Four Corners repeat

[bambbbam2]

The program re Qantas takeover will be repeated tomorrow (Thurs) morning at 8am for anyone interested...

 

[shillard]

The Union bum is a real laugh - when he appeared on camera I barely had time to get the words "I'll bet he's got a Scottish accent" out before he launched into some Bolshi Brouge nonsense.

"Private equity doesn't face the scrutiny of publicly listed companies" - well, duh. Bunch of rocket scientists.

 

[Platy]

Dear Moderator,

I find Shillard's constant political griping and sniping to be inappropriate for this forum and I am surprised that you allow it - by all means let's discuss political policy and its various merits/demerits as travellers, but please let's leave the blatant sniping out of it.

Dear Shillard,

The union rep was acutally very articulate and well presented, and the point about lack of transparency and accountability in private equity owned companies should be of concern to you and every one of us.

Please consider the mis-management of Bristol Airport, where neglect for basic runway maintenance has led to emergency works which were undertaken AFTER the airlines complained about skidding on the unsuitable surface. The airport had to be CLOSED disrupting 100s of flights:

Runway repairs disrupt thousands of journeys - Independent Online Edition > Transport

I'm sending the link to the Independent Newspaper rather than the Guardian in case you find the latter anathemic to your political sensibilities.

Incidentally, Bristol, is effectively wholly owned by our own
Macquarie Bank, as usual through a chain of holding companies (as they do, once again to dodge accountability):

Macquarie Airports (MAp ) > MAp's airports > Bristol Airport > Ownership overview

Many had a problem with Geoff Dixon and Margaret Jackson plus other execs being paid off 100s millions, whilst hiding the true amount they stood to gain, talking down the value of the company, calling shareholders mental, APA secretly planning to asset strip $4,5 billion in the first year, etc.

It is also profoundly ironic that Macquarie itself re-valued QF at $6 billion more within days of the failed APA takeover. In other words shareholders were being duped big time.

So, the issue of accountability and transparency in private equity deals may be an obvious one, but needs to be re-affirmed and restated, be that by a union rep or any other interested party.

 

[simongr]

So, the issue of accountability and transparency in private equity deals may be an obvious one, but needs to be re-affirmed and restated, be that by a union rep or any other interested party.

I am not sure I quite agree with this. One of the reasons that Private Equity is getting a bad rep is that they taking publicly owned entities into the private world. There are plenty of privately owned organisations that are not subject to public scrutiny and never have been (thus often have not had any form of internal governance frameworks established) but they are not lambasted. And rightly so - its none of my business how the owner of the business runs it - even as a consumer its none of my business. I can choose whether to support them and perhaps show displeasure with their operations but that is my choice.

You need scrutiny in a publicly owned organisation as the "public" is bearing the risk of the business. Under private equity the private equity owners are bearing the risk. A privately owned QF would be subject to the same safety standards that a publicly owned QF would be held accountable to. I dont think we can assess the safety of flying on QF based on the crashes that they havent had - but on the safety standards that they apply - and if they are compliant with the jurisdiction that is relevant to them then that is all that is relevant.

 

[simongr]

It is also profoundly ironic that Macquarie itself re-valued QF at $6 billion more within days of the failed APA takeover. In other words shareholders were being duped big time.

Wasnt it Macquarie analysts rather than investments that released that? Isnt their a reuiqrement now as a result of the lack of independence in Goldman Sachs (I think) that the analysts be completely independent of the investment arm?

 

[ColinP]

Dear Moderator,

I find Shillard's constant political griping and sniping to be inappropriate for this forum and I am surprised that you allow it - by all means let's discuss political policy and its various merits/demerits as travellers, but please let's leave the blatant sniping out of it.

I agree.
A couple of weeks ago, in comparing this forum to another, I said something along the lines of--- " AFF is a haven of peace, tranquility and intelligence."
The ranting union reps are no different to the hard-nosed McQuarie bank execs. They represent extreme ends of the spectrum and are arguably needed to maintain balance. -- Lets stick to the middle ground.

Shillard -- There are plenty of more appropriate forums on which to vent your political spleen.

 

[admin]

Appropriate action has now been taken and I'm now going to close this thread.