The Liberals have appointed all the key personnel to corporate cop ASIC. The decision on whether to appeal the loss it suffered in the court case it brought against advertising mogul Harold Mitchell will be a key test. Stephen Mayne makes the case for an appeal.
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Rio Tinto: ditch the colonial baggage and get with a 21st-century program
Astronomical profits on the back of continued exploitation of Indigenous-owned land in WA. It’s time Rio upped the royalties it pays, moved its HQ to Australia, hired Indigenous Australians in senior roles, and ditched its colonial British establishment attitude.
Pokies Putsch: RSL’s pokies-captured old guard fend off young veterans reforms
The push is on around Australia to re-open club pokies dens. At RSL Victoria, the old guard board has been caught out conducting a fire sale of veteran aged care accommodation to finance pokies licences.
Keep the Pokies Shut: Australians are saving $38 million a day
The pokies are shut. Thousands of Australians believe they should stay shut for as long as possible. Meanwhile, more of the big pokies players are looking to quit the toxic industry. Journalist and anti-gambling campaigner Stephen Mayne reports on the latest dramatic developments in pokies-land, particularly RSL Victoria as its overpaid “pokies manager” Tabcorp tries to sell out.
ASX Heist: small shareholders ripped by bankers in rash of emergency capital raisings
Small investors on the ASX are being ripped off again by Wall Street investment banks, writes shareholder activist Stephen Mayne. This time, it’s a sneaky tweak to the rules governing how companies raise new capital, and right now, there are a lot of companies raising new capital, or dying to …
Revealed: how the Murdoch men looted $1.4 billion in salary from public companies
News Corp’s Australian newspapers are quick to attack union leaders and local government bureaucrats for being overpaid, but somehow they’ve missed the biggest salary looting exercise by their own bosses in the history of public company capitalism.
Quid Pro Quo: who paid who before the Election and what do they want?
Nine months after the Election, we find out who bought it. From News Corp to GetUp, from Adani to the Australian Bankers Association, Stephen Mayne, the country’s top journalist on campaign finance, looks at the big donors, what they are buying
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Ervin & Charlotte Vidor
Ervin and Charlotte Vidor are pioneers in the Australian hotel and property development industries. Through their Toga Group empire, which includes two Dark Companies, the pair control over 10,000 hotel rooms across Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe.
Internet’s founder, US officials slap down News and Nine’s crusade on Google
Is Government intervention viable, or just a favour for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Peter Costello’s Nine Entertainment? Opposition is growing both locally and globally to media laws introduced by the Coalition Government requiring tech giants Google and Facebook to pay for displaying news content. Kim Wingerei delves into the numbers.
A Letter to President Biden: Rebuilding US credibility
You will be acutely aware that, after the ravages of the Trump years, you have a big healing job ahead of you, not only at home but abroad. Too often in recent times America’s allies, partners and friends around the world have found ourselves regarded as...
China-Australia trade conflict is not all China’s doing
Post Covid, it will be hard for Australia to grow quickly without China’s market, capital, people exchange and know-how. Finding a détente is essential. However, Australia targeted China before it targeted us. After signing a free trade and investment agreement with...
Joe Biden’s Inauguration: “We must end this uncivil war”
Racism was the core of Trump’s politics. The country divided along the lines of the Civil War and of post-reconstruction America. In his inaugural address, Biden acknowledged this reality. His Administration will prioritise tackling the pandemic but success with that...
