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Saturday 14th September 1996
Saturday 14th September 1996
The Chinese ambassador, Mr Hua Junduo, yesterday made a personal visit to John Howard to clarify the position. Bureaucrats in Canberra have been "encouraged" by the "modulated and controlled" reaction from the Chinese regarding the proposed meeting between the Tibetan spiritual leader and the Prime Minister.
However, a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing, Mr Shen Guofang, repeated a warning that the Dalai Lama's activities in Australia would be closely watched...
"We hope that be it the New Zealand Government or the Australian Government, they should respect the positions and attitudes of the Chinese Government on the issue of Tibet", he said.
Go to blazes son, pity the Starfleet commander hasn't got the balls to go and chuck your invading forces out of Tibet.
Answer - you lay off 22,000 staff. Well that is what Telstra is going to do... an announcement it made while reporting that it had made over Au$2.35 billion dollars in the last financial year - a 30% jump.
The announcement of the job cuts is likely to make the one third sale of Telstra a very hard bill to get through the Senate as the two key independent Senators, Brian Harradine and Mal Colstone, have both flagged their intentions to vote against the bill if job losses occur through the sale.
American import and Telstra chief, Frank Blount, was matter of fact about the decision to cut thousands of jobs saying that the organisation had to to stay competitive with Optus once deregulation in the teelecommunications industry takes place next year.
Telecommunications Minister, Senator Alston, said that the loss of jobs had nothing to do with the one-third sale of Telstra.
Got to tell you it does seem pretty strange that we are selling off the family silver when it is recording such dramatic returns. Even more so when the Chief Executive is not even Australian. Wonder what the hidden agendas in this "little" deal are?
Of course media mogul Kerry Packer is mixed up in there and while that happens you can be quite certain that there will only be one winner and it won't be the clients or current shareholders in Australis.
Australis Managing Director Neil Gamble is expected to submit his resignation next week. It is widely speculated that he will be taking up a position as chief executive of the new Sydney Casino, Sydney Harbour Casinos Ltd.
Ironically this Casino was one of Packer's very few misses... you see he wanted to own it but lost out in the tender. He has been trying every trick in the legal book since then to try to halt the progress of the Casino...
Looks like THIS ONE got away Kerry... maybe that's why Gamble is taking a senior position there!
The new tax on superannuation - once a tax dodge, and higher marginal tax rate of 48.7% reflect the following changes:
| Tax area | Family income Au$70,000 pa | Family Income Au$85,000 pa |
| Family tax initiative | save Au$1,100 | NIL |
| 15% surcharge on Au$3000 spouse superannuation | save Au$540 | save Au$540 |
| Private health cover rebate | save max Au$450 | NIL |
| Childcare cash rebate | NIL | lose Au$300 |
| Change due to budget | save Au$2,090 | lose Au$1,035 |
| 48.5% tax and Medicare on income over Au$70,000 | NIL | lose Au$7,275 |
| Net effect | Save Au$2,090 | Lose Au$8,310 |
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