Telstra complaints rising? Telstra customers are complaining about service issues in Melbourne and Sydney CBDs. And apparently there’s a freeze on engineering budget increases while the company builds its super-fast 4G “LTE” network, which is compounding the problem, according to our tipster. “They’ve kept a lid on it so far but the complaint volumes are rising … and so is churn to the competition.” Have you experienced problems? Phone us (actually, email would be better) …
Island Labor votes for marriage. The Tasmanian Labor Party backed gay marriage in a vote at yesterday’s state conference. Delegate Brian Mitchell reports from the floor:
“Moved by Stuart Benson, president of Young Labor. Seconded by Senator Carol Brown. Emotional speeches punctuated by applause and standing ovations. North-west coast grandfather Peter Moore brought tears to eyes recounting how one of his ‘knockabout’ boys came out as gay, leading to him changing his world view and to becoming ‘enlightened’. Right faction Senator Helen Polley spoke in opposition — ‘I wore red to hide the tomatoes’ — and was confident the Tas resolution would be defeated at the national conference. Motion was carried with prolonged applause and standing ovation.”
No deal on library pay. It’s back to the drawing board on pay negotiations for staff at the National Library in Canberra, after staff overwhelmingly rejected a new enterprise agreement:
From: Gerry Linehan
To: “All Staff (Priority)”
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2011 13:30:06 +1000
Subject: Enterprise Agreement outcomeDear Colleagues
You will have been anticipating the results of the Staff Vote on the proposed Enterprise Agreement 2011 – 2014 for the National Library. I wish to advise that the response rate from staff was very high with 83.4% of those eligible to vote, choosing to cast a vote.
The results of the staff vote are:
Yes: 78 (19%)
No: 330 (81%)As the majority of voting staff did not endorse the proposed Enterprise Agreement, the Library will need to consider the implications of this result. Subsequently, negotiations will need to resume. Further advice will be issued once the new processes have been determined, but I would expect that the first step will be to seek formal feedback from staff.
Can I thank all those staff who engaged so actively in this important issue — so far and seek everyone’s continued involvement as we attempt to develop — an Agreement that meets the concerns of staff and maintains the viability of the Library into the future.
Regards
Gerry Linehan
Assistant Director-General
Corporate Services Division
National Library of Australia
ACCC should look at C&A deal. A deal announced this morning for Rio Tinto and Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp to buy out minority investors in miner Coal & Allied Industries could give competition watchdog headaches, Crikey‘s Glenn Dyer speculates:
“Rio Tinto already owned 75% of Coal & Allied and normally the involvement of Mitsubishi wouldn’t be a bother. But Mitsubishi Corp’s Mitsubishi Development unit, which holds 10.2% of Coal & Allied, also owns 50% of BMA, the world’s largest hard coking coal exporter in Queensland. BMA is the BHP-Mitsubishi Alliance. NSW-based Coal & Allied isn’t in the hard coking coal business, but is in the so-called soft (lower quality) coking coal export market and thermal coal for power stations and cement factories. There has been a lot of alarmist rubbish written about the Chinese and Indian invasions into the Australian resources markets, but Japanese giants like Mitsubishi and Mitsui are already here in coal and iron ore in particular (and have been for decades) and many media writers are completely unaware of their strong positions.”
Funeral worker reformed? What apparently reputable funeral parlour business in Brisbane is employing a person with a fairly extensive criminal past? “I’m sure grieving relatives would be horrified to know that this person has access to items of value on the deceased at the time of death,” says our spy. “What’s happened to blue card checking?”
Qantas rolling in card surcharges. Qantas argues the Reserve Bank should not cap credit card surcharges. One customer understands why: “I just booked a trip to Bangkok for two. Qantas wanted to charge a whopping $60 credit card surcharge on my Mastercard. So I went to CBA Netbank and tried to pay it via BPAY on my Mastercard. I was advised that the merchant (Qantas) won’t allow BPAY from a credit card. Is this not restraint of free trade? Maybe the Reserve Bank should investigate that.”
Better online, admits retailer. On Friday it was the David Jones assistant that inadvertently sent the shopper online, today the JB Hi-Fi staffer who admits defeat up-front: “Go to JB to buy a computer game. Can’t find it in stock and ask for assistance. Takes 10 minutes for overworked assistant in the gaming section to reach me. He can’t find the game either in stock or on the store’s computer system but helpfully gives me the address of an overseas website where I will be able to download the game for half the price it is advertised in Australia. ‘I get all my games there, it’s always cheaper,’ he says.” Oh dear.
“There has been a lot of alarmist rubbish written about the Chinese and Indian invasions into the Australian resources markets, but Japanese giants like Mitsubishi and Mitsui are already here in coal and iron ore in particular (and have been for decades) and many media writers are completely unaware of their strong positions.”
Most of the Japanese mining corporations take minority holdings in Australian mines. For decades their major contribution was in providing capital for expansion and facilitating sales through their corporate networks in Japan.
As your report states “Mitsubishi Corp’s Mitsubishi Development unit, which holds 10.2% of Coal & Allied, also owns 50% of BMA, the world’s largest hard coking coal exporter in Queensland. BMA is the BHP-Mitsubishi Alliance”
That minority holding is pretty standard for Japanese resource companies, they want to lock in long-term contracts to ensure stable supply, and see having a seat at the management table as being one way of doing it without having to hold majority control.
This is somewhat different from Chiese and Indian companies, many of whom want majority control and, particularly in the case of the Chinese, are government owned.