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WA Inc
WA Inc was the name for a set of public-private partnerships in Western Australia in the 1980s associated with the Western Australian Development Corporation, which became a political scandal. The state government, which was led for much of the period by premier Brian Burke, engaged in business dealings with several prominent businessmen, including Alan Bond, Laurie Connell, Dallas Dempster, John Roberts, and Warren Anderson. These dealings resulted in a loss of public money, estimated at a minimum of $600 million and the insolvency of several large corporations. Bond and Connell were major contributors to the party in government, the Labor Party and its remarkable fundraising structure, the John Curtin Foundation. A royal commission (the ''Royal Commission into Commercial Activities of Government and Other Matters'') was established in 1990 by Labor premier Carmen Lawrence to examine the dealings. Connell alleged n evidence to the Commissionthat Hawke dropped a prop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curtin Foundation
Curtin may refer to: Places *Curtin, Australian Capital Territory *Curtin, Oregon, U.S. *Curtin Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, U.S. *Curtin, Nicholas County, West Virginia, U.S. *Curtin, Webster County, West Virginia, U.S. *RAAF Base Curtin, Derby, Western Australia *Division of Curtin, an Australian electoral division in Western Australia Other uses *Curtin (surname), a surname common in Ireland *Curtin (2007 film), ''Curtin ''(2007 film), about Australian Prime Minister John Curtin *Curtin FM, a radio station based in Perth, Western Australia *Curtin University, in Western Australia **Curtin College See also *Curtain (other) {{Disambiguation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Australian Development Corporation
The Western Australian Development Corporation (WADC) was a trading corporation established in 1983 by the Burke ministry of Western Australia. It enabled the state Labor government to involve itself in large-scale business transactions without the normal transparency and accountability of government-guaranteed corporations, and was part of what became known as WA Inc. It appointed John Horgan chairman on a salary of $800,000 p.a., and formed subsidiaries including Exim Corporation which sought to create and exploit export markets for education and other products. The enabling Act provided that "(4.3) The Corporation is an agent of the Crown in right of the State and enjoys the status, immunities and privileges of the Crown..." while "(4.4) Notwithstanding subsection (3), the Corporation shall not be subject to direction by the Minister..."Parliament of Western AustraliaWestern Australian Development Corporation Act 1983 (No. 87 of 1983)at Australasian Legal Information Institut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Petrochemical
Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as maize, palm fruit or sugar cane. The two most common petrochemical classes are olefins (including ethylene and propylene) and aromatics (including benzene, toluene and xylene isomers). Oil refineries produce olefins and aromatics by fluid catalytic cracking of petroleum fractions. Chemical plants produce olefins by steam cracking of natural gas liquids like ethane and propane. Aromatics are produced by catalytic reforming of naphtha. Olefins and aromatics are the building-blocks for a wide range of materials such as solvents, detergents, and adhesives. Olefins are the basis for polymers and oligomers used in plastics, resins, fibers, elastomers, lubricants, and gels. Global ethylene production was 190 milli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kevin Parry
Kevin John Parry (1933 – 26 November 2010) was a businessman from Western Australia, most noted for his backing of the Taskforce '87 syndicate which unsuccessfully defended the 1987 America's Cup in Fremantle, Western Australia. The defence cost over $20 million and built and raced three 12-metre class boats: ''Kookaburra I'', ''Kookaburra II'', and '' Kookaburra III''. In his younger years, Parry had been a noted Australian baseball player. He later established the Perth Heat baseball team as well as funding the first purpose-built baseball stadium in Perth, Parry Field at Belmont. Parry headed the diversified Parry Corporation group (formerly Parry's Esplanade Limited and before that Parry's Department Stores), which included the Perth-based Parry's department stores which he developed from his father's backyard furniture workshop. In 1986, Parry Corporation was ranked 96 in a listing of the top 100 Australian non-financial firms. The Scitech centre in West Perth was su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Bond
Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s; the biggest corporate collapse in Australian history; and also his criminal conviction that saw him serve four years in prison. He is also remembered for bankrolling the successful challenge for the 1983 America's Cup, the first time the New York Yacht Club had lost it in its 132-year history. He also founded Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia. Early life Alan Bond was born on 22 April 1938, the son of Frank and Kathleen Bond in the Hammersmith district of London, England. In 1950, aged 12, he emigrated to Australia with his parents and his elder sister Geraldine, living in Fremantle, near Perth. At the age of 14, he was charged with stealing and being unlawfully on premises. Aged 18, he was arrested for being unlawfully on premises, and reportedly admitted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SGIO (Western Australia)
SGIO was an insurance company founded and based in Western Australia. Established in 1926 as the State Government Insurance Office by the Government of Western Australia, it provides business insurance. It is a subsidiary of Insurance Australia Group (IAG). The company also previously offered personal insurance. In June 2022, IAG announced that SGIO will no longer offer personal insurance to customers, and will transfer new and existing customers to NRMA Insurance from December 2022. History On 15 June 1926, the Government of Western Australia established the State Government Insurance Office (SGIO) to provide workers' compensation insurance to miners in the Kalgoorlie goldfields. In August 1992, the Lawrence Government announced the SGIO was to be sold. This was completed in March 1994 with the SGIO listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). In 1998 the NRMA and Wesfarmers both made takeover offers with the NRMA ultimately successful and the SGIO delisted from the A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Holmes à Court
Michael Robert Hamilton Holmes à Court (27 July 1937 – 2 September 1990) was a South African-born Australian businessman who became Australia's first billionaire, before dying suddenly of heart failure in 1990 at the age of 53. A great-great-grandson of William Holmes à Court, 2nd Baron Heytesbury, and a grand-nephew of William Frederick Holmes à Court, 3rd Baron Heytesbury, Holmes à Court was one of the world's most feared corporate raiders through the 1980s, having increased his properties single-handedly from virtually nothing to a diversified resources and media group with an estimated value immediately before the 1987 stock market crash of about A$2 billion. Shareholders in the company enjoyed enormous investment growth. During 1984 Robert Holmes à Court's horse Black Knight won the Melbourne Cup with a time of 3 minutes 18.19 seconds. Holmes à Court died intestate, and his estate was to be divided one-third for his widow Janet (née Ranford), and the re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bond Corporation
Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s; the biggest corporate collapse in Australian history; and also his criminal conviction that saw him serve four years in prison. He is also remembered for bankrolling the successful challenge for the 1983 America's Cup, the first time the New York Yacht Club had lost it in its 132-year history. He also founded Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia. Early life Alan Bond was born on 22 April 1938, the son of Frank and Kathleen Bond in the Hammersmith district of London, England. In 1950, aged 12, he emigrated to Australia with his parents and his elder sister Geraldine, living in Fremantle, near Perth. At the age of 14, he was charged with stealing and being unlawfully on premises. Aged 18, he was arrested for being unlawfully on premises, and reportedly admitte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lender Of Last Resort
In public finance, a lender of last resort (LOLR) is a financial entity, generally a central bank, that acts as the provider of liquidity to a financial institution which finds itself unable to obtain sufficient liquidity in the interbank lending market when other facilities or such sources have been exhausted. It is, in effect, a government guarantee to provide liquidity to financial institutions. Since the beginning of the 20th century, most central banks have been providers of lender of last resort facilities, and their functions usually also include ensuring liquidity in the international markets in general. The objective is to prevent economic disruption as a result of financial panics and bank runs spreading from one bank to the others due to a lack of liquidity in the first one. There are varying definitions of a lender of last resort, but a comprehensive one is that it is "the discretionary provision of liquidity to a financial institution (or the market as a wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1987 Stock Market Crash
Black Monday (also known as Black Tuesday in some parts of the world due to time zone differences) was a global, severe and largely unexpected stock market crash on Monday, October 19, 1987. Worldwide losses were estimated at US$1.71 trillion. The severity sparked fears of extended economic instability or a reprise of the Great Depression. Possible explanations for the initial fall in stock prices include a fear that stocks were significantly overvalued and were certain to undergo a correction, persistent US trade and budget deficits, and rising interest rates. Another explanation for Black Monday comes from the decline of the dollar, followed by a lack of faith in governmental attempts to stop that decline. In February 1987, leading industrial countries had signed the Louvre Accord, hoping that monetary policy coordination would stabilize international money markets, but doubts about the viability of the accord created a crisis of confidence. The fall may have been accelerat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Berinson
Joseph Max Berinson (7 January 1932 – 2 June 2018) was an Australian politician who represented the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the Australian House of Representatives and the Western Australian Legislative Council. He was Minister for the Environment in the Whitlam government for several months in 1975, later serving a decade as Attorney-General of Western Australia. Early life Berinson was born on 7 January 1932 in his family home in Highgate, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth. His parents were Shulem (Samuel) Berinson, a master baker, and Rivka (Rebecca) née Finkelstein, both of whom were Palestinian Jews from the city of Safed. His father migrated to Australia in the early 1910s and his mother migrated to Australia in the early to mid 1920s. Berinson had two older sisters, Goola (born 1924) and Ethel (born 1925). Berinson attended Highgate Primary School and won a scholarship to attend Perth Modern School. After matriculating in 1948, he studied pharmacy at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julian Grill
Julian Fletcher Grill (born 15 May 1940) is an Australian former politician. Grill was a member of the Parliament of Western Australia between 1977 and 2001. Early life and education Grill was born in Sydney and was brought up in Broken Hill, Collie and Subiaco. He attended Perth Modern School and the University of Western Australia from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws. Legal career Grill was admitted to the Western Australian Bar of the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 1966. A partner of Henshaw, Wheeldon and Grill, Evans and Grill, and Grill Browne and Co, he specialised in mining and resources law. Parliamentary career Grill was elected as the Member for Yilgarn-Dundas in Western Australia's Lower House in 1977. Due to redistributions the seat changed a number of times, initially becoming Esperance-Dundas and eventually Eyre. He was re-elected in subsequent elections, and was promoted to the front bench in 1981. Grill became Minister for Transport i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
