The former Administrator of Ansett, Peter Hedge, has angrily denied conflict of interest claims involving his firm, Pricewaterhouse Coopers. And he's angry that some have questioned his competence. With Qantas unable to replace all regional air routes that were Ansett's responsibility, communities in country towns throughout Australia are banding together to try to save their local airlines. US President George W Bush has now stepped in to try to calm rising tensions, calling for an end to violence against American Muslims as he visited a Mosque in Washington following acknowledgment by the FBI, that they're investigating dozens of cases of violence against Muslims. Business reporter Zoe Daniel discusses Peter Hedge's resignation from the post of Administrator of Ansett.
Dictionaries define 'entitlement' as a just claim, a right, or a title.
But the New Zealand financial press today has been blaming Australian workers for claiming the long service leave, redundancy, and other benefits they're entitled to, and thereby putting Air New Zealand under pressure. The suggestion is that paying the half a billion dollars worth of entitlements that the employees have worked for, would break the bank at Air New Zealand, so the shares have plummeted. A full bench of the Federal Court has overturned a judge's decision that would have seen the Tampa asylum seekers brought to mainland Australia. This afternoon the full bench delivered its judgement, leaving the way open for the Government to land the asylum seekers on Nauru. The voyage of hundreds of asylum seekers rescued by the Norwegian freighter, the Tampa, off Christmas Island nearly three weeks ago, maybe drawing to a close.