Search This Blog

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Behind every great fortune there is a crime. Pt. 2

It turns out the title of this post is not an accurate quote from Honore de Balzac. In Le Pere Goriot (1835) is: "The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed."

Credit for the phrase should belong to Richard O'Connor. It is, ironically, from his 1971 book The Oil Barons; Men of Greed and Grandeur.

The photo, taken without acknowledgement or ethically obtained permission [hope that M.O. is not copyright?], depicts Twiggy and the Stooges when he acted as if he still thought most people would believe him. The last few days may have shown him otherwise. As wordsmith Sarah Toa says "Ain't the internet a beautiful thang?"

It'll be interesting to see if his GenerationOne is independent and ethical enough to take a stand on this. If it, sadly, turns out it's just spin and another Andrew Forrest tax minimisation strategy then perhaps it deserves to wither and die.

Is this just a glittering cover thrown over a cess pool? And whatever happened to that bloke that sung:
"How do we sleep while our beds are burning?

The time has come
To say fair's fair
To pay the rent, now
To pay our share"

(lyrics taken without acknowledgement or ethically obtained permission -hope that M.O. is not copyright?)

Be good to have him walking the talk. Imagine if he was involved in schools so had access to the best anti-bullying policies available. He could chat to his mate Stephen Stephen.Smith.MP@aph.gov.au and apply the torch he is belatedly applying to the ADF to the mining industry.

3 comments:

sarah toa said...

I hadn't thought about Gen1 as a tax minimisation strategy. Musta been a publicist, rather than an accountant, who thought that name up.

Fresh Local said...

I found GenerationOne very appealing when I first saw the TV ad. And then you via merc alerted me to the Yindjibarndi scandal. And the more I heard about Forrest the more off he seems. If the claim that he has never paid any corporate tax is accurate then he is in debt to the whole country. Workers have to pay tax.

Talk of respecting the people he's bullying makes him seem like a spouse beater. GenOne may be his "Sorry love. Here's some flowers I picked up at the servo on the way home. Put something on that blackeye would you"

Fresh Local said...

I got an email back from Peter Garrett's office: "I will convey your message to the Minister. However, please be advised
Mr Garrett is no longer the Minister for the Environment as that
portfolio is now the responsibility of the Hon. Tony Burke, MP."

So is this "Not my problem"?