Dingo bytes

The following is a synopsis of the saga, The Collapse of the King 
Dynasty, being the story of the owners of the King Bros bus 
company, twins Peter and Tony. Giving evidence in the Supreme 
Court, Tony King's ex-wife Patrice told how, in the lead up to 
the collapse of the company last year with debts of $226 million, 
the brothers and their wives spent up big time on property, cars, 
jewellery and holiday jaunts. In 2000 they splurged $5 million 
even though the company's total income was only $6.6 million, 
with more than 90 percent of that coming from NSW Transport 
Department subsidies for the 22,000 children who travelled on 
King Bros buses each day. The Court has also heard that only half 
of the King Bros fleet of 600 Mercedes buses actually existed.

* * *

Dingo assumed that the Queen's representative in Australia, 
Governor-General Michael Jeffery, was PM Howard's choice because 
he's a former army Major-General who took a leading part in the 
invasion and slaughter in Vietnam. It was yet another move in the 
militarisation of Australian society and a shift in emphasis from 
his first choice, Archbishop Peter Hollingworth, who was forced 
to resign for covering up the activities of paedophile priests. 
But it turns out the Major-General is also a religious zealot 
just like Howard and Hollingworth. Last week he actually gave a 
speech to a bunch of corporate heads in Perth telling them where 
to look for leadership guidance. Who has been our greatest 
leader, asked Jeffery? The answer — "That person is Jesus 
Christ."

* * *

If there was ever any doubt about the opportunistic nature of 
Labor leader Mark Latham's politics, his proposal last week about 
the two Australians being held by the US military at Guantanamo 
Bay should put them to rest. Latham called for the introduction 
of retrospective laws so that Mamdouh Habib and David Hicks could 
be put on trial in Australia. The Greens pointed out that the 
problem is political rather than legal and the way to resolve it 
is for Australia to demand that the US return both men. And as 
for Latham's suggestion, it is against constitutional law to 
introduce laws to charge prisoners who at the time of their 
arrest had broken no laws. Latham actually gave Howard ammunition 
to score an easy point. Howard dismissed the idea of 
retrospective laws saying he was against laws being enacted 
retrospectively.

* * *

CAPITALIST HOG OF THE WEEK: is James Hardie Industries, beginning 
in the 1920s the biggest producer of asbestos products in 
Australia. Hardie has for decades tried every trick in the book 
to avoid paying compensation to asbestos victims. In 2001 it 
actually moved its headquarters to The Netherlands, leaving 
behind a Medical Research and Compensation Foundation — a 
separate entity run by trustees with $293 million in the kitty. 
That is nowhere near enough to pay the claims of the victims it 
knowingly allowed to be exposed to the deadly asbestos fibres, 
and so taxpayers will pick up the bill.