Role of John Howard in the AN tragedy
 

I have reproduced the following article from the Aust Fin Rev (a world respected financial paper) published in the saturday edition. It is reproduced word for word. I have always thought that our PM had a very large effect in the collapse of Ansett. Now it seems that my suspicions are very much confirmed. He has now lost my vote in November. It is an absolute disgrace.......i hope u all agree..........!!!!!........& dont vote for him either. My early anger at Anderson on reading the article below may have been somewhat misplaced.

It reads............

The PM John Howard ruthlessly overrode senior miniters who favoured a singapore airlines plan to recapitalise ansett - a move that was to extinguish the last hope of survival of the airline.

An investigation by the Australian Financial Review reveals he had been successfully lobied by Qantas which wanted protection from an aggressive Singapore Airlines. Standing behind Howard in his strong backing for Qantas was his department head , Mr Max Moore-Wilton who served on the Australian Airlines board in the early 1990's when Mr Geoff Dixon was also a senior executive

Qantas's strategy was to block Singapore from gaining control of Air NZ and therefore Ansett, which it argued would becomea behemoth with the power to crush the national carrier.

Instead Qantas wanted to buy 25% or Air NZ and for Singapore to buy Ansett

Yet SIA Chief DR Cheong publicly rejected rejected the Qantas proposal on Monday July 30 , the day before a crrucial cabinet meeting to finally decide the australian governments position.

At that meeting, senior ministers including John Anderson & Peter Costello had been prepared to argue the case for the so-called Singapore option.

Ansett executives have told the AFR that the night before the meeting , Mr Anderson had told them he still preferred the SIA proposal.

But Anderson position in the cabinet meeting was undermined because his close ally, Costello, was unable to attend the meeting because thick fog prevented his plane from landing.

A Government sourse said Mr Costello was "incadescent with rage" at Howards intervention to back the Qantas proposal, which in effect killed the only viable recapitalisation plan then available to save ansett.

The PM's intervention helped seal Ansett's fate. Mr Anderson was obliged to travel to Wellington imediately after the cabinet meeting to convey the Australian Governments position surpporting Qantas. Ansett collapsed just weeks later.

Mr Howard had been persauded to torpedo the Singapore Airlines proposal by intensive lobbying from Mr Dixon and the Qantas Chairman, Ms Margaret Jackson.

Ansett executives have also confirmed to the AFR that Mr Moore-Wilton told Air NZ Chief, Mr Gary Toomey, at a meeting in Canberraon August 10 that "he didn't give a **** about Ansett" and said that the Government was doing everything it could to protect Qantasbecause it wasthe only truly Australian Airline.

Mr Howard himself explained his support for the Qantas proposal on September 18 when he told parliment: "The Government did unashamedly have a preference for what was called the Qantas option for quite some time - quite unashamedly-because we took the view that, if you are going to have two airlines, it would be a good idea that one of them was Australian owned.

But despite clear advice from Air NZ executives that Ansett was in dire financial trouble - losing $18 million per week - Mr Howard chose to rely on advice from Qantas that Ansett was close to returning to profitability.

During the week the Govt, faced with the heavy political fall out from the collapse, provided financial gauarntees to enable an emasculated airline to restart.

But there is no certainty that the airline will survive in the long term.


Thoughts folks............!!!!!!!

There is no doubt that the Australian Government was ultimately responsible for putting Ansett to death.

Their "backflip" in August, supporting a mythical Qantas proposal just strengthened the resolve of the xenophobic Kiwis to do nothing. After about 11 months of the same, their final inaction was fatal.

As Gary Toomey indicated in correspondence at the time, the Australian Government were clearly confusing the national interest with Qantas's corporate interests.

Effective lobbying no doubt - but Government incompetence (on both sides of the Tasman) at its finest!

It makes little difference, but for the first time, they've lost my vote.

I suppose that because I missed out last night, I should blame it on John Howard.

Grow up.

AN had $600m in the bank when purchased by Air New Zealand. Now AN has debts of $2b.

Air New Zealand bit off more than it could chew and we now see the results.

Go figure.

It is time people (boards, in this case)took responsibility for what happens and not blame everything on the Govt.

:mad: If there was votes in it, there would still be an Ansett today.

Edited for excessive profanities.

[ 01 October 2001: Message edited by: Achilles ]

You would have to be one very confused Prime Minister to put the interests of a foreign owned airline against those of an Australian owned one.

I agree that the demise of Ansett was very sad and will have a short term adverse effect (in economic terms) on Australia but the voters will realise that John Howard put Qantas (Australian owned) ahead of Ansett (New Zealand owned) because it was in the best interest for AUSTRALIA.

Suppose SQ had bought 25% share in Air NZ and pumped millions of dollars into Ansett. Brand new aircraft and a re-filled war chest to fight Qantas and Virgin. Then two years down the track it was QANTAS who ended up like Ansett is today. I would suggest that the Financial Review would really have something to write about and not some cheap,pinko,rabble rousing editorial to try and get Beazley off the mat.

No - I shall be voting Liberal and there will be many millions of Australians doing the same thing on the 10th November because Howard made the right decision he put
AUSTRALIA first!

[ 01 October 2001: Message edited by: Whiskery ]

The Oz government is not responsible for AN going down the tubes. But it sure as hell was in a position to do something about it at an earlier stage.

As the good doc from up north warned about a month ago - something had better be done or AN will be gone.

Nothing was done.

Whiskery

Well put

Oh BTW I see you have moved to Brisbane over the weekend :D :cool:

Ahhh gaunty - as usual,very quick on the uptake and touchee.

Congratulations to the Lions, I don't follow either team but was barracking for the Brissy boys as I can't stand the Essendon supporters arrogance!

BTW, I did say home of aussie rules NOT the Premiership Cup..........ah what the heck, you got me!

Howard is not responible for Ansetts demise.
Incompetent management,1980s cost structures and New Zealand revenge for the underarm atrocity are to blame. Ansett was a dinosaur which managed to stumble into the new millenium only to be dragged down by a lean mean efficent VB. Ansett people should stop whinging and face the brave new world which the rest of us accepted (like it or not) years ago. No I don't work for VB, QF, or AN.

For my 2cents worth, I think when deregulation hit home, the Govt. of the day should've allowed QF & AN to be able to restructure themselves to a "leaner" operation similar to what DJ is now. Naturally, I would've been pessed off (as the kiwis say) if my conditions were eroded. When you change the rules during the game, it's only fair to allow the teams to adapt. I guess we'd be in a different world now if that happened.

So when a company owned by foreign interest's, which is mismanaged and possibly asset striped to a point where it's loosing 18 mil per week go's bust its the Australian
governments fault ? somehow I doubt that very much KYBO

Had SIA bought AN they would have had to make some very heavy cuts to the company
to get it viable, lots of jobs lost and pay reductions (perhaps not as many as the current unfortunate circumstances I concede). And you would be in here blaming Mr. Howard anyway, some bleeding heart lefty hacks from the press would undoubtedly blame the PM as well.

So where was the government of the day when compass (an Australian owned company)
went Bust ? Where was there government bail out and the regulation of fares, gee thats right - that was the government that called us “glorified bus drivers “ just a few years previously.

HAVE YOU LOT FORGOTTEN ABOUT THIS NAME;

TOOMEY

May I respectfully point out to all PPRuNers thet, whilst I agree that AN was latterly a foreign-owned company, those of us employed therein paid our taxes to the Australian Taxation Office, NOT that of NZ.
It is not my intention to argue the merits, or otherwise, of the involvement of the Australian government, save to emphasise that Mr. Howard et al do not come out of the fiasco with lily-white hands.
Come November, I know where my vote will be going.

Kind regards to all,

TheNightOwl.

Hard to believe tha scabs are so desperate to fly for a fully foreign owned airline. Why don't they just leave? :cool:

NONE.....
From good source over here who have looked at the wreckage of a once proud airline, the lack of management, accountability and losses are of stagering proportions
:p

For my 2 cents worth, I will VOTE 1 John Howard

Hey folks.......don't misunderstand me

I am not ONLY blaming Howard

Everybody involved has had a hand in this from the Air NZ board, BIL, SIA, NZ Govt & no doubt a few others

I just simply reproduced an article from the Fin Review

However Howard did delay the 49% deal with SIA at the 11th hour heavily promoting the QF proposal. He accepted BS advice from Dixon & then things turned sour

As for paying taxes, so did the 1300 89er's whose then government paid to have them put out of work, and facilitate the hiring of foreign scabs.
Unless you're the dirty digger, it doesn't mean much. :cool:

Hey KYBO.....so you believe everything that you read in a newspaper eh?...Give me a break!
I suppose you also believe everything that the ACTU and TWU are telling you at the "RA RA" rallies.....for heavens sake get the blinkers off and see what the real agenda is here.
Oh and yes....Big Kimbo said he is going to get you all your jobs back .....guess you believed that one as well.

WAKE UP!!!!!! You are political fodder.

Dont think i deserved that abuse Nufsaid

No as a matter of fact i believe very little from the papers but u show yt ignorance by thinking the Fin Review is like normal daily papers..........

Kybo - I respect your right to your opinion. I just ask you to respect my right of choosing for myself whom I will vote for...

KYBO....no abuse and none intended, I just feel very sorry for the majority of AN staff when I see them being "led by the nose" by the union hacks of the TWU & ACTU. At times like these, most people will cling to anything or anyone that can offer them some hope however don't be blinded by the hype as the underlying political agenda is very different.

As for the Fin. Review not being a "normal" newspaper.....Hmmmmm.... It is just like any other newspaper...ie.written by journos...and pretty much one persons opinion...need I say more?

When it comes to the SIA/ANZ deal on Ansett, don't lose sight of those 2 very important words "pre-emptive right". Unfortunately for the AN staff, the board of directors at Air/NZ exercised that pre-emptive right (call it ego or whatever you like) but that is what happened and the rest is history.
Can't see a different outcome regardless of which political persuasion might have been top of the heap in Canberra.

KYBO, I sincerely hope that you can secure another good job quickly, however looking for someone to blame for this fiasco will not assist you in that endeavour.

A few points I am led to believe to be correct (don't take my word on it tho!)

-Ansetts owners of recent have all been interested in more immediate profits for an array of reasons.

-Singapore airlines was prepared to take a long term investment approach to build a safe reliable airline for both passengers and themselves as investors.

-Singapore airlines is a rare carrier in that it has no dept and I believe around 2 billion US$ in the bank (probably the only large airline in the world that can call itself stable)

-In the business world it is said Ansett was still trying to do business as it did in the days of rugulations.

-Qantas was aggresively carving out a niche in the upper end of the market while Virgin Blue was aggresively carving out a niche in economy end.

-Ansett was reactionary in its responces (We have done fine up to now, why change whats not broke?)

Now things are broke everyone wants to pass the blame when in fact all sides carry their little bit of responsibility.

Can I ask everyone a question?

Personalities aside which government would better serve the aviation industry in the the long run?

Toomey inherited the mess. If you want to blame anybody, blame Cushing, the hick accountant form the Hawkes Bay. He had control of the day to day running of the Group for the first six months, after the pushing of McRea, until Toomey was hired.

He was responsible for forcing AirNZ to take up their pre-requisite rights.

He is definitely the one that has been ducking for cover ever since the debacle turned sour.

Toomey is just the boy who has been doing as he is told and he and Farmer are the fall guys.

Buckred

Which Government??, why the Principality Of PPRuNe of course :D

At the start of the thread the Singaporeans were the good guys and now that we have got round to the Air NZ board I have to laugh at you Aussies since it is majority controlled by Singapore Inc. So what are they - good or bad??????????????????

Why doesn't the TWU offer to inject some funds into Ansett MK2 to help its members?

Put your money where your mouth is or shut it!

nufsaid
___________________________________________
I suppose you also believe everything that the ACTU and TWU are telling you at the "RA RA" rallies.....for heavens sake get the blinkers off and see what the real agenda is here.
Oh and yes....Big Kimbo said he is going to get you all your jobs back .....guess you believed that one as well.
_____________________________________________

An interesting parallel would you say when we remember that the AFAP told their members that they would all get their jobs back.
Especially when it was obvious that it was untrue.

[ 02 October 2001: Message edited by: Flat Side Up ]

If the ACTU and the TWU "leaders" think that AN is such a good bet, why have they not put up their members super funds, in which they control $Ms maybe $Bs, and get the airline up and running?

Maybe even a loan?

FSU......your comments sound typical of a self serving Qandom "hero". If indeed this a correct description, then I would have thought that you may have had a little more compassion for your AN colleagues who do NOT HAVE an "effective" union (forget 'ersatz' APA) and have been blinded by the mouthings of TWU & ACTU hacks who do really don't give a rodents backside about AN pilots, instead considering them to be silver-tails and fat cats.
Personally I don't much care what happens to the AN "heroes" but consider that the post '90 AN pilots deserve a chance to get on with their lives and build a new flying career without being "used" by persons with ulterior political agendas.

Oh....and as it was you that decided to hark back to the events of '89 in endeavouring to compare an industrial dispute with a financial collapse....... perhaps if you had a tad more intestinal fortitude back then, we wouldn't be having this discussion......nufsaid!

nufsaid,
That's the trouble with you chaps. You are so blinded by hate you keep leaping to wrong assumptions. No I am not a Qandom hero as you suppose.
I agree substantially with your assessment of the political motives involved and please note, once again, that insulting remarks do your point of view no good.
It is sickening to see Kim draped in the Ansett flag taking advantage of the plight of ALL the AN workers surrounding him.
The parallel was the promise...... YOU WILL ALL GET YOUR JOBS BACK!!

Nuff said!!

Fsu:
<The parallel was the promise...... YOU WILL ALL GET YOUR JOBS BACK!!>

Being a bit selective with your observations here aren't you?

Read what nuffsaid posted - he completely demolishes your argument with the fact that there is a huge difference between an industrial dispute and a financial collapse.
The domestic airlines in the first instance were not the basket case that AN is at this time. This time around there is not a viable airline for everyone to go back to.

Hey Nufsaid

I take yr comments on board

Just to let u know......u are right what u say about the Unions....i dont believe in them either.

Yr comments about looking for a job instead of running around in blind hatred trying to blame someone............valid points.........I actually just posted the fin review for interests sake,,,,,,,,,yes i do believe that Howard shouldn't have delayes the SIA deal but I certainly dont blame just him but i am not looking back on the whole stuff. I have actually enjoyed my time off..........& have some opportunities as well............so yup i am getting on with it. & No i am not a hero either. I decided back in 89 while i was in GA that the opportunity to join was not an option for me a number of reasons.

Desert Dingo and nuffsaid,
Oh! For goodness sake! Don't you recognise the difference between singular and plural?

The(singular) parallel(singular) was( singular verb) the promise(singular)...... YOU WILL ALL GET YOUR JOBS BACK!!

But there is one other parallel at least common to both situations and that is that the promise is patently untrue.

[ 03 October 2001: Message edited by: Flat Side Up ]

Good for you KYBO.....the positive signals are now loud and clear, and I feel sure that you will emerge from this fiasco a winner.

Don't know if you are interested in moving offshore, however as daunting as it may seem right now, opportunities will emerge and you will never look back. Having been in your position some 12 years ago and subsequently spending a decade O/S, the positives are enormous, not just for you but for your family as well....in fact I often wish I had done it years earlier.
From what you said in your last post, you will find you are welcome anywhere. (see Betelgeuse's post in the "Virgin Blue are etc.." thread)

Stay positive and good luck for the future.

Anyone recall FSU standing up at any 89/90 meeting and saying "the AFAP is leading us up the garden path?"
Nope!
Easier to slink away, and anonymously sprout vitriol later.
Oh - AND make sure no AFAP member gets a job in Aus. :cool: