Tuesday, 18 December 2001

NAB raises account charges, The Australian, 18 December, 2001.

NAB raises account charges: [2 Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 18 Dec 2001: 6.
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The personal transaction fee threshold, the amount of combined loan and deposit balances below which the fees apply, will increase from $20,000 to $35,000.
The dishonour fee, if a personal cheque bounces, has been increased from $45 to $50. The fee for periodical payments, such as for rent or other obligations, rises from $3 to $5.30.
THE National Australia Bank has raised its fees on a wide range of personal accounts and services.
The increases will be phased in early next year.
Notification of the increases will be made in advertisements in main daily newspapers today.
The bank's profits for the year ending September 2001 were down 36 per cent to $2.083 billion.
Half of those using personal transaction accounts, about one million people, will see their monthly fees rise by $2 to $6.
The personal transaction fee threshold, the amount of combined loan and deposit balances below which the fees apply, will increase from $20,000 to $35,000.
Monthly loan service fees also rise to $10 from $8 for fixed and variable rate unsecured personal loans.
Home loan service fees also move up $2 to $8 each month.
Australian Financial Services chief executive Mike Pratt encouraged customers to speak to National staff about how to minimise fees.
The dishonour fee, if a personal cheque bounces, has been increased from $45 to $50. The fee for periodical payments, such as for rent or other obligations, rises from $3 to $5.30.
Customers under 18 years old can make fee-free transactions. The maximum transaction fee for disabled customers has been reduced.
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Monday, 17 December 2001

If You're A Separated Father: The Government Doesn't Know or Apparently Care Whether You Are Dead Or Alive, Dads On The Air, 17 December, 2001.



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Wednesday, 12 December 2001

'Tis the season to be wary, The Australian, 12 December, 2001.

'Tis the season to be wary: [1 Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 12 Dec 2001: 5.
The stings are painful but a few are not usually life threatening. The real danger is if a mature nest is disturbed, which can lead to hundreds of stings.

Full Text

JUST when you thought it was safe to relax into summer, watch out. It's the time of year when a lethal invader, the European wasp, becomes active.
The CSIRO issued a warning yesterday for all householders to be on the lookout.
If the wasps' nests, usually found in the ground or in walls, are disturbed, the wasps become extremely aggressive.
Allergic reactions or a sting inside the throat can be fatal.
First seen in Tasmania in the late 1950s, the wasp has now spread to all main population centres in southeastern Australia.
The stings are painful but a few are not usually life threatening. The real danger is if a mature nest is disturbed, which can lead to hundreds of stings.
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Monday, 10 December 2001

No power to save local news, ABA boss admits, The Australian, 10 December, 2001.

No power to save local news, ABA boss admits: [1 Edition]

Amanda Meade * Media writer, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 10 Dec 2001: 5.
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The ABA's decision followed the sudden ending of local TV news bulletins in Canberra, Cairns, Townsville, Darwin and Alice Springs by Southern Cross Broadcasting, taking services from a million viewers.
Yesterday Professor [David Flint] said the ABA launched its inquiry after receiving advice that it could have the power to force broadcasters to provide local news content.
Professor Flint said one of the ABA's powers was "crystal clear": if the authority identified a problem and the solution was beyond its powers, it had the right to approach the Government and recommend legislative changes.
AUSTRALIAN Broadcasting Authority chairman David Flint said he had no power to force regional broadcasters to provide local news -- three months before calling an inquiry into the axing of local bulletins.
But having later received contradictory advice, Professor Flint announced last month the ABA would investigate the adequacy of local TV news and information programs in regional and rural Australia.
The ABA's decision followed the sudden ending of local TV news bulletins in Canberra, Cairns, Townsville, Darwin and Alice Springs by Southern Cross Broadcasting, taking services from a million viewers.
Local TV news bulletins were also cut by Prime Television earlier this year in Canberra, Newcastle and Wollongong, with the loss of 37 jobs.
"The Broadcasting Services Act charges the ABA with the responsibility for monitoring the broadcasting industry," Professor Flint said, announcing theinquiry last month.
"In a democratic society, all citizens are entitled to be informed adequately on matters of public interest. The ABA is concerned that these developments may amount to a significant decrease in the availability of these services to viewers in regional and rural areas."
However, a letter he wrote in August to the Communications Law Centre says the ABA has no power to impose a condition on a licensee to screen local bulletins, although he now says he later received different advice.
"The ABA has limited power to address the provision of local news content under the relevant provisions of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992," he wrote.
Yesterday Professor Flint said the ABA launched its inquiry after receiving advice that it could have the power to force broadcasters to provide local news content.
"The act is not clear on this," he said. "It is not unusual to have contradictory advice. The law is not an exact science."
But Professor Flint said one of the ABA's powers was "crystal clear": if the authority identified a problem and the solution was beyond its powers, it had theright to approach the Government and recommend legislative changes.
"The point of this investigation, apart from finding out whether there is a problem, and that requires listening to both the public and broadcasters, is also to find out what our powers are.
"If there is a problem and if we don't have the requisite powers or they are highly doubtful, then we would want to make a recommendation to the Government for a change in the law.
"We would want to be satisifed that local news and information is being broadcast and that local communities are being served."
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Is a class action by fathers possible, with Mark Whittaker and David Grey, Dads On The Air, 10 December, 2001.



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Friday, 7 December 2001

Eight charged after $20m international ecstasy sting, The Australian, 7 December, 2001.

Eight charged after $20m international ecstasy sting: [1 Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 07 Dec 2001: 4.
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The ecstasy had been concealed inside a consignment that entered Brisbane port via Singapore from Belgium. The tablets were hidden inside PVC piping contained in the frames of a large commercial freezer.
Minister for Justice and Customs Chris Ellison said the latest seizure of 124kg of was the third-largest seizure of ecstasy in Australia. The second-largest seizure, of 150kg, was only two months ago, and the largest, of 412kg, in July.
MORE than 400,000 esctasy tablets, with a street value of $20 million, have been seized by the National Crime Authority.
The bust, in which seven men and a woman were arrested, is the third-biggest haul of amphetamine-related drugs to be seized by Australian authorities.
It is the latest in a string of significant drug busts this year involving ecstasy or amphetamine -- reflecting in part Australian's enormous appetite for so-called "party drugs" and the declining fashionability of heroin.
The seizure was the culmination of a two-year investigation called Operation Djura, which falls under the NCA's investigation into South-East Asian crime syndicates.
The ecstasy had been concealed inside a consignment that entered Brisbane port via Singapore from Belgium. The tablets were hidden inside PVC piping contained in the frames of a large commercial freezer.
The container was unloaded in Brisbane and the tubing transported by road to western Sydney.
Minister for Justice and Customs Chris Ellison said the latest seizure of 124kg of was the third-largest seizure of ecstasy in Australia. The second-largest seizure, of 150kg, was only two months ago, and the largest, of 412kg, in July.
He said all eight people arrested had been charged with serious drug importation offences. They all appeared in Sydney Central Court and Brisbane Magistrates Court yesterday morning, and were all refused bail.
In a separate operation in NSW yesterday, more than $2million worth of drugs was seized by crime agencies and police in a dawn sweep of several Sydney suburbs. Four men and two women have been charged with a range of offences, including supplying commercial quantities of amphetamines.
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Wednesday, 5 December 2001

Traveland name stays but 550 staff go, The Australian, 5 December, 2001.

Traveland name stays but 550 staff go: [1 Edition]

David Nason, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 05 Dec 2001: 4.
ADMINISTRATORS of the former Ansett-owned package holiday firm Traveland yesterday sacked its 550 staff but saved the brand name after finalising a deal in which two former directors bought the company's franchise network for $2 million.
The deal, last night described as "a bit of a worry" by Australian Services Union secretary Luke Foley, means that about 250 franchisee outlets around Australia will continue to trade under the Traveland name.
Mr [Geoff McDonald] said Financial Options had offered the best price for the Traveland franchise network and its offer was unconditional.

Full Text

ADMINISTRATORS of the former Ansett-owned package holiday firm Traveland yesterday sacked its 550 staff but saved the brand name after finalising a deal in which two former directors bought the company's franchise network for $2 million.
The deal, last night described as "a bit of a worry" by Australian Services Union secretary Luke Foley, means that about 250 franchisee outlets around Australia will continue to trade under the Traveland name.
But for Traveland's 96 company-owned stores, yesterday was the end of the road. Staff were advised by email at 11am that the doors would close at noon.
Mr Foley said the closures marked a "sad day for the Australian tourism industry".
He said the main priority now was to ensure the $10million owing in worker entitlements was paid out in full.
But Hall Chadwick administrator Geoff McDonald warned workers could struggle to get more than 50c in the dollar.
He said government funds would be required to make up the shortfall.
Mr McDonald said a committee of creditors had agreed to sell the franchise network to Financial Options Group Incorporated, a company controlled by Internova Travel Ltd directors Robert Walker and Robert Johnstone.
Mr Walker, a former executive director of Macquarie Bank, and Mr Johnstone are principals of the Australia Fund, a company which specialises in socially responsible investments.
They became involved in Internova after it had purchased Traveland in September from Ansett administrators Andersen.
"The first group of shareholders did not have enough capital ... the second group, the Walker-Johnstone group, sought to bail out the first and take control," Mr McDonald said. "They did take control but were stuck with earlier decisions made by the (original) purchasers."
Mr McDonald said Financial Options had offered the best price for the Traveland franchise network and its offer was unconditional.
"Fundamentally, it gives the best opportunity for the franchise network to move forward," Mr McDonald said.
But Mr Foley said there was concern the administrator had recommended a sale to the same people that had appointed them in the first place.
"It was an issue in the creditor's committee -- there were some questions about it," Mr Foley said.
"But Hall Chadwick ran the usual stuff that they are totally independent and didn't have links with anybody."
Many of Traveland's head office staff spent yesterday afternoon drowning their sorrows at the Toxteth Hotel at Glebe in Sydney's inner-west.
"It is a very sad day, we are all very affected," said Colleen Cummins, who worked in the accounts section.
"We loved our jobs, especially us old ducks. There were a lot of long-termers, they were fantastic to work for, lovely. Traveland was like a family.
"Now we are gone. We will wake up tomorrow and try and get dressed to go to work, and we won't have anything to go to."
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Monday, 3 December 2001

The Propaganda War Against Fathers, with Steve Graham, Dads On The Air, 3 December, 2001.




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Tuesday, 27 November 2001

No loyalty to phones, The Australian, 27 November, 2001.

No loyalty to phones: [1 Edition]

Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 27 Nov 2001: 5.
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ACA deputy chairman Bob Horton said queues for switching over had reduced substantially. "And the remaining queues are continuing to decrease," he said.
MORE than 90,000 people have changed their mobile phone service provider since number portability was introduced in September.
After technical glitches and rows between providers, many more people opted to switch when the Australian Communications Authority threatened to impose penalties if telcos did not co-operate.
ACA deputy chairman Bob Horton said queues for switching over had reduced substantially. "And the remaining queues are continuing to decrease," he said.
Dr Horton said customers who had suffered slow switches had still been able to make and receive calls on their existing service.
Charles Britton, communications policy officer with the Australian Consumer Association, said while 90,000 was only a small proportion of the 7million mobiles in Australia, it was good to see portability "starting to bite".
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