cynicismcentral.org - TOWNSVILLE AUSTRALIA

Great Southern gifted Labor days after policy pledge

Ruth Williams

May 20, 2009
Sydney Morning Herald Online
http://www.smh.com.au/national/great-southern-gifted-labor-days-after-po...

THE failed investment company Great Southern donated $40,000 to the Labor Party in the run-up to the 2007 federal election - including $10,000 two days before the ALP's victory in November.

The second donation came two days after the party released a primary industries policy that was positive for the company.

Australian Electoral Commission records also show Great Southern made a $2000 donation to the now Energy Minister Martin Ferguson's campaign account on November 13, 2007. Mr Ferguson was shadow minister for transport, roads and tourism before the election, and was shadow primary industries minister until December 2006.

Great Southern gave nothing to the Liberal Party over the same period, but donated $5500 to the WA branch of the National Party in July 2007 and $1000 to the NSW branch of the ALP in May 2008.

Great Southern entered administration on Sunday owing $600 million, weeks after its rival Timbercorp met the same fate. The collapse of the two companies, which sold tax-effective investment products linked to agribusiness ventures, has sparked debate about managed investment schemes, and revived controversy about their impact on the environment and rural communities.

The fortunes of Great Southern and Timbercorp rose and fell on government policy and Tax Office rulings - peaking after tax breaks were reinstated in 2001, then plummeting after the Coalition scaled them back in 2007.

Labor's pre-election primary industry policy, released on November 20, 2007, was critical of the Coalition's stance, and promised to conduct a "comprehensive review" of the schemes.

Treasury launched the promised review last year.

The 2007-08 political donations were Great Southern's first since 2004-05, when it gave $20,000 each to the Liberal, National and Labor parties.

The ALP's national office declined to comment on the donations. But the Labor Party's code of conduct says the party does not accept funds that are subject to conditions of any kind, nor will it accept funds which, "even if only by inference", are aimed at gaining the party's support for "specific actions, attitudes or public statements".

A spokesman for Mr Ferguson said the donation was "received and disclosed in accordance with party rules".

The Nationals' WA President, Colin Holt, said the donation to his party was "part of the relationship between corporates and political parties that occurs".

But the Greens leader, Bob Brown, said the Great Southern donations demonstrated the need for a ban.

"There's a general rule that companies don't donate to political parties for no gain," he said.

The Age

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Talk of the north column
Townsville Bulletin

Timber felled
JOHN ANDERSEN
May 19th, 2009
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2009/05/19/53935_talknorth....

THE expected demise of Great Southern has happened. Expect its fall to be spectacular.

Up here in the North the company has thousands of hectares tied up with plantation timber and thousands and thousands of square kilometres in cattle stations. The company paid $53.5 million for 607,000 hectare Wrotham Park Station up near Chillagoe in 2006 and $28.5 million for Chudleigh Park north of Hughenden in the same year. Both places are now on the market and will go to auction at Jupiters in Townsville on June 19. I might be wrong, but I can't think of any bigger station auctions than this being staged in the city. Normally the really big money ones like these go to Brisbane. Says something for Townsville actually, that they are holding the auctions here. Charters Towers property guru Lorin Bishop from Elders said the two properties will come with around 70,000 head of cattle. He expects them to do well despite the global economic downturn.

Fallout will spread

OVER the past three years thousands of hectares of cane land in the Ingham, Tully and Innisfail has been bought by Great Southern and its competitor Timbercorp and planted to timber. Timbercorp has already gone belly-up. With both companies now fly-blown, the regional councils concerned must be asking themselves how the rates on the land are going to paid. A number of cattlemen in the north, particularly in the Charters Towers area, had hitched their wagon to Great Southern by leasing grazing land to the entity, but it's understood some saw the writing on the wall and had already terminated the arrangement by the time the proverbial had started hitting the fan.

Find out more

TO say there won't be a great deal of schadenfreude involved in Great Southern's demise would be to tell a lie. And if you want to find out just how dodgy these MIS funds are go to the web and read Michael Pascoe's scathing assessment on Business Day. It's a top read.

Unfair advantage gone

A LOT of people will say that as far as Great Southern is concerned "good riddance to bad rubbish". Companies like Great Southern and Timbercorp _ known as `managed investment schemes' _ provided primary industry tax breaks for investors by exploiting loopholes in the tax system not available to run-of-the-mill primary producers. Because of the tax breaks the companies could afford to pay inflated prices for land. This in effect gave them an unfair advantage in the marketplace. It's been an enduring mystery why these quasi-legal schemes were allowed to flourish and were not shut down by either the Howard or Rudd governments. A lack of courage is the most likely answer. Federal National Party pollies let their farmer mates down badly on this one.

White shoe movement

I AM reliably advised that if you are wanting to check out the latest footwear fashion of the white shoe brigade you no longer need go to the Gold Coast. Remember back in the old Joh days when white shoe supremo Mike Gore of Sanctuary Cove fame ruled the roost? Ah, those were the days. His son Craig, by the way, who is not travelling too well, followed in his old man's footsteps. Word is the white shoe brigade now hang their ivory-coloured loafers up at Mission Beach. Ah, well, there goes the beach, but it was a great while it lasted.