jo Show in Melbourne turned an interview rejection from the PM’s team into a running gag featuring Luff, with 65% of Fox listeners agreeing that Luff was “smokin’ hot”. The campaign would later feature Howard supporters wearing t-shirts that read “I <3 LUFFY”, and when Luff married in 2015, he was described by The Australian as a “Clooney-esque bachelor”.
Before working for Howard, Luff was a journalist at News Corp’s The Daily Telegraph. As an economics reporter at the turn of the century, he was described by Crikey as “crusading” in favour of his future boss’ introduction of the then-novel goods and services tax.
A Nine spokesperson declined to provide comment for this story.
