Today's Headlines

an Aussie's viewpoint on Australia's first daily Internet newspaper.

Thursday 5th December 1996

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International:

Bond concoted an elaborate scheme to sell Bond Corp's brewing assets to Bell Resources, using Au$1.2 billion "borrowed" from Bell as a deposit.

The deal was never approved Bond Corp collapsed and Bond resigned as Chairman in September 1990 as corporate investigators started stripping the doomed company to bits.

Bond pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to act honestly in his duties as a director with intent to defraud.

He faces, at 58, a maximum 5 year jail term and a Au$20,000 fine on each charge. This is Australia's largest ever corporate fraud which has taken just under 10 years to be dealt with.

News Limited's Courier Mail has been granted a re-hearing after the Press Council upheld a complaint by 15 prominent Australians about the allegations made against former historian Manning Clark.

The Courier Mail had alleged (in a front cover article on a Saturday - it's best circulation day) that the dead man had received an Order of Lenin from the Soviet Government and questioned whether he had benn an "agent of influence".... for the Communist (Soviet) cause.

The Press Council said,
"The newspaper had too little evidence to assert that Professor Clark was awarded the Order of Lenin - rather there is much evidence to the contrary.

"That being so, the Press Council finds that the Courier Mail was not justified in publishing its key assertion and the conclusions which so strongly flowed from it.

While The Courier Mail devoted much space to people challenging its assertions, the Press Council believes it should retract the allegations about which Professor Clark's supporters complained."

Seems quite simple to me - why then the request for a re-trial?

Political:

Key measures approved last night include:

• Increased charges under the HECS meaning all students will pay a minimum of Au$3,300 a year for their degree and up to Au$5,500 a year for courses like medicine and law.
• The income threshold at which students will be required to repay their debt will be lowered from Au$28,000 to Au$20,700 a year.
• Universities will be able to sell spots to full-fee-paying students.

Tonight the massive Au$8 billion Telstra sell-off bill goes under the hammer with no certainty that the Independent Senators will support its passage.

Business:

Former Reserve Bank governor Bernie Fraser supported the call for a 0.5% cut sparking a 3 cent drop in the Australian dollar within hours.

The Australian dollar recovered to close at about 80 cents US after dropping to 78.5 cents from an earlier weekly high of over 82 cents.

Fraser has been asked to keep his mouth shut in future - as he is no longer with the Reserve Bank and is now just an Australian citizen but one who is still held in high regard by financial sectors around the world.

Personal trivia, from the global office:

Cooler day ahead with pleasant breezes and the song of birds in the air.

Have a great day!

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