Loose cannons

Loose cannons

And private hands

"Monopolies are acceptable if they are in the public interest." — Suharto crony "Bob" Hasan, head of the plywood cartel.

Chile's Howard

"Chile's General Augusto Pinochet ... kicked off the first mass privatisation of public assets in 1974 ... He sold half of its phone monopoly to Australia's Alan Bond in 1988." — Sydney Morning Herald, March 17.

Just ask the pilots

"[Bob Hawke is] a broker that would be trusted, I would think, by all sides, but certainly by the union, to set about getting a resolution on this issue." — Labor leader Kim Beazley, suggesting that Hawke mediate the Webb Dock dispute.

Isn't that what they've been doing?

"[Suharto's daughter Tutut] spoke yesterday at a press conference ... and said that her father had told her he wanted his whole family to help him in overcoming the economic recovery." — Sydney Morning Herald, March 18.

Fancy that

"The Clinton Administration is not attempting to foment a revolution aimed at President Soeharto's overthrow ..." — Sydney Morning Herald, March 18.

Wait till Reith's second wave

"Employees are not machinery, nor paper, nor buildings, nor cattle, to be sold, auctioned or transmitted at the whim of an employer." — IRC commissioner John Tolley, commenting on an unfair dismissal case in which an employer had transferred an employee to the labour hire firm Drake International.

Hard to know which is more justified

"Neither the Prime Minister nor ... Victoria's Jeff Kennett were bothering to hide their contempt for each other after yesterday's walkout [from the Premiers' Conference]." — Sydney Morning Herald, March 21.

From GLW issue 311