This week in wa – 10 years ago

Gambling debts force former minister out

WESTERN Australia’s former Justice Minister David Smith was forced to resign from the Opposition front bench after it was revealed in Federal Parliament that his gambling debts had been paid by the Australian Labor Party.

Mr Smith disclosed he had received two loans – $30,000 in 1991 and $10,000 in 1992, to help bail him out of debt caused by his heavy gambling.

While he told reporters after the event that he had regarded the funds as loans, he had made no repayments on them.

Also causing headaches for the ALP 10 years ago this week was the sentencing of its one-time WA rising star and deputy premier David Parker.

Mr Parker, who had been charged with stealing more than $40,000 from his election account, was jailed for 12 months and then had to return to court to hear eight more charges laid against him.

These charges alleged that he knowingly gave false testimony to the WA Royal Commission into the Commercial Activities of Government in its 1991 investigation of the $39.7 million purchase of the Fremantle Gas and Coke Company from Yossie Goldberg’s Western Continental.

There was also a row over claims that State Cabinet directed then Attorney-General Cheryl Edwardes to request a confidential appendix to the WA Inc. Royal Commission report, which was believed to contain information that could lead to future prosecutions, on the eve of the by-election for the Federal seat of Fremantle.

And also on WA Inc. matters, failed entrepreneur Alan Bond’s son Craig was hit with a writ for more than $2 million by the liquidator of Dallhold Investments.

Dallhold was Alan Bond’s family investment company.

At the same time the historic Brisbane home Blainsleigh, which Craig Bond had recently sold, was at the centre of another Federal Court claim.

On the business front, Kerry Stokes launched a $60 million bid for Sunraysia Television, owner of Perth’s Channel 9.

At the time it was thought Sunraysia would be a good stable mate for his GWN network.

History shows Mr Stokes eventually gave up on the bid and bought Channel 7 instead.

Fast rising Malaysian entrepreneur Amin Shah Omar Shah bought up fast ferry maker Wavemaster International.

These days Wavemaster is making heavy weather of the conditions with reports emerging that its workers are owed five weeks’ back pay.

Another Malaysian company Eagle Aircraft was talking up its plans to tap between 10 per cent and 15 per cent of the light aircraft market worldwide.

The company had a manufacturing facility in Henderson but later closed it and moved its operations back to Malaysia.

The proposed $400 million Goldfields gas pipeline moved a step closer with the project manager Goldfields Gas Transmission releasing its terms and tariff package.

Also taking part in the project were Western Mining Corp, Normandy Poseidon Ltd and Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd.

All of this came at a time when WA and Queensland were crowned as the leaders of Australia’s economic growth. WA led the way with economic growth of 3.1 per cent in the June quarter and 8.9 per cent in the year in current-trend terms.

Unemployment, while high nationally was anything but a problem in the mining sector. Skilled labour, particularly with underground experience, was in big demand.

Wanneroo was also crowned Australia’s fastest growing population centre, overtaking the Gold Coast which had held the mantle for the past 12 years.

Western Mining Corporation signed an agreement over a massive nickel project with Cuba.

WA’s largest credit union United Credit boasted a 35 per cent pre-tax profit growth to $4.2 million, partially due to a change in the tax treatment of non-bank institutions.

And finally, while their season might have sunk before September, this time 10 year’s ago the Fremantle Dockers were very buoyant on news that they had signed Hawthorn star Ben Allan to a three-year deal believed to be worth $650,000.