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Friday 12th September 1997
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Just a few weeks ago Australia put up well over Au$1 billion to help the flagging That baht from decimation.
Not only has that not worked with the baht once again coming under pressure despite the palid smiling baby-face of Foreign Minister Alexander Downer saying that it would, but now those who received this "gift of support", the Thai government, have threatened to boycott Australian goods if we maintain tariffs in certain areas... making their products uncompetitive in the Australian market. Yes, the same well-connected Thai politicians who not long before the Australian government's Au$1.35 billion handout tried to imply that Pauline Hanson was single-handedly destroying Australia's chances of doing trade with Asia! As the old song went in the sixty's "I can see clearly now"....why they made those comments at that time.... scrape, scrape, bow, bow time before the big gift...
Who the hell do our elected government work for because it certainly isn't for those who elected them. Maybe it is the "money power", or multinational companies, or perhaps keeping Packer and Murdoch in their good books is a full time job.
If you are just an Aussie be assured of one thing - they are not working for you.
Pauline Hanson had a much better humanitarian idea for that Au$1 billion plus that the mainstream media did not even bother referring too, perhaps when John Howard follows her lead once again the media will, once again, expouse his "brilliance and vision".
We received a media release late yesterday on a politicised issue which comes at a time when unemployment in Queensland reached another high at 9.8% with real unemployment being somewhat higher (because of the participation rate).
A few days ago the state Labor Party shadow minister for tourism Bob Gibbs got up in State Parliament and claimed that South Pacific Cruise Lines (SPCL) was involved with the Mafia. Now SPCL was an employment initiative by the Queensland Coalition Government, Department of Education Employment and Training (DEET) and SPCL.
Queensland contributed Au$250,000, DEET over Au$2 million to help SPCL provide hands on training for 300 long term unemployed in the hospitality industry.
The result of Gibb's comments in Parliament? 300 long term unemployed lose their dream of working on a cruise liner in the hospitality industry.
The question that needs to be asked here is how can Gibbs, using Parliamentary privilege, be allowed to make such an unsubstantiated claim which results in the major investor pulling out and SPCL crashing.
Getting back to the press release by Melbourne based William Angliss 2000 Pty Ltd for SPCL I quote verbatim:
CEO Calls on Government to Help Students
The Chief Executive of William Angliss 2000, Kevin Beck, has called on Queensland's Minister for Tourism, Small Business and Industry, Bruce Davidson and the business community to help provide jobs for 300 unemployed people following the collapse of the South Pacific Cruise Lines (SPCL).
In a bitter attack against the ALP and the Queensland Opposition Leader, Peter Beattie, Kevin Beck said they "had damaged the livelihood of 300 unemployed people and belittled the tourism industry as a whole".
Beck, a long time member of the ALP at both branch and committee level, says he will resign from the party over the issue.
Under the SPCL venture 300 long term unemployed people recently graduated from a 10 week intensive hospitality course managed by William Angliss 2000.
They have received intensive training and preparation in this course which has been provided in conjunction with the Russo Institute and the Brisbane Institute of TAFE with DEETYA providing Au$2 million to manage the program.
"In accordance with our guarantee to the Commonwealth Government we have immediately despatched a team of William Angliss 2000 personnel to Brisbane to cater to the needs of these 300 students," he said.
"DEETYA and William Angliss 2000 had devised a back up plan in the event that the cruise ship did not materialise."
"We are working with and have the full support of DEETYA in our attempts to help these highly trained and motivated students realise their full potential - a potential which should have been utilised immediately but for the problems of the collapsed venture."
"The CES, through DEETYA State Manager, Paul Rowlands, has also been mobilised to help and their will be a special hot line set up for those who can offer assistance," said Kevin Beck.
He said that attempts would be made to place these newly graduated students in the hospitality, tourism and food industry throughout Queensland.
Kevin Beck said the Queensland Opposition Leader, Peter Beattie, had a lot to answer for because of recent statements made by his party members "under Parliamentary privilege which damaged the job prospects of 300 students who could not defend themselves".
He said he had made his feelings known at the highest level of the ALP's National Secretariat.
William Angliss 2000 provides a wide range of services primarily designed for the tourism, food, hospitality and their allied industries.
In the past 18 months the company has been instrumental in securing employment for over 3000 clients in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer is in a bit of a twitter at the moment after being questioned about a gift of expensive Cuban cigars worth about US$200 wholesale (in Cuba)... or about Au$890 retail in Australia.
Downer has responded by saying that because the gift's wholesale price was less than Au$500 it fell within the prime ministerial guidelines. However the ministerial guidelines for Ministers state that if the price of a gift is over Au$500 - with no mention of the wholesale price - that the gift should be registered.
The Cuban Foreign Minister, Roberto Gonzales, gave Downer the gift of 25 Cohiba Lanceros cigars worth Au$38 each in the USA - now the USA bans Cuban imports of all kinds because of a trade embargo. As ministers they get diplomatic immunity but for you or I we could have been charged, through this simple transaction, for smuggling.
The Australian Clerk of the Parliament has been asked to investigate the guidelines to clarify the matter.
Somehow seems minuscule compared to Downer's Au$1.35 billion currency flutter with our trade enemies Thailand.
Making the
news" -"Taking protectionist decisions in the interests of Australian industry is often not a costless exercise," he said, "If you take a decision, however justified, to keep something out, you can suffer retaliation that hurts you even more."
Howard had to overcome objections by Federal Treasurer Peter Costello, Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer and Primary Industries Minister John Anderson who warned against maintaining tariff protection in the textile, clothing and footwear industries.
"We are up there with the best - we have cut tariffs and we have reduced protection in ways that put other countries to shame," Howard said yesterday on Sydney radio station 2UE.
Opposition Leader Kim Beazley is under pressure to block Howard's 10 point Wik plan
Senior Labor frontbenchers are saying that Beazley should "draw a line in the sand" and fight the Coalition over the Wik amendments.
"We're going to have a blue over this. Make no mistake about this, we're going to take Howard on," one Opposition front bencher was reported as saying.
Have a good one.
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