Ansett

[AIRWAY]

Hello all,

I am a member of the Prime Minister´s mailing list, this is what i got today on the e-mail regarding Ansett which some of you might find interesting.


TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON JOHN HOWARD MP
INTERVIEW WITH JEREMY CORDEAUX, RADIO 5DN

CORDEUAX:

All right, Trevor, you just hang on there for a second. Prime Minister, the other thing that's run hot in this programme is this Ansett levy, the levy for the entitlements. And it seems that A Current Affair have been promoting the idea that the money never got to the employees.

PRIME MINISTER:

Well, we have honoured in full our commitment. We have. I mean, we said that we would guarantee the long service leave, the holiday pay and the redundancy pay up to the community average of eight weeks. We never said that we would provide beyond eight weeks redundancy and that guarantee has been delivered and we have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to the administrators. Now, there is a court action that we haven't initiated and we naturally can't control because we're subject to the courts like everybody else, which is in some way [inaudible]. But it's not tardiness on the part of the Government. The Government never said that we would underwrite or guarantee everybody's redundancy, no matter how generous that redundancy was. If somebody had 50 weeks redundancy, which some of them did, we never said we'd pick that up, we said we'd pick up eight weeks redundancy, we said we'd
pick up the holiday pay, long service leave etc. But not an unlimited commitment in relation to redundancy and I made this clear on the 13th of September 2001 when I got back from the United States, and I remember very clearly that day because I met a delegation of the Ansett workforce at Sydney Airport the moment I got off the aircraft. And I sat down with it and I said - look, I feel sorry for you in relation to your entitlements, I'm having a Cabinet meeting later today and that evening I announced that the Government would underwrite, guarantee the long service leave unpaid etc and the redundancy up to eight weeks. We imposed a levy and we collected money, we've paid a lot of money to the administrators and if there's a gumming of the works, it's not the fault of the Government.

[SydGirl]

"...it's not the fault of the Government."

Bull *cough* ****!!!

SG
:}

[Screw Jac]

how much did the employees at his brother's textile factory receive? (I am not an ex-Ansett employee)

Which number do i ring to hire the Prime Ministerial residence for my wedding?

[Torres]

".....and we have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to the administrators."

".....we've paid a lot of money to the administrators..."

In simple terms, can someone please explain - did the Government merely provide guarantees to the Administrators, or did the Government physically provide funds to the Administrators?

If merely guarantees, where is the proceeds of the Ansett Ticket Levy now?


G'Day Sheep.....

Well .... the ex Ansett employees say they don't have the brass from the Ansett Ticket Levy.
M&M say they only got guarantees, and they don't have the brass.
Now the PM says "...we have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to the administrators."

Someone is telling pork pies and I think the Aussie public - and the poor buggars ex Ansett - deserve to know the truth!!!

:*

[Sheep Guts]

Probabaly funding Bush visits and re-election campaigns Torres.

[EPIRB]

And didn't the administrators have to pay it back to the government?

[TheNightOwl]

As one of Torres' "poor ******s ex-Ansett", let me try to explain the situation as I understand it.

The Fed government provided a loan of $340 million (figure debatable) to M&M to ensure the entitlements of the AN workers, i.e. outstanding Long-service Leave, Annual Leave, Time-in-lieu accrued and UP TO EIGHT WEEKS' REDUNDANCY pay. This sum was/is to be paid back to the Government from the sale of AN assets, BEFORE any of the entitlements IN EXCESS OF THE FORE-GOING are paid to creditors. For example, AN still owes me in excess of 50 weeks' redundancy, how much of that I will see I have as much idea as the next man/woman, but I received my SEESA entitlements some months ago.

The current fight in the courts between NSP Buck and M&M in respect of who will fund the outstanding 30% of the Ground Staff Super Scheme is yet to be decided, I just hope the court tells NSP Buck to shove their claim where the sun don't shine, I reckon they have a hide asking the Administrators tu use OUR money to fund THEIR super debt. They were quick enough to grab the Fund from AMP, it's a different story now the company doesn't exist any longer, so no income to fund liabilities and they claim its OUR responsibility.

As for the payment of the AN Ticket Levy to us, I don't believe it will ever happen - how could the Government set such a precedent? I know little Johhnie pulled his brother's company staff out of the poo, but that is a far cry from the numbers in the AN debacle. To extrapolate such a scenario - it could encourage ANY company to mis-manage its affairs, cast the staff aside and claim "you did it for AN, what's the difference?" A second point, when the funds/guarantee were/was given in late 2001, we were only a couple of months from a General Election in which the Government was returned with a massive majority. What incentive is there for the mongrels to weaken and crawl to the voting public now? I may be a cynical old bastard, but I don't believe that altruism is a tenet of ANY political creed, unless it applies to one's own.

Sorry, people, I believe that we are on our own, and that all we have to hope for is that M&M are, after all, honest men trying to do their best for us. I hope so, anyway. "Hope springs eternal", and all that bull****!!

Kind regards,

TheNightOwl. :ok:

[fruitloop]

Quote::Sorry, people, I believe that we are on our own, and that all we have to hope for is that M&M are, after all, honest men trying to do their best for us. I hope so, anyway. "Hope springs eternal", and all that bull****!!

TheNightOwl::Yep I think ya right..BTW they still owe me 110 weeks (pre-BRP not capped) Hell will probally freeze-over before any of us old-farts see any of it !!!!

[SOPS]

This is a serious question..they owe you 110 weeks of what? How is this calculated? Leave, sick leave or what? What do you have 110 weeks of?

Regards SOPS

[AN LAME]

SOPS

He will be owed 110 weeks base pay which would have been calculated under the redundancy provisions relevant to his position. I'm owed around 80 weeks being a 20 year employee.

Little Johnny will have you believe that these figures are excessively generous. I contend that they are an employment arrangement very similar to those signed by Managers and CEOs and their ilk around the country - but you don't here Johnny complaining too much about their payouts.

Unfortunately in the interview Johnny didn't care to expand on a couple of points: the fact the ticket levy (which was to protect the Australian taxpayer from exposure to the SEESA scheme) was developed in case the monies were not forthcoming from administration; that the government insisted on being listed BEFORE the SECURED creditors(employees) in the disbursement from the administration monies; nor that the fact that when (not if) they receive their loan back in total means that whatever is made through the Ticket Levy is going to be pure profit for the Federal Government. He is a liar of the highest order.

As with fruitloop and TNO I tend to believe that M&M are honest. Hope (some will say naivety) does spring eternal :D

[AIRWAY]

Hi All,

Some more info i received today via e-mail:

CALLER:

Yes, good morning. Thank you Neil and good morning Prime Minister. I'd like to thank you firstly for making yourself available, I think we're very lucky to be able to have this opportunity. So, yes we do live in a democracy. Secondly, what I'd like to talk to you about is that in the media we've heard information about what's happening with the money that's been collected for Ansett workers and I must say I'm not an Ansett worker, but I'd like to ask you Prime Minister - there has been a lot of money collected but money doesn't appear to be flowing through to these people and I know from close friends who are suffering and my husband flies weekly, has been doing so for the past year. So we've been paying a lot of money towards this, which we do without any complaint.

MITCHELL:

So where's it going?

PRIME MINISTER:

Yeah, well the money- Maria's raised a fair question. Can I just remind you what the government guaranteed a couple of years ago was that the workers would not go without their long service leave, their unpaid holiday pay and up to eight weeks of their redundancy payments, that was the guarantee that we made. Now, many Ansett employees had much larger redundancy payments but we said two years ago, we couldn't guarantee the amount over the eight weeks and we have collected the money through the levy and we have paid I think, without holding me to the exact figure more than $300 million to the trustees, to the administrators and I understand that a lot of that has been paid out. But I understand what hasn't been paid out is the surplus redundancy payments over and above the eight weeks.

MITCHELL:

So when can the levy some off?

PRIME MINISTER:

Well, the levy's been suspended.

MITCHELL:

Has it? OK.

PRIME MINISTER:

And the rest of the money is held up, the payment of it is held up, so I understand, because there is a court case over which I don't have any control and is taking, I've got to acknowledge, a very long period of time.

[fruitloop]

Sops

As AN LAME explained, it is for redundancy based on years of service (4 weeks for every year of service under Pre-BRP or some compicated formula with a limit of 104 weeks for BRP).

[Buster Hyman]

Again, a direct question is avoided!:mad: The Govt. gets first crack at the Administration funds, which means the ticket levy goes...???

FLICK !!:mad: What's his number? I'll call him myself!:mad:

[GoGirl]

Ch 7's Sunrise program has joined the 'bandwagon' (so-to-speak)
Suffice to say, David Kosch is like a dog with a bone, and it's fair to say he might have some success in his plight :rolleyes:

I've honestly never before advocated the release of suicide stats, but in this instance, the more said, the better.
1 was too many, but 26, or thereabouts is a national disgrace.

But hey, that's just one part of the story :(

A part that's so easily gleaned over as it stands..............




GG

[Nav Light]

ACA- did anyone see A Current Affair tonight- I missed it, what went on? I gues nothing has changed I asume!

We'll never see our money, wouldn't happen to the pollies in Canberra would it- I'm in the wrong job!

[EPIRB]

By all accounts the governement has pocketed the lot, 37 esecs got their full payout from Air NZ and Toomey got a $4 million payout PLUS a performance bonus. They went and knocked on his door (anyone out there got his address?) at his home in Auckland but he wouldn't come out. Anderson also refused to be interviewed as he was "sick". ACA are going to keep on pushing Anderson for an interview. The pressure is being applied to the government.