
Issue No 106		10 August 2001

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Satire

Skase 'Too Ill' to Fly Home for Burial

Extracted from The Chaser

Spanish authorities have deemed Christopher Skase too ill to return to Australia for his own funeral.


	The Chaser

The Australian fugitive convinced a court in Spain that he wasn't fit to attend his burial, due to deteriorating health.

Mr Skase said he'd prefer instead to be buried offshore, in the same place he's buried all of his assets.

His shock death has saddened thousands of Australians, who relied on his capture and conviction to retrieve the millions of dollars they invested in Qintex.

"It's taken me ten years to recover from Qintex," admitted one cheated investor. "Bit by bit I've had to save and put all my funds into a safer stock. Unfortunately that stock was One.Tel."

As the one-time owner of Channel Seven, Skase was further maligned by Australians when he decided to keep Donnie Sutherland on the air. He was also responsible for pinning the network's success on a puppet called Agro.

Creditors said yesterday they will continue to hunt for Skase's missing fortune, but fear it may all have been blown on authentic "illness" paraphernalia.

Some sceptics have even suggested that his death itself was faked, a claim Skase has denied from his new home in the Dominican Republic.

Majorcan hospital staff confirmed last night that Skase had died of a rare form of cancer which people don't find tragic.

"The cancer caught up with him much more quickly than the Australian authorities did," one doctor observed. "Maybe they should appoint that tumour the Minister for Justice."

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  Issue 106 contents

Interview: In Exile
Burmese's government in exile's Minister for Justice U Thein Oo talks about a struggle for democracy that has become a test of international solidarity.

Politics: A National Disgrace
Labor's IR spokesman Arch Bevis gives his take on the workers entitlements issue and its mismanagement by the Howard Government.

E-Change: 2.2 The Information Organisation
Peter Lewis and Michael Gadiel look at how network technologies will change the way organizations operate in the Information Age.

Media: The Fine Print
Mark Hebblewhite looks at how the major dailies handled the Tri-Star dispute and finds that the story really does depend on the telling.

Human Rights: A People Besieged
Labor MLC Janelle Saffin, an active supporter of the pro-Democracy movement in Burma, sets out the issues behind the ILO sanctions.

International: Postcard From Brazil
The CFMEU�s Phil Davey reports on a rural movement that puts our National Farmers Federation to shame.

History: Indonesia Calling
They needed no resolutions. Soldiers and workers who did not know one another moved together, the black ban started to reach out across the harbour from the noisy, smoke-filled room.

Solidarity: On the Frontline
Australian trade unionists are providing practical help for the Burmese through projects funded by APHEDA-Union Aid Abroad.

Satire: Skase 'Too Ill' to Fly Home for Burial
Spanish authorities have deemed Christopher Skase too ill to return to Australia for his own funeral.

Review: Living Silence
In these extracts from her new book, Christina Fink goes inside Burma to find a world where military repression is slowly crushing a people.

» Revealed: ABC Censors Industrial Reporting

» WorkCover Revisited � Public Sector Laws Rammed Through

» Bras First in Burma Boycotts

» Tri Star Only the Start of Entitlements Push

» New Spying Tactics Hit Work Cars

» Howard�s Secret Anti-Worker Plans

» Direct Action to Increase Nurses' Worth

» High Court: Courier Was Employee

» Victory for Academic Freedom

» Put A Stop To Acoustic Shock

» Builders' Bucks: Payroll Tax Evasion Rife

» Tassie Workers Brew Up a Storm

» HIH Collapse Hits Arts Industry

» Labour for Hire Not Entitlements

» Rail Inquiry Into Treatment of Homeless

» ACTU Awards To Reward Union Excellence

» Activist Notebook