⚾️Denise ♊️🌈🇬🇧🇺🇦🇦🇺

I'VE GOT THRUSH - It's Albo's fault. (Free image of Dick Smith's DICKEAHD MATCHES for Pauline Hanson included in this post) DAVID JONES: A COLLAPSE YEARS IN THE MAKING It's genuinely sad to see an Australian retail icon with 188 years of history enter administration, with thousands of jobs potentially at risk. But almost inevitably, Pauline Hanson has seized upon the news to blame the Albanese Labor government and Jim Chalmers. Apparently, we're back to the "I've got thrush, it's Albo's fault" style of political commentary. Never mind the facts. Never mind the history. Never mind that David Jones has been struggling for the better part of TWO DECADES. Just blame Labor. NOW, LET'S INTRODUCE SOME ACTUAL FACTS. David Jones' decline has been years in the making. This was a company that struggled to keep pace with changing consumer behaviour, particularly the transformation of retail shopping. The warning signs were apparent by 2010–2011, and by 2018 its financial deterioration was unmistakable. So today's announcement that David Jones has entered voluntary administration should surprise absolutely nobody who has followed the business over the past decade or more. OF PARTICULAR INTEREST IS ITS OWNERSHIP HISTORY. Anchorage Capital Partners, an Australian private equity firm, acquired David Jones in March 2023 from South Africa's Woolworths Holdings. Anchorage remained its owner when the company entered administration today, 5 November 2026. And here's an interesting coincidence. Anchorage Capital Partners also previously owned Dick Smith Electronics. Anchorage bought Dick Smith in 2012 and floated it on the stock market in December 2013. Dick Smith subsequently collapsed into administration in January 2016. And here's a little-known connection: Dick Smith actually operated the electronics departments inside David Jones stores, under an arrangement that began in October 2013. Different businesses, different circumstances, but a rather interesting common denominator. NOW, A LITTLE DAVID JONES HISTORY: 2008–2011: Online shopping was increasingly challenging traditional department stores. David Jones faced growing competition, pressure on margins and changing consumer expectations. 2012–2014: Structural problems were already evident. South Africa's Woolworths Holdings acquired David Jones in 2014 for approximately $2.1 BILLION. 2017: Comparable-store sales fell 0.7%. Aggressive discounting and disappointing private-label performance damaged profitability. 2018–2019: Woolworths Holdings recorded substantial impairments against the value of its David Jones investment, exceeding $1 billion across this period. 2020–2022: COVID accelerated the shift towards online retailing, further exposing the weaknesses of the traditional department-store business model. 2023: Anchorage Capital acquired David Jones for approximately $100 MILLION, a fraction of what Woolworths had paid nine years earlier. 2023–2024: David Jones recorded a $74.1 MILLION pre-tax loss. 2024–2025: Another $95.5 MILLION pre-tax loss. 5 NOVEMBER 2026: David Jones entered voluntary administration and receivership after negotiations with major landlords broke down. And there you have it. A company acquired for $2.1 BILLION in 2014, sold for approximately $100 MILLION in 2023, and placed into administration just three years later. This didn't happen overnight. Nor can it reasonably be attributed simply to recent interest-rate increases, inflation or weak consumer spending. Those pressures contributed, but the underlying problems had been developing for well over a decade. David Jones had an established brand, a prestigious history and extraordinary name recognition. What it failed to maintain was a sufficiently competitive and financially sustainable business model in a rapidly changing retail market. And once again, the private equity ownership of a major Australian retail institution deserves some examination. Not least because we've seen the name Anchorage Capital Partners appear in another spectacular Australian retail failure. Remember Dick Smith? So before we start blaming Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese for a retail decline that was already well underway while John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison occupied the prime ministership, perhaps we could examine the actual corporate history. The financial deterioration, failed strategies, ownership decisions, expensive leases and inability to adapt to changing retail conditions are all part of that history. And those decisions deserve scrutiny. David Jones didn't suddenly develop financial problems when Labor won government in May 2022. The evidence of serious difficulties was already there, years before Albanese became Prime Minister. You can blame a government for its policies. You can debate the economic pressures facing retailers. But if you're going to attribute the collapse of a 188-year-old business to the current government, you really ought to explain the preceding decade and a half. History, Pauline. It's rather inconvenient when it comes with dates. Strike a pose.