Thursday 6th February 1997
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Issues - The banking system under the spotlight. Yesterday we reported on the case of Alan Bond whose self-confessed fraudulent actions resulted in thousands of Australian mums and dads losing their life savings when Bell Resources Limited had its assets cut out in one simple move when over Au$1 billion was simply transferred to another company - Alan Bond's Bond Corporation Holdings Limited.
Bond was sentenced yesterday to 4 years behind bars - but he is elligible for parole after just 18 months - justifying his fraud on the basis of Au$2 million per day. This after many years of legal wrangling and manouvering. And Bond's response - "If I could relive the eighties there are some things I would do differently. There are some transactions I would have avoided, both for the interest of shareholders and myself."
What a load of hogwash. I worked for an entrepeneur in the late 1980's - he was one of many caught by Alan Bond's antics in the early 1980s. I will call him Mr X. Mr X was contracted by Alan Bond to establish a recycling plant to recycle gold from old gold mine dumps. His reward was to be a cut of all gold recovered because he received no salary for his work - this was ensured by a legal agreement signed by Alan Bond's company running the project and Mr X. After several months the money supply ran out and Mr X's father (a wealthy man) came to rescue lending Bond's company about Au$100,000 to get the project completed. Bond's company signed a bill of debt guaranteeing to repay the money.
On the day that the mine was commissioned Mr X was ordered off the property by security guards. Alan Bond had declared the company under which the mine was developed insolvent and bought the mining operation for a few dollars through another company. Needless to say neither the money lent by Mr X's father nor any of those promised commission payments on gold recovered by the mine were ever repaid.
And the money that this man conned - well it went into family trusts where the law could not touch it. Now the Bond family use the ill-gained millions of their father to feather their own nests. If you have any tales about Mr Bond let us know.
The second case involves none other than OJ Simpson. Well you can find heaps on the net about this big "little" man - so I need not elaborate..... BUT he and Alan Bond have one thing in common - deep pockets to feed hungry lawyers with. Lawyers who manipulate the system so that their clients escape the law in a way that the makes the average man in the street believe in Animal Farm.
For example, if you walked into a bank and snuck out with a few thousand illegally gained dollars you would be put away for a long, long time - much longer than Alan Bond for over Au$1 billion and if you murdered someone in the US and were not OJ you would probably be sentenced to death - not become a celebrity in the eyes of many - as OJ was and is portayed by the media.
Independent MP Pauline Hanson will no longer speak to the Logan Village branch of the Liberal Party. The party's state director yesterday said that the Logan branch had been forced to withdraw the invitation.
Ms Hanson attacked the move as "heavy handed party bureaucracy telling grassroots Australia what is good for them.
"These party nranches are good enough to find a candidate, to raise money and to hand out how-to-vote cards, but in the meantime they (the party bureaucracy) don't want to know them."
Ms Hanson yesterday boycotted an invitation to Government House in Canberra after Governor-General Sir William Deane made comments about racial tolerance.
She said, "He is the Queen's representative and should not be making comments in relation to his political views."
John Howard was yesterday accused of telling a whitey after it was revealed that he knew the senior Liberal senator was being investigated by the Australian Federal Police over expense claims late last year, but said in recent days that he had only learnt of the investigation on January 21st.
Senator Woods, 49, has resigned following the investigation - but the fellow is now facing flack from all over the place with the married man now being accused by a former lover, Roxanne Cameron, of harassment - a charge that he had previously aimed at her following allegations of phone calls and abusive behaviour towards the Senator and his wife.
The political fallout has got the Labor Party's hatchet men jumping up and down in the proverbial streets shouting for political blood with the likes of Kim Beazley saying, "It also seems extremely unusual that a Prime Minister should forget a briefing from his Attorney-General concerning a federal police investigation into one of his parliamentary secretaries (Woods) ".
Of course Gareth Evans was quick to plunge the little daggers whith comments that referred to the "sleaze factor" surrounding the Liberal Party.... talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
The Federal Government has named nine countries as having trade barriers that work against Australian business in a report - they include: China, Japan, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and, yes, the United States of America (the country that is always getting up Australia's nose with similar allegations aimed at us).
Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer said, "The nations are listed in a constructive sense, but, nevertheless, in an honest sense to put out very clearly where we are seeking to make further progress in the spirit of the World Trade Organisation on a bilateral front."
The report also includes the following key features:
The study found that people seemed to become better at storing fat as they put on weight. The study discovered that bile acid, which is used by the body to dispose of cholesterol and absorbe fat, was processed faster in people classed as obese.
"The result is surprising given the body's usual counter reaction to abnormal conditions," said Mater Hospital gastroenterologist Timothy Florin, "It would be expected that the body of an obese person would react and adapt to less obesity by becoming less, rather than more, efficient at absorbing fat."
Have a great day...
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