SF> yet where was she when the sale of both Qantas and the
SF> Comm/Bank was being put through.  The silence was deafening.

RS> It was indeed. And clearly since both major partys were in favor of
RS> selling Qantas and the ComBank, and got the vast bulk of the votes, the
RS> opinion of a tiny party like the Democrats that didnt even get double
RS> digit percentage of the votes is completely and utterly irrelevant.

SF> Well what the hell are they going on about
SF> when they say they hold the balance of power?

They dont on THAT issue, because both major partys agreed on those.

SF> Well there is not much of the farm left to sell.

RS> Thats not really the farm, and there is no reason why a
RS> government cant choose to restrict foreign ownership etc too.

SF> Restrict foreign onwership?

Yes, its perfectly doable, at any level you like.

SF> Look whats happening to Qantas the f/ ownership level is currently over the
SF> limit now yet the media aren't blasting us with that like they usually do.

Well, its not over the limit enough to matter much and there was
intentionally provision made to allow time to fix problems like that.

SF> We can all say in future years that those were
SF> the assets which the taxpayers use to own.

RS> I've never been convinced on this 'asset' line. With say
RS> the ComBank, I really cant see the slightest point in
RS> having just one owned by the guvmint, completely mad IMO.

SF> Competition sounds like a dirty word.

Nope, I am happy to have competition, and in fact think that
the major banks should be allowed to all just merge into one or
anything that removes competition. I just cant see the point in
the federal government owning one of them. That completely mad.

It would be just as mad to have a federal government owned supermarket chain.

SF> Of course when private enterprise gets in you can
SF> forget about the service continuing if it's uneconomic.

RS> Fine by me, if it cant make money, pull the plug.

RS> We do that with grocery shops, we dont have a government owned chain
RS> of those to ensure that the places where its uneconomic have one.

SF> Don't say it to loud Cheryl Kernot might be listening.

Yeah, they are wooly minded enough to want to do stuff like that.

SF> Feel sorry for the rural people.

RS> I dont, I LIVE in the country and have chosen to do my banking
RS> ignoring the banks, have done for well ever TWENTY years now.

SF> I'm impressed.

RS> And the guvmint airline never bothered about servicing me either.

SF> You probably weren't waving the flag high enough Rod. :-)

I tried that and some bureaucrat said my flag wasnt accurate enough |-)
@EOT:

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