Wednesday, 31 December 2003

Exhausted classics run again, The Australian, 31 December, 2003

Exhausted classics run again: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Michelle Giglio, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 31 Dec 2003: 23.
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Professor [Tony Hassall] said many university lecturers here and overseas who taught Australian fiction faced the ongoing problem of not being able to get older texts.
When he heard about Classic Australian Works, he put [Jessica Anderson] straight back on the course list for his Australian literature students.
Synopsis: The Americans have engineered a coup in Khamla, north of Thailand. Prince Soumidath has been deposed. Civil war rages. Against this bedlam are parallel stories narrated by Gilly Herbert, the Australian wife of English academic David. Gilly's experiences and the story of Peter Casement, Gilly's lover, merge in a vivid evocation of the horrors of war.
IT'S a source of frustration for every English lecturer in Australia -- not being able to offer courses on classic Australian novels that are out of print.
In the past, students had to trawl through second-hand bookstores and the internet in their quest to find works by some of Australia's finest 19th and 20th-century authors.
Now there is another way.
Students can order copies of old books through a print-on-demand service at Sydney University Press called Classic Australian Works.
The Copyright Agency pilot project gives access to 25 out-of- print books by distinguished writers such as Martin Boyd, Xavier Herbert, Jessica Anderson and Kylie Tennant.
The works were selected after a survey by the Australian Literature Gateway, which asked academics to nominate which significant works of Australian literature needed to be more widely available.
Users simply log on to a website and select their requested texts.
Within a few days the book is delivered, no longer a forgotten novel but born again.
Books are priced from $20 to $40 and printed as a high-quality paperback.
In 1985, Margaret Jones published The Smiling Buddha about an American-engineered coup in Asia. It has been out of print since.
Jones said she was intrigued by the technology.
"I thought the book was dead as far as literature was concerned, but it has been revived, it has been resurrected," she said.
Copyright Agency chief executive Michael Fraser said he hoped the project would stimulate greater interest in the study of Australianliterature in universities.
"The project brings back some important works by writers
so they can speak to current and future generations," Mr Fraser said. "This is vital for a bet-
ter understanding of our cultural heritage."
James Cook University professor of English Tony Hassall said he was delighted he could once again teach books that had fallen off course lists because they were out of print.
Professor Hassall said many university lecturers here and overseas who taught Australian fiction faced the ongoing problem of not being able to get older texts.
Anderson's The Commandant, which had been out of circulation for 15 years, was a favourite with students, but Professor Hassall had not been able to teach it for 10 years.
When he heard about Classic Australian Works, he put Anderson straight back on the course list for his Australian literature students.
"It means that anyone who wants to get a feel for the culture of the time is not forced to use one of four or five university libraries to get [classic books]," he said.
Classic Australian Works may increase the number of novels on offer if the pilot is successful.
Born-again literature
The Smiling Buddha
Author: Margaret Jones
Synopsis: The Americans have engineered a coup in Khamla, north of Thailand. Prince Soumidath has been deposed. Civil war rages. Against this bedlam are parallel stories narrated by Gilly Herbert, the Australian wife of English academic David. Gilly's experiences and the story of Peter Casement, Gilly's lover, merge in a vivid evocation of the horrors of war.
For the full list of works available: www.sup.usyd.edu.au/caw
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Friday, 26 December 2003

Airline relaxed on flight scare, The Australian, 26 December, 2003

Airline relaxed on flight scare: [1 All-round Country Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 26 Dec 2003: 3.
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TENSIONS between air traffic controllers and the federal Government have deepened following allegations a Virgin Blue flight with 120 passengers on board came within 70m of colliding with a light aircraft near Launceston.
It is claimed that at about 1.30pm on Wednesday the Boeing 737 on descent to Launceston was forced to climb more than 300m to avoid a four-seater single-engine Tobago flying from Hobart after a proximity alert sounded in the cockpit.
Virgin Blue, Airservices Australia and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau are investigating the incident, but an airline spokeswoman, Amanda Bolger, said flight DJ 964 from Sydney landed "as per normal".
TENSIONS between air traffic controllers and the federal Government have deepened following allegations a Virgin Blue flight with 120 passengers on board came within 70m of colliding with a light aircraft near Launceston.
It is claimed that at about 1.30pm on Wednesday the Boeing 737 on descent to Launceston was forced to climb more than 300m to avoid a four-seater single-engine Tobago flying from Hobart after a proximity alert sounded in the cockpit.
Virgin Blue, Airservices Australia and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau are investigating the incident, but an airline spokeswoman, Amanda Bolger, said flight DJ 964 from Sydney landed "as per normal".
"We firmly believe that Australia has some of the safest skies in the world and we are confident our pilots reacted professionally as per our standard operating procedures," she said.
It follows an almost identical incident near Melbourne earlier this month and comes in the middle of open conflict between the Australian Air Traffic Control Association and Transport Minister John Anderson over a new air traffic control plan known as the National Airspace System.
The union claims a spate of incidents, including Wednesday's, can be linked to new rules that allow private aircraft to operate in commercial air traffic space.
It warned yesterday that Australia could expect more close calls between commercial and light aircraft, saying the new rules were "a joke".
The association issued a statement last Friday expressing concern over air safety in Tasmania, saying there was a great deal of confusion over the new rules.
"As we have been warning for months, Australia's skies are becoming a hit-or-miss affair," association president Ted Lang said.
"Commercial aircraft are taking evasive action. Collision alarms are sounding. Passengers are seeing other aircraft close by."
The union has urged airline passengers to fly only at night, when amateur and private pilots cannot operate.
A spokesman for Mr Anderson said the union's campaign was political "because they believe it will be of benefit to the Labor Party".
He said the union had claimed near misses between aircraft four times in the past month, at Canberra, Tamworth, Melbourne and now Launceston, "and with all previous incidents they have been proven 100 per cent wrong in everything they have said".
"The new system has been run very well so far," the spokesman said. "It is working as it's meant to work."
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Monday, 22 December 2003

Fathers in Waiting: History in the Making, With Michael Green, Dads On The Air, 22 December, 2003.




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Saturday, 20 December 2003

Cut-price Santa comes early for shoppers, Weekend Australian, 20 December, 2003. Additional reporting. Page One.

Cut-price Santa comes early for shoppers: [2 All-round First Edition 1]

Jimenez, Katherine. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 20 Dec 2003: 1.
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Fellow shopper Carol Maxine rarely used to do her Christmas shopping in department stores. This year, the 30-year-old from Parramatta has bought the bulk of it at upmarket department store David Jones and Grace Bros, part of the mid-market Myer Grace chain owned by Coles Myer, Australia's biggest retailer.
Ms Maxine readily admits she has been lured into the big department stores by the early Christmas sales and the bigger and better range of "clothing shoes, homeware and electrical". Since the Boxing Day stocktake sales began in the 1960s, a generation ofAustralians has grown accustomed to reserving a wad of their consumer spending for the week or more of retail bargains that were available after Christmas.
Led by Myer Grace, the department stores are determined to shed their dinosaur image and grab a bigger share. A survey this month by veteran retail analyst Barry Urquhart found women were using Myer, Grace Bros and David Jones department stores as thepreferred destination to do their shopping.

LIKE many Australians, Carley Edmonds and Tom Mutch look forward each year to the traditional post-Christmas sales. This year they are spending up bigger before Christmas, taking advantage of bargains produced by a new retail battle between the nation's biggest department stores.
The couple spent much of yesterday -- only six sleeps before Christmas -- visiting "every store" in Sydney's Pitt Street Mall. They are "definitely" spending more money than last year.
"We've been going for the sale items to save money and get better bargains, so we're able to buy more things for the one person," Mr Mutch said.
Fellow shopper Carol Maxine rarely used to do her Christmas shopping in department stores. This year, the 30-year-old from Parramatta has bought the bulk of it at upmarket department store David Jones and Grace Bros, part of the mid-market Myer Grace chain owned by Coles Myer, Australia's biggest retailer.
Ms Maxine readily admits she has been lured into the big department stores by the early Christmas sales and the bigger and better range of "clothing shoes, homeware and electrical". Since the Boxing Day stocktake sales began in the 1960s, a generation ofAustralians has grown accustomed to reserving a wad of their consumer spending for the week or more of retail bargains that were available after Christmas.
But the new trend of Us-style deep Christmas discounting has been sparked by an aggressive promotional sales campaign by Myer Grace Bros, and matched by David Jones.
Up for grabs this year is $27 billion in Christmas spending, according to the Australian Retailers Association.
That is nearly $1.5 billion more than last year's spend in the six weeks to Christmas and some $8.5 billion over 2001.
And, led by Myer Grace, the department stores are determined to shed their dinosaur image and grab a bigger share. A survey this month by veteran retail analyst Barry Urquhart found women were using Myer, Grace Bros and David Jones department stores as thepreferred destination to do their shopping.
"That's probably the most significant change you have seen in shopping behaviour in more then a decade," says Mr Urquhart.
It's a sign that after years of losing ground to brighter, bigger, and more aggressively
Continued -- Page 4
From Page 1
marketed "category killer" super stores for everything from clothing to sporting goods and furniture, the big department stores are back in business.
"There is no doubt that retailers are becoming more aggressive pre-Christmas," says David Clark, chief operating officer at Harris Scarfe , which this week began its "Where Christmas costs less" sale with discounts of up to 50 per cent across 24 stores in Victoria, NSW and South Australia.
Perhaps the most telling sign of how some fashion chains have had to react to the might and power of the department store chains is at Country Road.
On Friday last week, the Australian icon brand kicked off a 20 per cent to 25 per cent discount across most of its mens and womens clothing range as well as homeware. The sale was in reaction to promotions running at David Jones, which carries a large range of Country Road merchandise.
This week, David Jones tightened the screws and introduced a 40 per cent clearance sale.
Australian designer label Marcs last week began offering 25 per cent discounts to lure its target market of "18-35 years old stylish urban men and women". And upmarket Italian designer label Prada brought forward its sales campaign with 30 per cent off belts, handbags, shoes and some mens and womens clothing.
Not that all retailers like it.
Gerry Harvey, the billionaire who sits atop furniture and electrical store group Harvey Norman said department stores offering pre-Christmas sales had "half developed brains".
"When you start having your promotions before Christmas, you then tend to take the shine off after Christmas."
Brett Blundy, who heads Brazin, owner of Sanity Music and Bras' N Things, is resisting discounts and says any early sale is a sure sign of bad buying earlier in the year.
"I can only assume they have cocked up a few things," he says.
But, for many retailers, the alternative to pre-Christmas discounting is silence at the tills. Shops assistants at a deserted looking Stewarts Gentlemen Outfitters in Sydney, where a shirt can sell for $200 or more, say a lot of people are waiting for the post- Christmas sales. Maybe the shopers are at Myers or Grace Bros.
Under the hand of Myer Grace boss Dawn Robertson the business has been reinvigorated, with new store fitouts, better merchandise and customer service at its national network of 66 department stores. But to draw in the customers and keep slow stock moving, she is running promotional discount campaigns, and lots of them.
For the 36 David Jones stores, it means the end to the easy domination of the department store market. DJs introduced another Christmas offer on Thursday -- its fifth since it kicked off its campaign on November 26.
Myer Grace has run four in the past three weeks but insists that its pre-Christmas strategy had been planned at the start of the year. By September, Christmas shows, catalogues, marketing and merchandise had been finalised with dummy store set ups and trial runs and store managers were gathered to the chain's Melbourne head office to fine tune the execution.
ARA national president Mr Stan Moore believes this year's pre- Christmas sale activity by Myer Grace reflects "a level of American influence".
Ms Robertson was an executive at the US Federated Department Stores Group, which owns Macys and Bloomingdale's.
"You see the strategy in America ... where discounting appears just before Christmas," Mr Moore says. "The view of the retailers in America is to move volume at deep discount ... it's about gaining additional sales at the expense of your competitor."
The winners in this are the customers.
Yvonne Fraser was taking advantage of the Adelaide sales to stock up on birthday presents for her husband and overseas relatives next year, while sheep and cattle farmers Sheila O'Brien and Dave Halloran made the two-hour trip from Kangaroo Island to spend over $500 on Christmas gifts.
Ms O'Brien said the sales meant she could buy gifts now rather than hold off for the stocktake sales: "You always feel more committed to buying stuff before Christmas," she says.
Additional reporting by Rebecca DiGirolamo, John Stapleton and David King
More reports -- Page 4
Editorial -- Page 16
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Wednesday, 17 December 2003

The man who knows where the bodies are, The Australian, 17 December, 2003.

The man who knows where the bodies are: [T WA First Edition]

Steven Scott, Alison Rawle, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 17 Dec 2003: 4.
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The most infamous of these involved Charles Abbott, a non- executive director of HIH and long-time colleague of the insurer's final chief executive, Randolph Wein. Abbott's last cheque was cleared the evening before HIH folded, when Howard sent a junior accounts clerk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge by train, after the banks had closed, to have it processed.
The HIH royal commission heard that Howard approved more than $16 million in payments for Cooper and his businesses in the six months leading up to theinsurer's $5.3billion collapse. Howard denied at the commission that a new top-of-the-range $118,000 fern-green BMW convertible, of which he took delivery after Cooper introduced him to contacts in the motor trade, was in fact a bribe for channelling millions of HIH dollars to Cooper. Howard said he had decided to buy the car because he was having a "mid-life crisis".
Former HIH director and FAI chief executive Rodney Adler faces five criminal charges for buying 3 million HIH shares using HIH money. He challenged thecharges this week. The judge reserved his decision until next year. Adler has already been fined $900,000, banned from boardrooms for 20 years and ordered to pay $9 million in compensation for breaching his duties as a director.
BILL Howard was the former finance manager for HIH Insurance and, as the paymaster for the disgraced company, knew where all the bodies were buried.
If he didn't always know what deals were done -- and many bizarre deals were done in HIH's frantic dying days -- he at least knew where the money was going, and he went out of his way in some cases to make sure the arrangements were honoured.
The most infamous of these involved Charles Abbott, a non- executive director of HIH and long-time colleague of the insurer's final chief executive, Randolph Wein. Abbott's last cheque was cleared the evening before HIH folded, when Howard sent a junior accounts clerk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge by train, after the banks had closed, to have it processed.
Howard's lawyers claimed to the HIH royal commission that he was only following orders in handing out millions of dollars in payments during HIH's final days, and was "shocked" when the liquidators came knocking.
The relationship between Howard and Cooper has always been interesting.
They first met in late 2000. Cooper was then majority shareholder in the FAI subsidiary Homeland Security International. When HIH acquired FAI, they also acquired Cooper.
Cooper was known for his obsessive persistence. He threatened to sleep in the HIH foyer unless outgoing chief executive Ray Williams agreed to see him. Williams referred him to Howard.
Cooper recalled at the royal commission their first meeting: "He looked at me like the rest of the people at HIH did, like I was a dope. Just sat there and looked and said, `Well, what's all this? Another lump of FAI crap'."
The HIH royal commission heard that Howard approved more than $16 million in payments for Cooper and his businesses in the six months leading up to theinsurer's $5.3billion collapse. Howard denied at the commission that a new top-of-the-range $118,000 fern-green BMW convertible, of which he took delivery after Cooper introduced him to contacts in the motor trade, was in fact a bribe for channelling millions of HIH dollars to Cooper. Howard said he had decided to buy the car because he was having a "mid-life crisis".
He was handed the keys to the car by an assistant of Cooper's a fortnight before the HIH collapse, without paying anything or signing any documentation. Asked if he ever wondered why he was driving around in a car he hadn't paid for, he replied: "I thought it was certainly impressive."
It was at this time that Cooper bombarded Howard with calls, sometimes more than 10 a day, demanding the settlement of old share deals.
Howard was also involved, with Cooper in the aborted sale of a parcel of HIH properties to Kerry Packer. The deal fell through when it became clear some of those properties were encumbered, but Cooper claimed an introduction fee.
On Howard's instructions, Mr Cooper and his partner Ben Tilley were wired a $1.9million success fee for setting up the property sale by HIH to the Packer family interests which never took place.
Another payment over which the two argued involved $275,000 in relocation expenses from an office on which Cooper never paid rent.
Former HIH financial services general manager Bill Howard has pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal misconduct, for receiving $124,000 to facilitate $4.9 million in payments to Cooper plus debt forgiveness of $1.79 million. In light of Howard's 'ongoing co- operation', ASIC chairman David Knott, right, agrees with the commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions' submission that he receive a non-custodial sentence.
Entrepreneur Bradley Cooper faces six counts of corruptly giving cash benefit to Howard and four counts of publishing a false or misleading statement with theintent of obtaining a financial advantage. He faces jail if convicted.
In the line of fire:
HIH founder and former chief executive officer Ray Williams has been banned from boardrooms for 10 years after breaching his duties as a director and fined $250,000. The royal commission recommended possible charges for providing false or misleading information. But he has not been charged.
Former HIH chief financial officer Dominic Fodera has not been charged.
The royal commission recommended possible charges, including for signing accounts knowing that reinsurance contracts were not genuine. He has been fined $5000 for breaching his duties as a director.
Former HIH director and FAI chief executive Rodney Adler faces five criminal charges for buying 3 million HIH shares using HIH money. He challenged thecharges this week. The judge reserved his decision until next year. Adler has already been fined $900,000, banned from boardrooms for 20 years and ordered to pay $9 million in compensation for breaching his duties as a director.
Former FAI chief operating officer Daniel Wilkie, left, and former finance director Timothy Mainprize were the first executives charged since the HIH royal commission. They face a committal hearing next year charged with providing false information and failing to act honestly as officers of the insurer. They face jail if convicted.
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