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Issue No. 196 19 September 2003  
E D I T O R I A L

A Secret Country
So Tony Abbott has tabled his legislation to crush the CFMEU, while refusing to release the secret volume of the Royal Commission on which the recommendations are based.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Crowded Lives
Labor frontbencher Lindsay Tanner talks us through his new book on the importance of relationships and why politics is letting the people down.

Activists: Life With Brian
Work by men like Brian Fitzpatrick is exposing new Australians to old truths. Jim Marr reports

Industrial: National Focus
A showdown looms in Cancun, Qantas gets bolshie, casual and lazy in its response to aviation challenges, and long festering disputes fester on in Victoria and Tasmania reports Noel Hester in this national wrap.

Unions: If These Walls Could Talk
Trades Hall is preparing for a major facelift but first, Jim Marr reports, it must bid farewell to the colourful bunch who have populated its dusty corridors in recent years.

Economics: Beating the Bastards
Frank Stilwell looks at some of the proposals for building a fairer finance sector.

Media: Three Corners
So its come to this. Four Corners, one of the world's longest running television programs is now under pressure from an ABC Executive that is less cultural visionary than feral abacus.

History: The Brisbane Line
Percy Spender was Menzies' foreign minister, but, Neale Towart asks, was he also prepared to serve as Prime Minister in a Japanese controlled Australia?

Trade: The Dumping Problem
Oxfam-CAA helps set the scene for this month's World Trade Organisation in Cancun.

Review: Frankie's Way
In The Night We Called It A Day Frank Sinatra learns 'sorry' Down Under is a loaded word and refusal to say it when due will lose fans in important places, writes Tara de Boehmler.

N E W S

 Cole Skeletons Shake Monk

 Abbott Flags Move On Nurses

 Workplace Bullies Leave Three Dead

 People�s Bank Scraps People

 Left-Right Combo Drops Motorway Boss

 Free Wally - Movie Offer

 Detention for Minister Who Praised Scabs

 Cancun Flop Spurs Local Stars

 Public Sector: Cuts and Thrusts

 Medicare Cuts Take Cake

 Beating Around The Bush

 Other Half Lives It Up

 Anderson Ducks Mudgee Bill

 Deaf, Blind and Looking For Friends

 Filipino Vote Call

 Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Staking Our Territory
ACTU secretary Greg Combet argued for a fairer Australia in his keynote address to last month's ACTU Congress.

The Locker Room
Seasonally Agisted
Spring is a season when a person�s thoughts turn to�horse racing. Phil Doyle reports on the fate of nags and folk heroes.

Housing
Beyond the Block
We are wild about the people who live in The Block but not too interested in those who are on the streets outside, writes Michael Rafferty.

Politics
The Westie Wing
Workers friend Ian West MLC, reports form the Bearpit about a project to raise awareness about trade unionism amongst young people.

Postcard
The Awkward Squad
Paul Smith meets one of the new generation of British union leaders who is taking the ball up to the Blair spin team.

L E T T E R S
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News

Other Half Lives It Up


Publicly-listed Village Roadshow posted a $26 million loss for this year but still handed a $290,000 bonus to chairman, Robert Kirby.

Its accounts, listed with the Australian Stock Exchange, showed Kirby was awarded a total package of $1.67 million, including the bonus and more than $130,000 in non-cash benefits.

His brother, John, the company's alternative chairman, took $1.7 million out of the loss-making operation.

The brothers both took drops on last year's income but the managing director, Graham Burke, received a 19 percent increase, up to $1.77 million, for a year in which Village Roadshow slashed cinema assets and suspended payments to shareholders.

The Seven Network confirmed it had made a $1.29 million severance payment to former head of broadcasting, Maureen Plavsic, on to of her $798,000 base salary.

Meanwhile, in the US Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation paid chief operating officer Peter Chernin more than $25 million (US17.3m).

Shareholders in News will vote at the company's October AGM on a proposal to issue another million options to Chernin.

Murdoch, himself, relieved the company of more than $20 million, including an $11m bonus.

His company will ask shareholders to approve a massive jump in directors' fees at next months AGM. The recommended 300 percent increase would take News directors fees to $1.85m a year.


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