Wednesday 12th February 1997
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Issues - The banking system under the spotlight. The project has got the Queensland State Premier Rob Borbidge and his Labor Party counterpart, Peter (motor mouth) Beattie into a fit of furphies with Beattie blaming Borbidge "for the mess" and Borbidge accusing Beattie of making "ill-advised" remarks in which political opportunism had been given greater priority than the project.
"If Peter Beattie does or says one thing, and he may have already said and done it, which jeopardises the potential for the first phase of the right to negotiate process to deliver a positive outcome in relation to the Century project, I will make sure that he is never forgiven for it," Borbidge said.
The Au$60 million compensation proposal includes a payment of Au$750,000 shared by the Waanyl, Mingginda, Gkuthaarn and Kukatj communites over the next three years then Au$500,000 annually. Over the first four years the mining company would provide Au$6 million and then Au$1 million annually to establish an employment and training programme for Aborigines.
Two pastoral leases help by the company would be transferred to the Gangalidda people and the Waanyl would eventually hold 99% interest in other properties.
If the package is rejected by the Aborigines their decision will trigger automatic reference of the issue to the National Native Title Tribunal for arbitration.
If the deal is settled now, the mine's owner RTZ-CRA will sell the site to Pasminco for Au$345 million.
An unusual relationship between the past West Australian Premier of Western Australia, Brian Burke, and his government driver, Bruno Santorelli, was revealed in a Perth magistrate court yesterday. Burke, who is currently on trial for seven charges of stealing over Au$100,000 from the Australian Labor Party (ALP), wanted to corner the market in early Australian stamps the court was told.
Santorelli said that he assisted Burke in establishing the "Brian Burke collection" which included 26 albums of stamps which were kept at the offices of the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
Santorelli said that he would go out and buy the stamps for Burke and be reimbursed later by Burke or his secretary Brenda Bush.
Burke has claimed that the stamps were bought as an investment for the ALP - at a time that the ALP was cash-strapped.
Independent Member for Oxley Pauline Hanson was once again at the centre of a court case yesterday with a pre-trial taking place at the Port Kembla Local Court. Ms Hanson did not appear at the pre-trial at which Brian Broadhead (52) of Berkeley, Woollongong claimed that Ms Hanson owed him Au$1,330 for five days work in developing a web site for the member of parliament. He said that the work actually took six days but that he had offered Ms Hanson a "special deal". The unemployed man said, "I know that I will be the underdog in any court because they are designed for the rich, so I have decided to use my own service on the Internet to get some legal advice.
"I didn't misinterpret her instructions because she asked me straight out to hook her up to the Internet and set up a web site for her." Payment was discussed. I explained that it would not be cheap, but I would do something special for her. She said to go on with the work.
Mr Broadhead said that he had no written agreement he could show the court - it was a verbal agreement but it was "not a fabrication of my mind or the mind of a journalist".
"Some people have stated that taking Pauline Hanson to court is a sure fire way of getting into the headlines. But I am doing this to get the money owed to me and to show the rest of the public that people like this can't get away with it."
Magistrate Gillian Orchison set down a preliminary hearing at Woolongong Local Court on May 28 to decide whether the case could be heard in New South Wales.
Fifteen Aboriginal leaders yesterday spent two hours on a telephone hook-up to temporarily resolve the growing tension between them.
The six-member Aboriginal delegation will tell the government that their approach to the issue is unfair as they have not been given enough time to consult with others about the High Court's decision.
Today's meeting of legal experts representing affected parties will go ahead.
It is expected that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) legal advisor Noel Pearson and ATSIC Social Justice Commissioner Mick Dodson together with New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council director Aden Ridgeway and Central Land Council chief Tracker Tilmouth (for the land councils) and ATSIC Head Gatjil Djerrkura and ATSIC Native Title Commissioner Geoff Clarke will make up the Aboriginal delegation at Friday's talks.
"The annual cost of (an) account in 1985 is actually quite a bit higher than it would be today, even adjusted for inflation.
"It is very rare these days that you actually finf a service that's really lower priced than it was 10 to 15 years ago and higher in quality."
Mr Joss will earn about Au$30 million for a five year contract heading up Westpac - much of the money comes from his equity in Westpac options - delivered as part of his "salary package".
The series has got Kerry Packer crying foul as his Channel Nine television network has been prevented from broadcasting matches live - Foxtel cable network having secured exclusive rights. Packer has taken the issue to the Federal Court "in response to public outrage" at the tour only being shown live on Pay TV. A loop hole has been exploited by Foxtel after Channel Seven bought the delayed rights to the tour leaving the Pay TV group in compliance with the Australian broadcasting laws.
Have a great day.
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