Wednesday 13th November 1996
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The dissident troops, the Vanuatu Mobile Force (or VMF), were upset about unpaid allowances... the Justice Minister Walter Lini, hearing about the planned action, ordered their arrest.
The VMF which is trained by Australian and New Zealand under defence agreements have about Au$1 million in unpaid allowances. Last week they abducted, interrogated and allegedly assaulted an Australian aid advisor, David Schupp, 57, who is a member of a commission of inquiry evaluating the troops' claims.
The incident led to a protest by the Australian High Commissioner in Port Vila, a formal apology by the Vanuatu government and a request by Vanuatu for possible outside military assistance.
The last serious bastion of newspaper independence in Australia, Fairfax Limited, is under a major assault by the Australian media barons Packer and Murdoch with submissions by News Limited and Packer's group arguing that they should be able to take over the company.
The submissions argue that Conrad Black should, as a foreigner, be prevented from acquiring more than 25% of Fairfax and that they **really don't have an overriding influence in the Australian media**.
What hog wash!
Seems like they are serious though and Fairfax is a major hurdle to complete editorial autocracy over a "free-thinking nation" like Australia.
Group chairman, Bruce Whiteside, said that Australians had had their fill of Mr Keating's visions of Australia.
"Butt out of the current arguement on Pauline Hanson," Whiteside said of Paul Keating yesterday. Mr Whiteside is the former leader of the group Heart of a Nation, which opposed Japanese investment on the Gold Coast.
Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett said Mr Keating's entry into the race debate was intellectually bankrupt and too late to be effective. He said Keating had tried to score a political point against the Howard Government when his "political use-by date was clearly past".
re Pauline Hanson: I think many of her views are exactly what the majority of Australians are thinking. The sooner our politicians recognise this, the better.
S King
Managing director Bob Joss said that it would be hard for the bank to maintain its current margin on interest rates of 3.7% arguing that its costs of Au$1.8 billion on a Au$50 billion bank measured 3.5%.
So where the heck did the Au$1 billion profit come from? Someone got a printing machine in the backroom?
News Limited's quarterly profit was down at Au$283 million (8.1% less than last year). Analysts began reviewing their earning forecasts although many remained confident that the company would still achieve a 20% annual profit growth.
In fact without the Au$100 million box office hit, Independence Day, the group's bottom line would have looked appalling.
"I've had plenty of fights here with all the people over the years, but knowing the board tried to change my mind made me feel very good.
"I think everyone realises the damage that has been done (by Super League) is enormous, and to build it back to its greatness the game needs to be united. If I'm a trigger for that, I think it would be terrific," Quayle said.
Have a good one.
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