News:Govt.rejection fails to deter Fox/Lew
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News:Govt.rejection fails to deter Fox/Lew
Posted :Tue, 27 Nov 2001 20:47 AEDT
Govt rejection fails to deter Fox & Lew
Melbourne businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew say they are still committed to buying Ansett, despite the Federal Government's rejection of their key demands.
Federal Cabinet has decided not to meet the consortium's requests for tougher competition laws and a share of the Government travel contract.
The Fox-Lew consortium says while it is seeking clarification on Cabinet's decision, it remains unambiguously committed to Ansett.
The consortium says it intends to continue working with Ansett's administrators to finalise the sale of the troubled airline.
Govt rejection fails to deter Fox & Lew
Melbourne businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew say they are still committed to buying Ansett, despite the Federal Government's rejection of their key demands.
Federal Cabinet has decided not to meet the consortium's requests for tougher competition laws and a share of the Government travel contract.
The Fox-Lew consortium says while it is seeking clarification on Cabinet's decision, it remains unambiguously committed to Ansett.
The consortium says it intends to continue working with Ansett's administrators to finalise the sale of the troubled airline.
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MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)--Australian businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew late Tuesday said they remain "unambiguously committed" to buying struggling Australian airline Ansett Australia.
But the two businessmen, who have teamed under the banner of Tesna Holdings to be the preferred bidder for Ansett, said they want clarification from the Australian government on competition issues and government passenger business.
Earlier Tuesday, the government refused to fully meet Tesna's requests for special concessions on such issues.
However, Tesna said it wants clarification on the government's plans for protecting competition in the domestic aviation market. It also wants to know how much of Ansett's previous government business will be restored.
Last year Ansett received A$112 million of government business, out of a government travel budget of A$290 million, Tesna said.
"The request for a commitment for government business seeks the restoration of some of the government business previously held by Ansett, and it shouldn't be represented as either new business or a taxpayer subsidy," Tesna said.
Tesna said it also wants to know more about the voluntary code of conduct, especially whether it is enforceable. It also expressed concerns over the possibility of Qantas being responsible for drawing up the code.
"It is our understanding that such a code may be developed by Qantas, rather than the industry or government," Tesna said.
-By Andrew Trounson; Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9614-2664; [email protected]
But the two businessmen, who have teamed under the banner of Tesna Holdings to be the preferred bidder for Ansett, said they want clarification from the Australian government on competition issues and government passenger business.
Earlier Tuesday, the government refused to fully meet Tesna's requests for special concessions on such issues.
However, Tesna said it wants clarification on the government's plans for protecting competition in the domestic aviation market. It also wants to know how much of Ansett's previous government business will be restored.
Last year Ansett received A$112 million of government business, out of a government travel budget of A$290 million, Tesna said.
"The request for a commitment for government business seeks the restoration of some of the government business previously held by Ansett, and it shouldn't be represented as either new business or a taxpayer subsidy," Tesna said.
Tesna said it also wants to know more about the voluntary code of conduct, especially whether it is enforceable. It also expressed concerns over the possibility of Qantas being responsible for drawing up the code.
"It is our understanding that such a code may be developed by Qantas, rather than the industry or government," Tesna said.
-By Andrew Trounson; Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9614-2664; [email protected]
Nunc est bibendum
Although I liked this little dummy spit on ninemsn
Whilst I continue to feel sorry for the staff, there is something kind of ironic when a multi million dollar businessman is asking from protection from QF on one hand to in the interests of a level playing field yet has a list of demands that make it far from a level playing field.
Fox scathing about Ansett 'backflip'
Transport magnate Lindsay Fox has accused the federal government of trying to kill Ansett after it failed to offer strong support to help relaunch the airline.
Mr Fox alluded to a link between the government's decision and a late play for some of Ansett's assets by Lang Corp's chief executive Chris Corrigan and Virgin Blue, the Australian Financial Review reported.
"I think ultimately, the government might want Ansett to die," Mr Fox said after briefing staff in Sydney following the government's cold response.
"You've got to look at all the things they've said, and why they have changed, what created the change and what created Mr Corrigan coming into the ring at the last minute."
But Mr Fox and bid partner Solomon Lew said they remained committed to their plan to get Ansett back in the air.
Cabinet earlier rejected their request to strengthen competition laws to protect Ansett from Qantas and the government refused to commit a large share of its travel budget to Ansett, the Financial Review said.
"There were two (things) that (the government) were going to help with, which they believed they could have done Thursday. Today is Tuesday and they've done a backflip," Mr Fox said.
"This was going to be the first thing fixed after the election. Somebody should work out what fixed means or how to spell fixed."
A spokeswoman for Lang Corp declined to offer any comment to the newspaper
Transport magnate Lindsay Fox has accused the federal government of trying to kill Ansett after it failed to offer strong support to help relaunch the airline.
Mr Fox alluded to a link between the government's decision and a late play for some of Ansett's assets by Lang Corp's chief executive Chris Corrigan and Virgin Blue, the Australian Financial Review reported.
"I think ultimately, the government might want Ansett to die," Mr Fox said after briefing staff in Sydney following the government's cold response.
"You've got to look at all the things they've said, and why they have changed, what created the change and what created Mr Corrigan coming into the ring at the last minute."
But Mr Fox and bid partner Solomon Lew said they remained committed to their plan to get Ansett back in the air.
Cabinet earlier rejected their request to strengthen competition laws to protect Ansett from Qantas and the government refused to commit a large share of its travel budget to Ansett, the Financial Review said.
"There were two (things) that (the government) were going to help with, which they believed they could have done Thursday. Today is Tuesday and they've done a backflip," Mr Fox said.
"This was going to be the first thing fixed after the election. Somebody should work out what fixed means or how to spell fixed."
A spokeswoman for Lang Corp declined to offer any comment to the newspaper
