Wednesday, February 12, 2014

CAR INDUSTRY

When do we start taking the initiative and look outside political and media driven doom and gloom? 
When do we start to believe in our own Australian expertise and stop flailing about in discontinuous rage as another ‘foreign’ company withdraws ‘hurt’ when the going gets tough but after profiteering for years on uneven playing fields at the expense of our country?
When do politicians stop trying to assure the yet to be unemployed that they are trying to create new jobs through all sorts of ill-thought-through initiatives to make themselves look important and to be seen as doing something? 
Instead  …..  why don’t we bite the bullet and produce our own cars and other vehicles?
We will soon have 3 newly vacated plants which do and can produce cars.  Why don’t we produce our own world leading new-design taxis, government cars, town cars, military vehicles, scram jets, super tractors, planes, farm bikes, fun cars [Moke-a-like] or any other vehicle which is useful for us as a country and can be sold elsewhere?  And no, don’t call any the Kangaroo or the Wallaby or the bloody Dingo!!
I am really sick of the prevailing oh-woe-is-me attitude where we import expertise [because we are so backward, stupid and don’t have any talent] only to find the imports are wanting [EG. The Mexican triumvirate at Telstra or multiple managers at Coles Myer or several Australian icons currently in trouble with imported management].
We have sold our soul to foreign manufacturers who can’t manage a decent profit other than the ‘incentive fees’ we pay them [Ford worldwide a couple of years ago].  And, we accept foreign management just because they are foreign and must therefore be much better than us.
This is utter bullshit!
Abbot and Shorten – how about working together with an Australian collective spirit and foster/create/allow the creation of something special?
We are really that good!!
Yes?

How about starting by immediately enforcing Australian only isles at supermarkets?

Thursday, February 6, 2014

ANZ and Corporate Governance

Yesterday in the Federal court ANZ was found guilty for illegally charging customers late payment fees. [All FSP’s and utilities will probably be in the same boat]

These extravagant, exorbitant and unconscionable fees will have to be paid back to all their customers with no time limit going backwards.  It’s not only the late payment fees which have to be refunded but most probably daily interest on each illegal fee going forward from the time of the illegal removal of the fee and any other effects that the fee may have forced such as dishonouring some other payment which should have never been dishonoured. 

Last night a spokesman for ANZ said on ABC radio [paraphrased] that the $15m this was going to cost ANZ is irrelevant to an organisation turning over billions. This rather smarmy comment seemed to sum up the bank’s attitude.  He said in effect that the $15m in paybacks meant nothing to a company the size of ANZ.  That arrogance is outstanding because it doesn't apologise for illegal acts or the effect on customers; he just said that they can afford to pay the fines.  This is appalling.

He didn't care.  He didn't care the bank acted illegally, he didn't care that it was costing the bank some $15m and he didn't care about shareholder losses.  I will also back it in that the $15m is just fees to be refunded and that the bank hasn't included the full cost to the bank for this issue including legal fees, staff fees, the cost of software to work through millions of transactions and the cost of lost customers and their costs including future ramifications from illegal charging. 

How did he know the fee quantum so quickly?  Could it be ANZ were well aware they were breaking the law? 

Remember it was just last week that ANZ had to refund $70m in overcharged fees to home loan customers!  Even ANZ’s own past CEO, John McFarlane said ANZ’s fees were unsustainable.  Greed seems to endemic and it’s getting worse.

Where is ANZ’s Corporate Governance on the rights of shareholders, responsibilities of the board, integrity and ethical behaviour?  Where is its fiduciary duty?


The questions are, ‘Is this the sort of culture we, as Australians, want to portray to the world and are these the sorts of people we want running our public companies?