Virgin Blue CEO Brett Godfrey announced his retirement (stepping down, calling quits) along with a forecast $165 million loss and heavily-discounted $231m capital raising. After ten years at the controls it’s understandable, but of course there is no connection between those events, and nobody was pushed . As always on these occasions, one has been thinking about it for some time and personal reasons for [...]
Archive for July, 2009
Brettless Virgin
Posted in Economy, Society, tagged Brett Godfrey, Chairman Chatfield, Geoff Dixon, Qantas, succession planning, Virgin Blue on July 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
More Afghanistan Truths
Posted in Politics, World, tagged Angus Houston, Hugh White, ISSD, John Faulkner, NATO Afghanistan, Obama, Robert Gates, Stanley McChrystal, Taliban on July 27, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Against a backdrop of more deaths of NATO soldiers and a vacuum of political debate about Australia’s war engagement in Afghanistan, pertinent public assessments were made last week. Prof Hugh White (Lowy Institute, ANU) says our government is not persuaded of a ’significant chance of success in Afghanistan’ and he believes pursuing war there will make little difference to global terrorism. Defence Force Chief Angus Houston and Defence Minister John Faulkner claim that [...]
Coal! Coal! Coal!
Posted in Economy, Environment, tagged BHP Billiton, Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, China Shenhua, coal exploration NSW, Liverpool Plains, longwall coal mining, Murray-Darling river system, NSW Government, NSW Mineral Resources Minister Macdonald, Pangea Resources, Peabody Resources, Planning Minister Keneally, Woronora Reservoir on July 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Just as Federal Parliament girds its loins to thrash out legislation for a carbon pollution reduction scheme, presumably to help reduce the burning of coal, the NSW government has gone on an orgy of coal mine royalties. Woronora Reservoir is the main source of drinking supplies in southern Sydney, and Planning Minister Keneally has over-ridden expert advice to approve [...]
Wake in Fright Alright!
Posted in Culture, tagged Blofeld, Cannes Film Festival 1971, Chips Rafferty, Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond, Jack Thompson, John Meillon, Wake in Fright on July 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
1971 movie ‘Wake in Fright’ (digital re-release) showing at the Chauvel in Sydney is a harrowing, surreal tale of outback life. A ‘bonded’ new school teacher serving in the country is drawn into a hopeless downward spiral of two-up losses, hard drinking, kangaroo shooting, culminating in a homosexual act and attempted suicide. A menacing aura of violent mateship and misogyny is awash with the conformist Aussie ethos of beer-drinking which defined [...]
Belfast ‘Orangefest’
Posted in Politics, Society, World, tagged Northern Ireland, Orange Order, Orangefest, Protestant Belfast on July 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Orange marching season in Northern Ireland has its climax on July 12. People leave the country to avoid riots that inevitably follow this provocative Protestant tradition. Parades organised by the Orange Order (est. 1795) of tens of thousands march in towns and Belfast’s nationalist (Catholic) areas. July 12 commemorates defeat of Catholic King James by nephew & son-in-law William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. On July 11 bonfires are lit in [...]
Oi,oi,oi,okay – Oui,non!
Posted in Society, World, tagged Expedia survey on July 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Online travel company Expedia surveyed 4500 hoteliers world-wide about the behaviour of nationalities amongst their clients. First ranked for politeness were the Japanese followed by Brits, Canadians, Germans and Australians. Aussies were considered loud, but didn’t whinge and were well-behaved. The latter may indicate an unrepresentative sample of our countrymen in the survey. Equally unlikely is the last place ranking of [...]
Four Miles from Midnight: Blue Sky Blues
Posted in Economy, Environment, Politics, tagged Blue Sky Mine, Four Mile uranium mine, General Atomics, Heathgate Resources, Malcolm Turnbull, Midnight Oil, Peter Garrett on July 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Reverse triple somersault with double pike, or volte-face as we say in diplomatic circles, was performed by so-called Environment Minister Peter Garrett in approving the new Four Mile uranium mine in SA. Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull was quick in pointing out a gaping hole in Garrett’s credibility from his anti-nuclear days, but then agreed with the decision, demonstrating again his unerring political [...]
Guantanamo to Norfolk
Posted in World, tagged Guantanamo Bay, Norfolk Island, Palau, Uighur on July 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Norfolk Island, pop. 2,000, is 1600 kms east of Sydney and closer to NZ – a Commonwealth territory controlling its affairs with minimal interference from Canberra. However that does not include conducting its own foreign policy. Reports that NI officials approached the US Consulate in Sydney in May with an offer to take Chinese Uighurs due for release from Guantanamo Bay, raise interesting possibilities for this former penal colony. [...]
Far Right – Binary Bound
Posted in Politics, tagged Australia First, Family First, One Nation on July 10, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Now we all vaguely understand that computer program language is based on lots of zeroes and ones somehow alternating at amazing speeds, so that we can do online banking, muck around with Facebook and other internet stuff. A convenient extension of our social and economic selves to be sure. However a new Australian political variant poses a [...]
