Kim Wingerei blog posts
“Without idealists, the pragmatists would have nothing to do…”
Future Fund invested in Israeli company Elbit Systems – whose bombs are raining on the Palestinians
Documents obtained under FOI reveal Australia’s Future Fund has shares in controversial Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems, a company associated with the making of cluster-bombs. Michael West and Kim Wingerei report. Elbit Systems is blacklisted in countries...
Henry Kissinger is dead. Australian ex PMs fawns over the myth of a war criminal
From Paul Keating to Kevin Rudd and John Howard, Australian ex-PMs have been waxing lyrical about a man who, perhaps more than anyone else, is responsible for the myth of a rules-based world order. Paul Keating credits him with the One China policy, “the pivotal...
Consumers made to pay for electricity networks super-profits. What’s the scam?
A new report exposes Australian electricity networks’ supernormal profits of $11B, on top of ‘normal’ profits of $16B since 2014. In 2022 alone, the super profit represented between $80 and $400 annually per customer. What’s the scam? The scam is the electricity...
The Dixon Advisory saga ends, with lawyers, accountants and government coffers to benefit
The drawn-out saga of Dixon Advisory – the superannuation managers who enticed their clients into investment assets they managed – has come to an end. Four cents to the dollar for the superannuants; millions for lawyers, accountants and ASIC. What’s the scam? The scam...
ASIC. Big fat cash-cow or world-class regulator?
ASIC is back with new ways to ‘fix things’ following damaging testimony in yet another Senate Estimates hearing this week. Whatever the fix might be, holding Big 4 accountants or big corporates to account is still not in the corporate regulator’s plans. Michael West...
Optus CEO doing the right – and rare – thing. Being accountable.
After a gruelling two weeks of criticism, Optus’ CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin today announced her immediate resignation from the company. She took ultimate responsibility for the mistakes made on her watch, a rare occurrence in Australian business circles. Nobody is...
Duty bound to hide a crime. Appeals Court paves the way for McBride “guilty” verdict
David McBride was not given leave to appeal the decision made yesterday about the nature of his duties. It means Justice Mossop’s decision stands, and his duty is to the military chain of command, and only that. Following today’s proceedings in court was not easy for...
Is the law an ass? David McBride case takes another twist on day three
Justice Mossop has decided today that David McBride’s duty is to his superior officers, rather than the public. It means the jury, when finally empanelled, will be instructed accordingly, unless an appeal is successful. The origin of the phrase “the law is an ass” is...
Bloody Oath! McBride case – does a officer lawyer’s public duty trump his military duty?
Day two of the case against whistleblower David McBride focused on the intricacies of oath keeping and the meaning of duty. A key decision on this matter is expected on Wednesday, at which time the case may be referred to the Court of Appeal. It was never going to be...
Whistleblower McBride in court for exposing war crimes, supported by “War Coalition”
Labor and the Coalition voted against a Senate motion to end the prosecution of whistleblower David McBride today as the court case began in the Supreme Court of the ACT. Greens Senator David Shoebridge moved a motion for the Senate to vote to end the prosecution of...
Yes. Optus is right, it’s not good enough. But outage points to deeper flaws.
Twelve months after Optus was hacked and exposed customer data in droves, it is back in the spotlight again for all the wrong reasons. An outage that even impairs emergency calls is not good enough. What’s the scam? The scam is not just the inadequate redundancies in...
Qantas shows how much it cares about its customers, sorry, shareholders
Qantas’ AGM was a sombre affair, with Chairman Goyder and CEO Hudson at pains to tell everyone how much they cared as Alan Joyce got a golden $21.4m kiss goodbye. But announcing a mammoth share buyback. What’s the scam? The scam is yet another share buyback worth just...