Crikey.com.au
22 October 2003
Fancy that. A Current Affair with a story, Ansett, that actually has a bit of punch and relevance (but don’t take that as an endorsement of the saccharine Ray Martin).
Readers will be aware that this writer has previously commented on the Ansett issue in the columns of Crikey. It is nice to see that at least one other media outlet has not forgotten the issue.
As a number of Ansett jets sit quietly rusting in Melbourne (you’d have to think they would be better off stored in Alice Springs or similar), the usual suspects continue to do very little. Or nothing at all.
Rather than rewrite what has already been noted, items by this writer are appended below. However, ACA, and all credit to them, have reminded people that, as badly operated as Ansett was (although no doubt we all fondly remember the levels of service that Ansett were renowned for), and while it had to fail, a large number of employees had legitimate superannuation funds which have been imperiled. A number of employees were on contracts which bound Ansett to certain payments, again imperiled. A number of other employees are owed monies, legally theirs, again imperiled.
You may well question the wisdom of Ansett’s contracting philosophy and its employment conditions but, for whatever reason, they prevailed and they were/are a legally binding obligation upon Ansett (and its administrators).
Now, over two years later, many of those monies are still owing. The impact on lives is still being felt and there has been precious little reform to the legal situation governing the real-world experience of employees, with monies in trust or obligated to them in terms of their ability to recover such, when a company goes bust.
ACA reminded us all of a few players.
Hear much from Sharan Burrows of Greg Combet on the issue? No. And you won’t. The airline and tourism sector have been woefully represented over the last two years by the union movement. A union movement that was very happy to pocket fees, dues and contributions but which disappeared very quickly after the industries fell apart in the way they did. That Burrows and Combet are still around suggest just how indifferent people are to the ACTU or just how weak the ACTU membership is that it would continue to employ such inadequate performers.
Hear much from Kim Beasley? Despite the grandstanding he undertook at the time of the collapse the man who has already lost an election, lost a leadership challenge and saddled Australia with a fleet of subs that don’t work, still has the effrontery to hang around in politics. There just is no shame. The Ansett issue was a convenient item with which to drive a political agenda and mouth off a few 30 second sound bites. No ticker, no backbone and no consistency.
Hear much from Tony Abbott. According to ACA his response: “It’s not my department anymore.” Not a bad rendition of Pilate really. And about as valid as well. The bloke washed his hands of his kid, what more do you expect of him?
Hear from John Anderson? No. Of course not. The brainless twit continues to oversee a National Party in rapid decline and is not trusted by PM&C to be put close to a microphone if there is something to say. Transport Minister? Please.
And from the PM himself? Not a thing. Well, who would want to keep reminding the punters about dopey Stan and the bailout on National Textiles.
From Mark Mentha and Mark Korda? Nope. Arnold Bloch Liebler made a quid out of it but boy, have the two Mark’s done well. Earning a fair kick for previous employer, the now no longer existent Andersen’s, these two have been very happy to allow the courts to take their sweet time in assessing the validity or otherwise of the Superannuation Fund claim. Millions of dollars have gone their way. Certainly they have worked hard to sort out the mess but at their rate of pay they’d want to be burning the midnight oil every night. Ansett liberated them from the old firm and set them up in KordaMentha (putting the brains of the outfit up front there). But still no real result for the thousands of disempowered, disenfranchised individuals who are waiting for their contractual obligations to be filled. (Lot’s of excuses though.)
Hear much from the government? No indeed. The ticket tax and repayments for Ansett have given the government a surplus amount of cash, over $200 million.
What sort of a country are we? We just bend over and take it every time. That these pricks in the government can tax the Australian public, come up with a surplus and then some lame scheme to put it into “tourism” (just how, when and where – we’d sure like to see the books on that one Treasurer) is ludicrous. That we all stand around and accept it with a shrug, knowing that they are all crooks, is a disgrace. And I am no better. I know they are crooks and I just shrug. (Memo to self: Don’t be so apathetic. Refer to Jefferson, tree of liberty, blood of tyrants and an occasional revolution. He had the right idea. Now that would keep the bastards honest).
Upshot is that the political attention span in Canberra on any issue of substance is short. But they know that the public attention span is shorter. As are indeed the memories.
Well, refresh your memory by referring to the comment below. The suspects are all still about.
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