s_o
That's a relief but posting rumours about AN picking up the admin tab for the whole group and 7 donks being plucked from MEL (I doubt if there are 7 spares in the whole region) certainly don't help assuage the impact on Ansett staff or help them handle the trauma of the last few days.
I have no brief for the ANZ board or the senior managers but blaming Jim Farmer, who stepped in as chairman too recently and certainly too late, and Sockit really doesn't help and only detracts from an intelligent debate.
I'm fed up of the criticism levelled at Air NZ and the NZ Government by unthinking and self-serving Australians who have axes to grind and back-sides to protect. How much of the Oz media does News Corp control? If Howard was told of Ansett's problems months ago, if News Corp knew of Ansett's problems or mismanaged it (which is more likely) whilst it was in charge and control up until about 12-15 months ago, why is no-one pointing the bone there? If Ansett was in such great shape when ANZ took over, why didn't its managers speak out? It would have to be a wilful and highly visible act of corporate vandalism for the outfit to go from good health into receivership in such a short time frame.
For all we know Howard & Co wanted Ansett to collapse; he saw us Kiwis as suckers & scapegoats long ago when we bought the second 50%, in order to clear the way for their pets QF and the entry of low-cost outfits to the acclaim of the unsuspecting Ozzie public.
Howard's talk of forcing ANZ to pay the Ansett benefits etc because of 'insolvent trading' is hot air in advance of the election to placate Ansett staff and the working class, amongst whom I am proud to include myself. The offence is trading KNOWINGLY whilst insolvent, which is hard to prove under the best of circumstances, let alone the 'almost non-existent financial systems' (GT in today's NZ Herald) that existed at Ansett and may well be able to be levelled equally at the News Corp management and its predecessor.
I hope then when the emotions are over logic will prevail on both sides of the ditch and ALL those responsible, including those dead and long retired (BH for one) are called to account because these seeds were sown a long time ago. Read 'Tool Times' post on another D&G forum for a summary or Barbers Pole's in this forum.
