Boatloads of fun
Like many Western Australians, The Note understands just how expensive keeping a boat is.
What with the cost of pens these days, the upkeep, and the militant staff ... then there’s the hospitality bills that seem to swell when they come into contact with water.
So no wonder beleaguered offshore services group Neptune Marine was keen to offload one its vessels. This week it took a $7.5 million financial hit after selling its ship Neptune Trident to an Indonesian group for $14 million.
“The emerging potential for ongoing operational losses against the vessel following the cancellation of anticipated work scopes resulted in the decision to sell being brought forward,” Neptune's acting chief executive Robin King said.
The Note has obviously been mistaken in the belief that seafaring types were straight talkers.
Hedging their bets
While the Australian Workers Union boss Paul Howes has had no trouble hammering his prime ministerial proxy, Julia Gillard, The Note was bemused to find that a once-dreaded opponent of Labor and the union movement is less inclined to speak out.
The National Farmers Federation was this week looking a little oddly out of fashion with its conservative bedfellows when it refused to condemn the carbon tax proposed by the federal government.
The NFF, once a major conservative force, admits farmers are concerned about the tax but has held back taking sides because it wants to be able to work with the government.
The free market WA-based Pastoralists and Graziers Association leapt on the NFF leader Jock Laurie’s position, suggesting it was limp (our word). Even the PGA noted the contrast between Gillard-backer Mr Howes and the NFF position.
“It looks as though the only position that Jock Laurie is prepared to defend is his own self interests rather than those of grass roots farmers he represents.”
We thought we’d outsource the play-on-words gag this week.