Labor heavyweight`s scathing dig at Beazley

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CELEBRATING
175
YEARS
First published 1831 No. 52,733 $1.20 (inc GST)
Thursday September 21, 2006
Bank sets
its sights
on taxi
takeover
The little wildlife warrior
Robert Wainwright
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THE picture tells the story ahead.
With thousands of Steve Irwin’s
admirers gathered around her,
Bindi Irwin took the stage and
demonstrated why the family is
confident she will become as
successful as her father.
The tiny eight-year-old stole
the show and hearts of the
5000 at yesterday’s public
memorial on Queensland’s
Sunshine Coast, with a
stoicism and professionalism
far beyond her years.
While her mother, Terri,
watched from the stands, too
distraught to speak, Bindi took
centre stage reading carefully
from her prepared speech to
confirm that she intended to
succeed her late father as the
face of Irwin Inc.
Lisa Murray
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Inside
‘The sunglasses could not
hide the despair as Terri
Irwin gripped and stroked
her children, watching
tributes and video
glimpses of her husband
and his madcap exploits.’
More reports and pictures
– Pages 6, 7
‘‘My daddy was my hero . . . I
know that Daddy had an
important job. He was working
to change the world so everyone
would love wildlife like he did.
‘‘He took me and my brother
and my mum with him all the
time. We filmed together, caught
crocodiles together and loved
being in the bush together.
‘‘I don’t want Daddy’s passion
to ever end.
‘‘I want to help endangered
wildlife just like he did.
‘‘I have the best Daddy in the
whole world and I will miss him
every day.
‘‘When I see a crocodile I will
always think of him and I know
that Daddy made this zoo so
everyone could come and learn
to love all the animals.
‘‘Daddy made this place his
whole life and now it’s
The next generation ... with poise and determination, Bindi Irwin addressed her father’s public memorial service on the Sunshine Coast and vowed to ‘‘help endangered species just like he did’’. Photo: AP/Dave Hunt
our turn to help Daddy.’’
Bob Irwin, her grandfather,
said after the one-hour show
that he was not surprised by her
performance but observed that
she may not yet have dealt with
Irwin’s death two weeks ago.
‘‘We always expect that of
Bindi,’’ he said.
‘‘She does so well [but] I don’t
think she has broken down as
much as I would have expected,
but she is a very strong little girl
and is coping extremely well.’’
But don’t expect the posters to
change overnight. The engaging
gap-tooth smile will not
immediately match the ‘‘crikey’’
crouch and trademark smile.
And there will be no time for
contemplation, the Irwin
family’s manager, John Stainton,
later revealed. He planned to
resume production on Bindi’s
television series within two
weeks. There are still 19
programs to make.
‘‘She has to step up to the
mark again, quickly,’’ he said.
That’s television.
MACQUARIE Bank is launching
an all-out assault on the taxi
industry with plans to set up a
r iva l cab f leet a nd a new
voucher system to compete
with Cabcharge.
The fleet would be in addition
to the bank’s wheelchairaccessible cab company, Lime
Taxis, and has been approved by
the bank’s executive committee.
It will be branded separately
from Lime and will recruit
owner-drivers with their own
plates. The company expects to
have ‘‘a comfortable number’’ of
cars in its first 12 months.
Macquarie’s new vouchers
would provide the first real
competition to Cabcharge’s payments system, which has a near
monopoly of the Sydney market.
Macquarie employs more than
5800 staff in Australia and spends
more than $5 million on taxi fares
for business trips every year. The
bank is expected to use the
vouchers for its own staff and
may also tap into its business
network to pick up other
corporate customers.
The new venture comes as
Macquarie experiences further
delays in getting its Lime service
up and running. The service, for
disabled passengers, was
launched in February by a
Macquarie executive, Bill Moss,
who has muscular dystrophy.
It has faced criticism from
Cabcharge’s boss, Reg Kermode,
who says the taxi industry is
‘‘far removed from the rarefied
atmosphere of merchant banking’’. Cabcharge owns Australia’s
biggest operator, Taxis Combined.
Some Cabcharge directors
believe Macquarie aims to build
a fleet big enough to tie up all
jobs to and from Sydney Airport,
which is controlled by one of the
bank’s biggest listed funds,
Macquarie Airports.
Lime rejects this claim.
The company said in February
that it would have 240 cabs on
the road by Christmas. There are
none officially on the road and
Continued Page 2
Porn case engulfs
top legal officers
FOUR of the state’s top legal officers have been drawn into the
controversy over child pornography allegedly found on the hard
drive of a deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Pat Power.
Another deputy DPP and Liberal candidate for Epping, Greg
Smith (pictured), has told the Herald discussions over the material
involved the Director of Public
Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery,
QC, another deputy, Lou Lamprati,
SC, and the senior Crown prosecutor, Mark Tedeschi, QC.
WEATHER
Details – Page 24
ISSN 0312-6315
9 770312 631049
The State Government has accused Mr Smith of discussing the
allegations with Power before the
police were informed.
The Minister for Police, Carl
Scully, said yesterday that he was
concerned as to ‘‘whether or not it
[Mr Smith’s conduct] could be
seen to be perverting the course of
justice. It may well not have gone
that far but someone in the position of a prosecutor must be very
careful.’’
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Full report – Page 2
Sydney city fine 13°-25°
Tomorrow fine, windy 13°-30°
● Liverpool fine, sunny 8°-26°
Tomorrow fine, windy 9°-30°
● Penrith fine, sunny 10°-26°
Tomorrow fine, windy 9°-30°
● Wollongong fine 11°-24°
Tomorrow sunny, windy 11°-27°
●
ABN:
the small business
equivalent of a
secret handshake.
Labor heavyweight’s
scathing dig at Beazley
Phillip Coorey
Chief Political Correspondent
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LABOR would not regain power
federally while its factions continued to churn out a production
line of ‘‘soulless apparatchiks’’
and the perception existed that
the Liberals had a ‘‘more credible
leadership’’, the veteran ALP
senator Robert Ray says.
In a scathing critique to the
Fabian Society in Sydney last
night, Senator Ray – a right-wing
factional warlord from Victoria
and a former minister – also said
the Liberals had better economic
management credentials and
‘‘much more credibility’’ on
national security.
‘‘It does not matter whether
these perceptions are fair, accurate or induced by propaganda,’’
he said. ‘‘They exist and are
currently preventing Labor from
achieving office federally.’’
His comments, which switch
the spotlight onto Labor’s internal
workings and Kim Beazley’s leadership, threaten to provoke unrest
and anger inside the ALP. The
party is polling consistently well
against the Government and has
been unified in recent months.
Senator Ray said the ALP was
in good shape generally, holding
all eight state and territory
governments. But he said many
members would forgo all that just
to win power federally.
He said a key problem was not
with factions but with those
running them. They were so
obsessed with dominating every
facet of political activity ‘‘there
was no opportunity for talented
Labor Party members who have
no factional allegiance’’, he said.
‘‘For every example we can cite
of people getting through the system – Peter Garrett, for example –
there will be many more
examples of those who didn’t and
whose talents are now lost to us.’’
Success at a federal level needed
‘‘a caucus brimming with talent’’
but that was being held back by
what he called ‘‘the Stasi element’’.
‘‘A whole production line of
soulless apparatchiks has
emerged, highly proficient and
professional but with no Labor
soul,’’ he said. ‘‘Control freaks with
tunnel vision, ruthless leakers in
their self-interest, individuals who
would rather the party lose an
election than that they lose their
place in the pecking order.’’
He singled out fellow
Victorian senators Stephen
Conroy – Senator Ray’s own factional creation – and left-wing
powerbroker Kim Carr. He called
them ‘‘factional Daleks’’ – robots
from Doctor Who who screeched
‘‘EX-TER-MIN-ATE’’ and were
hell-bent on world domination.
Mr Beazley would not be drawn
on Senator Ray’s remarks. ‘‘Mr
Beazley is campaigning in
Queensland,’’ his spokesman said.
‘‘The Labor movement is totally
committed to beating John How-
Driver’s seat ... Thai armed forces in control. Photo: Reuters
Military’s bloodless coup
The leader of Thailand’s military coup has set out a timetable
for his role as head of government, saying he will stay in power
for two weeks while a new constitution is drafted, and will then
let a transitional government take over. He expected fresh
elections in November next year. Page 11
League wants to dump union
The National Rugby League wants to pay the Rugby League
Professionals Association $320,000 to deregister as a union.
The deal, agreed behind closed doors, has not yet gone to the
players, who have been urged to reject it. Page 42
Continued Page 2
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