Multimillionaire property developer admits comments about 'arrogant' workers were 'deeply insensitive'
Multimillionaire property developer admits comments about 'arrogant' workers were 'deeply insensitive'
Tim Gurner says he regrets comments he made at a media event, which were slammed by workers, unions and politicians.
The Australian Financial Review reported on Thursday that a senior manager at Mr Gurner's wellness and anti-ageing network Saint Haven had sought to assure staff that their founders' comments were not directed at them.
"I want to start by saying I've had the pleasure of working with Tim for almost two years now and can hand on heart say that his care and love for both the Gurner Group and Saint Haven team is immense," the manager reportedly said, adding that Mr Gurner's comments "were in no way directed at our teams".
Gurner Group says its development and management portfolio is worth more than $9.5 billion.
Previous 'smashed avocado' comments were also slammed
Mr Gurner was criticised by many in 2017 when he suggested first homebuyers were struggling to enter the property market because they were "spending $40 a day on smashed avocados and coffee and not working".
“I’m deeply sorry that I’ve been called out on my bullshit. I thought I was surrounded by like minded peers and I wasn’t counting on my views being leaked to the public. The serfs were never supposed to hear this and I’m pretending to be sorry that they heard about it until they all forget and move on”
- this dickhead if he could be as honest now as he was during his speech.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Speaking at the Australian Financial Review Property Summit on Tuesday, Mr Gurner told the audience he wanted to see Australia's unemployment rate "jump 40 to 50 per cent", in order to cause "pain in the economy" and "remind people they work for the employer, not the other way around".
"There are clearly important conversations to have in this environment of high inflation, pricing pressures on housing and rentals due to a lack of supply, and other cost-of-living issues," he said.
Mr Gurner's speech at the Property Summit drew fierce criticism from many workers, unions and politicians — including US Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Australian Council of Trade Unions President Michele O'Neil criticised Mr Gurner's comments as "shocking and offensive" during an interview with the ABC's RN Breakfast.
The Australian Financial Review reported on Thursday that a senior manager at Mr Gurner's wellness and anti-ageing network Saint Haven had sought to assure staff that their founders' comments were not directed at them.
Mr Gurner was criticised by many in 2017 when he suggested first homebuyers were struggling to enter the property market because they were "spending $40 a day on smashed avocados and coffee and not working".
The original article contains 761 words, the summary contains 191 words. Saved 75%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!