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Monday 15th July 1996

International:

The Austarlian Olympic Committee will fight to ban betting on Games events after death threats against star Australian swimmer Daniel Kowalski.

Kowalski was phoned by a man who said, "You win at Atlanta, you die."

Kowalski's coach Bill Nelson confirmed that death threats started after he beat world champion Kieren Perkins in the 1500 metre freestyle race earlier this year.

Nelson said he believed the threats were linked to betting splurges on races between the two super stars. A lot of money has been wagered on them at the Olympic Games.

I wouldn't want to be a sports star for quids!

Political:

Looks like all Australians are to go to a referendum to ensure that uniform gun laws are achieved. The move supported by the Labor opposition is now being considered by Prime Minister John Howard following the refusal by some states to ban automatic and semi-automatic guns completely.

The Democrats (surprise! surprise!) have also backed the move (even though they become totally irrelevant when the two major parties actually agree on something).

Mr Howard, speaking to a gun control rally without his bullet-proof vest, said that he would not be drawn into threatening states with a referendum. However he refused to rule out a referendum saying that his stance had the overwhelming support of most Australians.

A report from army ballistics experts found that a machine known as a "expanding mandrel" could reverse crimping without having to remove the magazine.

Business:

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia float was so heavily oversubscribed that buyers can expect to get about half their requested allotment at best. The shares, being bought in two stages - now for Au$6 and the balance of Au$4.13 in December 1997, are expected to begin trading today at over Au$6.10.

Organisers of the float said that they could have sold the 399 million shares to private investors twice over... based on the number of applications received.

The sale by the Commonwealth will raise Au$5.2 billion.

Sport:

Brad Jones is way ahead of the rest of the field in the BOC Australian Super Touring Car series. Yesterday his Orix Audi A4 quattro took out both races at Sydney's Amaroo Park. The Audi's have swept all competition aside this year after a similar trouncing on the field by the BMWs last year.

Global Gripe of the day:

The law is only as smart as the con man is dumb, and Alan Bond is not dumb.

Last night, on Sixty Minutes, one of his henchmen described how he bought into the creditors meetings by paying Au$400 for a Au$400,000 debt from a Bond creditor and then caused chaos in the bankruptcy meetings held by the creditors. He went out of his way to sow seeds of discord and within months the whole process had become a farce.

The outcome was that Bond got away with paying a few million dollars for a billion dollar debt - or about one-tenth of a cent in the dollar!

Now it has been revealed that Australian and British authorities have uncovered millions of dollars of art and property belonging to, yes you guessed it, Alan Bond.

The Sunday Times in London has summed up Bondy pretty well by saying: "Bond himself has been less forthcoming about the wherabouts of many of his assets belonging to his former business. He denies hiding assets from creditors and has claimed that a loss of memory brought on by illness and a consequent fall in his IQ from 150 to 90 made it difficult for him to answer questions."

If you ask me the lower figure is not the only exageration here.

The man simply conned business people and mums and dads out of billions of dollars, he deserves the scorn that he gets, and those who support his devious ways are no better.

Personal trivia, from the global office:

Another wild and windy day ahead of us. Once again it was very cold with temperatures in the low one to two degrees celcius overnight. We rarely, if ever get cold enough for frost here - but the wind bites right through your clothing.


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