Former Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop has leaped into her new role as a strategic advisor for a Perth-based mining company by starring in a very long “employee induction video”, alongside Hollywood giants Hugh Jackman and Kate Walsh.
Bishop is introduced as an “ambassador” for Mineral Resources Limited (MinRes), one of Australia’s largest iron ore and lithium extractors, owned by West Australian mining magnate Chris Ellison.
A snappy jazz number accompanies the promotional video as it opens with Bishop wrapped in a luxurious white bathrobe (“JBish” embroidered in gold) peeling off her pink eye mask as the rising sun gleams over her waking face.
“Your day at MinRes, starts, NOW!” she addresses the camera, whipping off her robe to reveal a baby pink power suit.
For the next six minutes and 42 seconds, we are taken through the company’s lavish new corporate headquarters, a professional’s wonderland of sleek furniture, opulent work desks, sensible indoor plants and minimally placed, inoffensive art.
“It’s been designed with your wellbeing in mind,” Bishop continues.
“We’ve made getting to work easy for you,” she narrates over a scene showing her driving a Tesla, or “by bike”, as we see Bishop pushing a bike with a basket she doesn’t ride, or “by bus”, where we see Bishop getting off a bus, and thanking “Amrad” the faceless bus driver.
The new ambassador glides through the halls of this theme park for corporate professionals described as the ultimate ‘family-friendly’ place, decked with a family room “to support you and your kids!” a “family zone for working parents” and a commercial gym.
Accompanied by a string of Willy Wonkaesque tunes, we meet a variety of characters employed to keep the “International WELL Building Standards” building running. The (presumably) real-life characters include Courtney, the fitness centre supervisor, as well as Chris, a psychologist and Head of Mental Health, and Fitz, the Cafe Manager and Head Barista.
In the gym’s fancy female bathrooms, Bishop stands in a towel getting ready to fix up her hair before a mirror. For some unknown reason, Kate Walsh, a star in the hit TV show Greys Anatomy, is beside her, also wanting to use the hair straightener.
The pair scuffle over the hot tool.
“No problem, we have more than one hair straightener,” Bishop says, conceding. “In fact, we have more than one of everything.”
Later, we see her in a board meeting with three others present when Hugh Jackman dials in via the big screen.
“Hey Jules, my phone is kind of on its last legs, can you just send me a refill of lithium,” Jackman requests.
“I mean seriously, how much lithium does one guy need?” Bishop replies.
“Mineral Resources is a great Australian success story,” Bishop said on the TODAY show this morning, promoting the video.
“It’s a mining services company and it has iron ore and lithium operations but it’s taking a whole new approach, an innovative approach to workplace culture, and they’ve created this new headquarters here in Perth that is designed to attract and retain talented and skilled people who are happy and secure and therefore, productive.”
“It’s the most beautiful building,” she continued. “And it’s got a global rating in terms of the environment, you know, light and air and comfort.”