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Since October 1995

Friday 16th February 1996

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International:

Now that the deed is done, the sale is made, the role of accountants Ernst and Young in the sale of Dreamworld has come under the scrutiny of the Australian Securities Commission with new allegations that the firm improperly favoured the Singaporean buyer Kua Phek Long. We covered this story before the sale when the Australian prospective buyer Mr Palmer suggested that things weren't quite kosher. It now appears that Ernst and Young sought and got more of Mr Kua Phek Long's accounting business...

Political - Federal Election 2nd March 1996:

John Howard released the details of his source of funds with which he is going to pay for all his pre-election promises. They sound a damn site more viable than Keating's lunge at the Family Trusts of the rich and famous. The public service (groaning under the weight of bodies wandering around long halls holding bits of paper) will be cut by 2% a year through natural attrition saving heaps. Welfare cuts of Au$60 million a year. An "activity test" for the unemployed which will result in savings of Au$330 million a year.

Business:

An interest rate war on home loans is being sparked by non-banking home lenders. Aussie Home Loans undercut the banks and are now being followed into the fray by FAI Home Loans who have introduced a new variable rate of 8.8% about 1.7% under the major banks.

Sport:

Swimming star Samantha Riley will be advised of her punishment for being found positive in the drug tests last year after her coach has been dealt with by Australian swimming authorities. Her coach, Scott Volkers, gave Samantha Riley a headache tablet containing a prohibited drug a few days before the race in Brazil. FINA's president Mustapha Larfaoui appears to be softening his initial hard stance against Riley now that the full facts have been revealed.

Social:

The Honda Civic and Australia's family cars are the cheapest to repair after a series of low speed crash tests. The NRMA tested 27 top selling cars in staged accidents at 15km/hr. The cars were crashed into a barrier resulting in the following repair bills (only cheapest and most expensive shown):

DEAREST:

ModelRepairsNew Price% Repair
Nissan Micro SLX 5-door manualAu$7,447.06Au$19,70038%
Charade CS 5-door manualAu$6,795.24Au$19,61335%
Nissan Pulsar LX 5-door manualAu$7,317.67Au$24,75030%
Barina Swing 5-door manualAu$5,705.62Au$19,36029%
Mazda 121 SDX manualAu$5,594.93Au$20,00528%

CHEAPEST:

ModelRepairsNew Price% Repair
Honda Civic GLiAu$2,053.48Au$28,1857%
Falcon GLiAu$3,795.57Au$31,99812%
Holden Commodore exec autoAu$4,030.01Au$30,95013%
Toyota LexcenAu$4,032.36Au$30,89813%
Holden ApolloAu$3,906.26Au$30,83213%

Personal trivia:

Fab day yesterday, nice gentle rain cooler days - beaut way to enjoy the global office.

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