Today's Headlines
an Aussie's viewpoint
Tuesday 20th February 1996
International:
Alleged Austrlain drug trafficker Lisa Marie Smith faces months of waiting in a crowded Bangkok's womens prison before
she is formally charged. Smith, the daughter of a top Hong Kong based businessman, was remanded in custody yesterday after a brief
appearance at Bangkok's central criminal court.
The Federal Opposition leader was forced to apologise after making a mistake about his family policy during a live radio interview.
The widely reported event was followed soon after by a trip where Howard hurt his ankle after making a presentation at a gathering of the party faithful. Paul Keating
jumped on the mistake like the proverbial bull in a China shop claiming that the opposition has an Au$5.9 billion hole in their funding.
Keating said that he would use the government Finance department to check the Coalition's figures. This is the same department that
has been unable to give the opposition the true state of the budget balance according to Keating.
Maybe Keating thinks that we are all just plain stupid or maybe he knows that he has a powerful ally in the media. See Global Gripe
of the Day below.
Business:
Well the big banks simply get bigger. Isn't it interesting how the banks claim "poverty" when trying to explain the chasm between the interest
they pay to depositers and the interest that they charge lenders. The proof in the pudding is their share price which has doubled in just a few years on the
backs of the interest paid by Aussie home owners. In fact the rort has got so bad that despite a record half yearly profit
of Au$541.9 million (a 20% jump) the Commonwealth Bank of Australia was hit by a 30 cent fall in its share price to Au$11.58!
These investors in bank shares must know something that I don't because I would have thought a record profit would have resulted in a
rise in the share price - unless someone has been dropping secrets off the back of a truck. But there again it doesn't take much to see that
the general Australian public are carrying the can.
Sport:
Swimmer Samantha Riley expects to find out what FINA's decision will be today. Riley tested positive in Brazil late last year after
taking a head ache tablet given to her by her coach. Poor kid, it will be really crook if she is banned when she really does represent the
face of all that is good in international sport today.
Social:
A Sydney consortium plans to build a Au$20 million gay resort for an exclusive Cairns island owned by Australia's wealthiest woman,
Janet Holmes a Court. Minotaur Funds Ltd has an option to buy Double Island Resort about 25km northy of Cairns and a short paddle
by surf ski from the mainland. If the resort goes ahead it will join a cluster of similar ventures in and around Cairns.
Global Gripe of the day:
Balanced reporting:
Isn't it strange that a slip of the tongue during a live radio interview by the opposition leader, John Howard, is blown up into a major gaffe by the print media owned by
Murdoch and a disgusting case of abuse of power known as The Hinmarsh Affair
doesn't even get into print. John Howard was reported as getting his facts wrong in an interview. Hey, that has happened to Keating
many times in the lead-up to the campaign but the abusive reporting isn't there. What about the Hinmarsh Affair - only a page 4 story in The Courier Mail
and not even reported in the national Australian newspaper, The Australian? Thanks to the Labor Aboriginal Affairs Minister taxpayers now
face a Au$12 million bill. The developers, the Chapmans, yesterday sued Robert Tickner and Prof Saunders for stopping the construction of a bridge on
grounds of "Aboriginal woman's business". This turned out to be total bull**** and the royal commission investigating the affair found that
the woman's business was fabricated to give Mr Tickner a reason to stop the bridge. This action sent the Chapman's development
company broke. Now Tickner claims that the Chapmans are pandering to the Coalition. Why don't you pay the Au$12 million Tickner?
That is the REAL question...
To me it all smells pretty fishy. All the signs are there. Six months out of an election Murdoch telling Keating publicly that the Australian
economy was a mess. Widely reported in the media. A bit of stouching, but very little real action by Keating at the time. Now the News
Limited group are slowly but quite perceptibly swinging their coverage to the benefit of the Labor party.
What deals are being made in the background Mr Keating? Is this just a misguided perception or is there something going on here that
the Australian public should know about?
Personal trivia:
Lovely day yesterday. We had a number of visitors and friends to our global office. In fact it was like Paddington station at times!
The vista from our bedroom window this morning was quite fantastic. The Brisbane river was shrouded in a veil of mist which spread
its tentacles about the gum trees on the banks. There were cockatoos, lorikeets and pink and greys all celebrating in the haze
dipping and diving in and out of it. Quite remarkable. But what else can you expect from paradise?
Return to Australian National News of the Day
See GLOBE International for other world news.