Monthly Archives: August 2014

Allegedly wanted a post-politics job with Tinkler: Joe Tripodi Photo: Rob Homer

It was the $10 million question at a corruption inquiry: “What’s in it for Joe Tripodi?”

Explosive evidence suggests the corrupt former Labor MP and his colleague Eric Roozendaal went out of their way to facilitate the approval of a coal terminal for embattled coal mogul Nathan Tinkler in Newcastle.

On Monday counsel assisting the Independent Commission Against Corruption asked Mr Tinkler’s former business partner David Sharpe the question on everyone’s lips.

Allegedly funded pamphlets: Nathan Tinkler. Photo: Rob Homer

“Tell me, what’s in it for Joe Tripodi?” Geoffrey Watson, SC, said.

“Nothing’s in it for Mr Tripodi,” Mr Sharpe replied.

“Really?” an incredulous Mr Watson said.

Targeted by smear campaign: Former Labor minister Jodi McKay. Photo: AAP

Mr Sharpe agreed the coal loader was worth “tens of millions of dollars” to the company. The ICAC heard that Mr Tinkler’s property development company Buildev spent thousands of dollars flying Mr Tripodi, then a humble backbencher, to Newcastle in the coal mogul’s helicopter to seek his advice.

“What other politician could you have called upon, flown up to Newcastle, [who would] do you a favour along those lines, Mr Sharpe?” Mr Watson asked.

“I don’t know,” Mr Sharpe said.

“There isn’t one, is there?” Mr Watson said.

“I don’t know,” the Buildev co-founder replied.

According to the Buildev notes, written by Mr Sharpe after the November 2010 meeting with Mr Tripodi, the then Labor MP was “going to get Eric to stop” a rival deal to Mr Tinkler’s coal terminal going to a government board for approval.

The notes also reveal a plot in which Mr Roozendaal would remove the land from the control of a state-owned company and deliver it to the Tinkler group.

The memo, entitled “Joe notes”, described the then ALP powerbroker as Buildev’s high level adviser. The notes also set out Buildev’s plan to approach corrupt former planning minister Tony Kelly and corrupt bureaucrat Warwick Watkins to see if they were “still on side”.

The inquiry has previously heard that Mr Tinkler’s proposal was against government policy and was not supported by the then Labor MP for Newcastle, Jodi McKay.

Mr Sharpe admitted that Buildev illegally funded an anonymous “dirty tricks” campaign against Ms McKay to oust her from the seat.

One part of the campaign, in which Mr Tripodi allegedly played a crucial role, was an anonymous flyer campaign against Ms McKay.

Mr Sharpe said he had made a “bad choice of words” when he congratulated Buildev co-founder Darren Williams on the smear campaign and urged him to “kick the shit out of her [McKay]”.

Text messages from Ann Wills, a Buildev consultant and longtime ALP staffer described as Mr Tripodi’s “eyes and ears” in Newcastle, referred repeatedly to Ms McKay as a “bitch”.

She told Mr Williams in one message that she was “on my way home to put the bitch in the freezer!”

She said this was a jocular reference to controversial former federal Labor MP Belinda Neal’s reported habit of putting photos and names of her political enemies in the deep freeze.

When Ms McKay lost her seat to the Liberals’ Tim Owen, who quit politics earlier this month, Ms Wills texted: “Woo hoo…The Princess is dead.”

Ms Wills gave one suggestion as to what Mr Tripodi might have gained from assisting Mr Tinkler’s company in the months before the March 2011 election, which swept Labor from power.

“You knew that after the election Mr Tripodi hoped to get a retainer or some position assisting Buildev on the proposal, didn’t you?” Mr Watson asked.

“Yes,” Ms Wills replied.

source: smh.com.au

British and Russian tourists top the list

Tourist arrivals increased by 5.7 per cent in July, Cyprus’ Statistical Service said this week, announcing also an important increase of 11.4 per cent in Cypriots’ trips abroad.

The figures showed an increase of 5.9 per cent in tourist arrivals in the first seven months of the year.

On the basis of the results of the Passengers Survey, tourist arrivals reached 381,955 in July 2014 compared to 361,442 in July 2013.

In particular, arrivals from Russia were up by 20.6 per cent (from 96,641 in July 2013 to 116,582 in July 2014) and arrivals from Israel increased by 63.5 per cent (from 6,307 to 10,311 this year).

However, tourist arrivals from the UK were down by 4.1 per cent (127,152 in July 2014 compared to 132,566 in July 2013), from Sweden by 4.3 per cent (17,446 compared to 18,221), from Norway by 13.7 per cent (11,029 compared to 12,787) and from Greece by 9.6 per cent (10,127 compared to 11,205 ).

For the period January – July 2014, arrivals of tourists totalled 1,361,794 compared to 1,285,577 in the corresponding period of 2013, increasing by 5.9 per cent.

On the basis of the results of the Passengers Survey, 129,602 residents of Cyprus returned from a trip abroad in July 2014 compared to 116,321 a year ago, up by 11.4 per cent.

In July there was an increase of 25.6 per cent on the trips of residents to Greece (from 44,757 in July 2013 to 56,195 in July 2014).

Source: CNA

Intact stone walls enclosing the Amphipolis tomb lead archaeologists to believe the tomb is untouched.

The massive stones sealing the entrance to the Hellenistic era tomb unearthed at the site of Ancient Amphipolis in central Macedonia must have protected the find from grave robbers, the archaeologist supervising the excavation said last week.

“It’s difficult for such a grave to have been plundered,” Katerina Peristeri said during a briefing of a nine-member delegation from the leftist opposition SYRIZA party on the progress of the dig.

The delegation, led by the party’s MP responsible for cultural issues, Anna Hatzisofia, was not allowed to enter the tomb, which is the largest of its kind ever discovered in Greece.

Ms Peristeri urged the authorities to do everything to help their work, describing the grave as a “unique” find of “global significance.”

But she said it would take time before archaeologists could be sure of what lies inside the tomb.

“We are like surgeons. We proceed very slowly. The excavation will show us what lies inside.”

Source: Ekathimerini

Property taxes in Greece hinder economic growth, says Alpha Bank.

Growth will continue to improve, forecasts bank report.

The overtaxation of property is suppressing the potential of an economic recovery, which could have been achieved as far back as the first quarter of 2013 had faulty and detrimental property taxes not been imposed, Alpha Bank highlights in its newly released weekly report.
The bank notes that economic irregularities have been caused by two coinciding property taxes in 2014, these being the existing so-called FAP tax imposed on property valued at over 300,000 euros, and the newly introduced ENFIA property tax, currently undergoing revisions before payments begin, most likely in late September.

In its report, Alpha also notes that the nominal property value levels being used by tax authorities to calculate property taxes are well above actual market values, which is playing a major role in restraining the country’s economic activity.

“Economic recovery and greater employment growth are being catalytically obstructed at present by two very significant and crucial taxation errors that are contributing considerably to the further reduction of activity in the real estate market, from levels that are already low,” Alpha stresses in its report.

The bank goes on to state that such policies are further damaging taxpayers’ already dented willingness to cooperate, ultimately depriving the state of significant tax revenue decreases, rather than increases, as is desired.

Alpha estimates that the aforementioned property tax errors deprived the country’s GDP figure of 1.26 percentage points during the first quarter of 2014, as well as a further 0.8 per cent in the second quarter.

Despite the concerns expressed in the Alpha report, it does point to some encouraging news on the economic growth front. The bank is forecasting year-on-year GDP growth of between 1.5 and 2 per cent in the second half of 2014, following a growth rate of 0.6 per cent in the first half of the year.

GDP growth in the second half of 2014 would be supported by factors such as a significant increase in exports of products and services, as well as major gains in the sectors of tourism and shipping, according to the Alpha report.

Meanwhile, in a report of its own, Eurobank highlights that there is no leeway for any fiscal slackening, while adding that the achievement of a primary surplus of 1.5 per cent of GDP for 2014 is attainable.

The bank, however, does warn that a series of factors need to be overcome if threats to budget target figures are to be avoided. The threats cited by Eurobank included court decisions obliging salary refunds for certain professional groups, as well as the severe impact on the taxpaying ability of citizens as a result of the deep recession in Greece over the past six years.

Source: ekathimerini

Angelos Frangopoulos, CEO of Sky News. Photo: Andy Baker, The Australian.

Two Greek Australians are amongst the 75 most influential people in Australian television, according to an informal list compiled by a Fairfax Media panel of experts and released earlier last week.

Angelos Frangopoulos, CEO of Sky News, has found himself on the list of the most powerful players in the television industry, while director Peter Andrikidis made it to the list of the most influential artisans.

The list draws together the network bosses, the players, the indie producer partnerships, and the contract men, with the artisans, the deal-makers and the agents.

Topping the list was Richard Freudenstein, chief executive of Foxtel, followed by David Gyngell, Channel Nine chief executive, and the former Hollywood player who now controls Australia’s biggest regional TV network – Bruce Gordon, chairman of WIN Television.

With a 13-year-reign as chief executive of the Australian News Channel business under his belt, Angelos Frangopoulos, 48, now has another five separate channels under his control in Australia and New Zealand.

He oversees over 200 staff developing video content for a multitude of screens.

Mr Frangopoulos’ empire recently expanded, with his business taking over responsibility for Australia’s leading meteorological reporting service, The
Weather Channel, which was relaunched as Sky News Weather last year.

Having started his media career in the 1980s as a reporter at Prime News in Orange, Frangopoulos joined Australian News Channel soon after its inception in 1996 when he returned to Sydney from a stint at BSkyB in London.

Joining Frangopoulos on the list of the powerful players were Rikkie Proost, executive producer of My Kitchen Rules and Brian Walsh, director of television at Foxtel.

Director Peter Andrikidis, the pioneer who brought film-standard direction to the small screen, was amongst the most influential artisans in television industry, with his recent credits including Fat Tony & Co, Janet King and Serangoon Road.

Source: Fairfax Media.

Jennifer Aniston says “my dad is 100 per cent Greek; he turned 81 and he barely has a wrinkle”.

It is not an expensive make-up artist or the best Hollywood stylists that make Jennifer Aniston look young at 45. As the Friends star admitted in her recent interview – it is her Greek heritage to blame.

Jennifer Aniston revealed a lot in her interview with Yahoo Beauty editor Bobbi Brown – including her weight, and secrets about her hair, staying youthful looking and even what she’s eating.

The actress, daughter of the 81-year-old John Aniston, best known for his long-running role of Victor Kiriakis on the soap Days of Our Lives, revealed that her Greek DNA is a big part of the secret.

Revealing her secret of young looks, Aniston said:

“My dad is 100 per cent Greek; he turned 81 and he barely has a wrinkle. And neither did my grandmother, who was 95 when she died.”

Taking a page from the well-known Greek expression “everything in moderation”, Aniston also added, regarding a question about her eating habits, “I have a Greek salad in front of me, but I also indulge. Oh my god, there’s a balance.”

Multiculturalism allows migrants to join Team Australia in their own way and at their own pace, says Tony Abbott.

Australia is an immigrant country and multiculturalism is at the heart of the Australian story, said Prime Minister Tony Abbott this week, while addressing an ethnic media conference in Melbourne.

“I want people to join the team, but there is no Australian test, and the whole point of multiculturalism is to allow people to join the team in their own way and at their own pace,” said the prime minister, who went on to describe his position on multiculturalism as a “very small l liberal, if you like”.

“Except for the indigenous people every single Australian is a migrant, or the descendant of migrants. We should always remember that, particularly when questions are raised about integration and attachments. While those who were born here never had to consciously opt for Australia, every single person who comes here has deliberately, consciously, willingly opted for Australia, he or she has voted with his or her feet for Australia,” said Mr Abbott.

In a wide ranging interview the Prime Minister of Australia amongst others referred to the back down of his government in relation to section 18C of the Race Discrimination Act and the name issue of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, (FYROM). He also committed his support for an expanded export oriented education system, talked about the guiding principles of his foreign policy, clarified certain issues of his new proposed tougher standing on terrorism and indicated that migrants should be prepared to bear the costs of bringing to Australia their elderly parents.

“This is a government which is committed to multicultural Australia and one of the reasons why we decided to drop the proposed changes to section 18C of the Race Discrimination Act was because we don’t want to be needlessly divided.

I made the call in the interest of community harmony, in the interest of trying to ensure that as far as it is humanly possible Australians are pulling in the same direction.

It’s not often governments and Prime Ministers say we didn’t get it right and I’m prepared to accept that on that particular issue we didn’t get it right,” said the Prime Minister.

According to Mr Abbott the three guiding foreign policy principles of his Coalition government are: “We advance our interests, we protect our citizens and we uphold our values.”

Asked about why Australia does not recognise FYROM with its own self proclaimed constitutional name, as other countries do, Tony Abbott said: “It’s a long time since I turned my attention to FYROM as we used to call it in those days. Our natural predisposition is to call countries what they wish to be called, in some instances, for reasons of international diplomacy, we don’t follow the general rule. I’m going to pass on that question. I’ll come back to you”, said the Prime Minister, to the journalist who asked the question.

Speaking about International Education, he described it as a very important Australian export industry and that he would like to see it expanded. Education Minister Christopher Pyne and Immigration and Border Protection Minister Scott Morrison are talking with the sector in order to ensure this can happen he said, whilst emphasising that he would like to see a much greater student exchange program between Australia and other regional countries.

Addressing the issue of possible threats of terrorist acts inside Australia he said that some of the announced extra 630 million dollars that will be allocated will be used to boost biometric screenings in airports, the presence of ASIS abroad and the ability of ASIO to monitor more people in Australia, once they come back from possible trouble spots abroad.

“It is in the interest of every single Australian that we are protected against potential internal terrorist threats. It’s particularly in the interest of our migrant communities that we are protected against potential domestic terrorism, because there are few things that will strain our social fabric as much as a major terrorist event here in Australia. It will strain our social fabric. As Prime Minister my first duty as far as it is humanly possible, is to maintain the safety and the unity of our country,” he said.

“I think it is very important that as far as it is possible, when you come to the new world you are focused to your new home. Naturally, you will cherish what you bring from your old home, but it is the new home and the future rather than the old home and the past which should be our fundamental focus,” he stressed.

Pressed by a relevant Neos Kosmos question, Prime Minister Tony Abbott qualified his words by stating in his concluding remarks that he is not referring to entire communities when he talks about national security, but to individual people “Who have left this country to engage in terrorism abroad” and then come back home.

The Prime Minister was accompanied in his news conference by the Minister for Social Services Kevin Andrews who justified the inclusion of the portfolio of multiculturalism and citizenship in his own Department as a deliberate government policy aiming at providing integrated settlement services to all migrants.

source: Neos Kosmos