Governments
10th Sep 2001:
On Ch. 7 and 9 this morning, the Acting Prime Minister conveyed a
notion of shock and suprise by the sudden depth of Ansetts problems.
Either the govt has had its head in the sand, or, they don't really
give a hoot, or, they are stupid, or, the problems are so huge and
insurmountable that it is better to be thought a fool than to try to
tackle something that can't be tackled.
ANZ and AN both allege to hold documentry proof that the Government
were well and truly informed of the state of play ages ago. (Not that
the latter is in any way an excuse for corporate disaster - which in
itself has been the topic of dozens of threads in this group for
months).
The aviation industry had been mildly abuzz with rumours of Ansett's
demise since the Xmas groundings. Then when the .... hit the fan again
at Easter, many aviation news groups (this one included) started
nominating the falling of the axe with sheer clarity and accuracy. By
the end of July, it was common knowledge of some members of those news
groups that it was going to be the first week of September that Ansett
would falter. One writer cited a commercial bill roll-over which
Ansett would be unable to fund, as the proverbial straw etc.
Well, those writers certainly seem to have known their facts. Yet,
here we are, listening to mindless drivell from the acting PM, who,
incidently, has resources available to him the scope of which WE can
only imagine, saying that he had no idea things were so bad.
Sort of like HIH and One-Tel if you ask me - what is the point of
industry regulators like CASA, ASIC, ACCC - they are utterly
irrelevent at times like this - they have all been caught asleep at
the switch!
And finally, though off my topic, a collegue said to me (in reflecting
on the history of Ansett's ownership) "Its all about 'who has the
money and who has the B.S.' ". Or in more recent times, who does not
have the money.
Incidently, where is all that money now? In the hands of the owners
of News and TNT? Or in the cargo holds of AN a/c which were
dispatched to NZ last week?
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