58 LETTERS The Australian Ananclal ReviewThursday 28 June 2007 .www.afr.com

Sanctions easy,outcomes harderThe Prime Minister compares theremote-community Aboriginal crisisas similar to Hurricane Katrina.

This is wrong, in large partbecause Kamna was sudden andswift with almost no warning,correct in that George Bush stuffedup badly in his response and JohnHoward is doing the same in theNorthern Territory.

Associate professor Helen Milroygave an invaluable indigenousperspective full of realunderstanding of what's needed toaddress the trauma-loss-grief cycle,on ABC Radio National's programLife Mal/erson June 25.1 encouragepeople to track down the podcastand have a listen.

Sanctions are easy. The difficultbit is to build the social, medical,education and hard infrastructurewhile respecting country andculture. And while we're at it. canthe A BC forget the militarymetaphors such as "farewellingfederal police from CanberraAirport"?

There might be a war, but thediseases of Europeanisation likedrugs and alcohol are the enemy.

Peter Andren,Independent member for Calare,

Millthorpe, NSW.

Social overkillIt's a bit of a worry that Australiahas become another nation that

sends out its army and its policeforce to fix a social problem.

Allan J. Williams,St Ives, NSW.

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CGT h..

t '¥ Cut-price tax agents"*may em on agrl -proJec S offer inferior service

Jonathan Barrett points out thatinvestors have just one more year toinvest around $500 million annuallyin non-forestry managed investmentscheme (NF-MIS)joint ventureprojects ("CGT may cause anagribusiness deluge", June 25).

If the Australian Taxation Officewinsitstestcaseincourt,itwill .

simultaneously inflict on itself andthe government a massive loss of taxrevenue and a loss of waterefficiency in contravention of theflagship $10 billion Murray-Darlingbasin project.

Because of these policyconsequences, the A TO's actionsand the government's support ofthose actions indicate the direst ofoutcomes for both parties.

The government deliberatelyrefuses to make a statutory proviSionthat would protect the tax regime forNF-MIS projects in 17 rura1 industriesand is therefore accountable for thefoDowing very harmful consequences:o Investors in companiesdependent on NF-MIS projectshave and will suffer capital losses ofmore than $900 million. with ,.consequent immediate losses to thefederal budget of more than$200 million in capital gains taxreceipts.o Most of the estimated$500 million that taxpayers seekingupfront tax deductions would haveinvested in NF-MIS projects willswitch to forestry, with someleakage to nIms and also to

negatively geared property andcompan)'oShares. On average thefederal budget receives a

, substantially greater surplus of nettax revenue from MIS projects thanfrom forestry.DAfter 10y~ of switching, totalincurred and prospective losses intax revenue will be in excess of$3 billion, with more losses to come.New highly water-efficient MISprojects, which are net buyers ofwater rights from much lessefficientusers of water in the Murray-Darling basin, willcease.o Thousands of rural families willlose their livelihoods.

Lawrenc:e CumtnInp,Gymea Bay, NSW.

Ads portray adouble standardCollective bargaining enables you to"work together co-operatively". Itmeans you" can benefit by joiningtogetherto negotiatc;". "Businessescan find it more efficient to

negotiate directly with a group". .Which mad leftie is responsible

for such a glowing endorsement ofcollective bargaining, I hear youask?

Why, these are the words of thefederal government that appear in aseries of advertisements promotingcollective bargaining by smallbusinesses when dealing with bigbusiness. Ab, the hypocrisy.

Why is it acceptable for smallbusiness to bargain collectively, butnot workers?

Stephen Smith,Cremorne, NSW.

My blackboard experienceKeith Parsons (' 'Don't preach realworld to teachers", Letters, June 25)suggested I should "experience a fewweeks in a class of.adolescent ferais"

before I am qualified to say anythingabout teachers. Actually, my pastwork experience includes 10 yearsworking in education - nine years asa high school maths and scienceteacher, two of those years as a highschool deputy principal, and I evenspent some time working as aneducation department adviserassisting teachers while based in theKimberley region of WesternAustralia.

As a teacher, I would have .welcomed the opportunity to spenda little time out of the classroom,enhancing my knowledge and slcillsby doing some work experienceevery couple of years so that I couldoffer more relevant education to my

students. Sadly, it wasn't availableto me at the time. What I did insteadwas run a relatively unique andinnovative guest speaker programfor five years, inviting to the scbooleacb term up to balf a dozen peoplefrom all walks of life who were ableto offer a different perspective on.the world. The program, which moststudents really enjoyed, won afederal government grant afterabout a year in operation.

Now, as a parent of three kids inprimary school, I believe we shouldbe supporting our hard-workingteachers in every way we can, andthiS could include offering them

. opportunities to broaden theil: slcillsand experience outside of theclassroom.

JimPaparo,Floreat, WA.

All I can say about your "Overhaultough on taxation agents" (June 19)is that it is about time.

For far too long, some tax agentshave been cutting comers and notcharging an appropriate fee forresearching, preparing and providingthe correct advice to taxpayers. Thoseagents who, at great and unrewardedexpense, attempt to do the right thing,only to lose clients, face ridicule forbeing too expensive. .

I welcome the changes and onlyhope they will result in higher feesand reverse the declining trend intax agents.

It is not fmancially attractive forthose trying to do the job properlywhile the 10w-ba1ling agentscontinue to exist irrespective of theircontinuing educationalqualifications. .

The role of a tax agent is toeducate the taxpayer and not justprocess returns. Only then willtaxpayers appreciate and pay a fairprice for their tax retu,mS to beprepared.

The reckless discount kings aremaking it barder for those that aretrying to do the right thing.I congratulate the AustralianTaxation Office on its initiative.

David Dalun,Chief executive officer,

Health &Ufe Ply Lt<!<~Adelaide, SA.

At a stroke, ultimategreenhouse planThough it would be unpalatable forbusiness and consumers alike ("Theworrisome emissions of a coal.

guzzling giant", June 22), Australiatogether with the rest of the worldshould ban all manufactured importsfrom China and cut exports of rawmaterials to them too.

Admittedly, China's owndomestic energy consumption isprodigious, but at a stroke this couldhelp reduce worldwide greenhouseemissions dramatically.

If we don't do so, we are simplyfuelling our own demise, and ThirdWorld here we come.

Peter Foster-Bunch,Avalon Beach, NSW.

NZ retail fight rolls on..From back page

provide in Australia. Warehouseshareholders probably don't reallycare. Courtesy of the acquisitionmanoeuvring, their shares haverocketed from $NZ3.90 inJune 2006 to $NZ5.99 yesterday -although they were as high as$NZ7.32 two months ago.

While the appeals over theNZCC's rejection ofWoolworthsand Foodstuffs are important. thereal key to the company's futureremains Stephen Tindall who,together with a charitablefoundation he established, ownsabout half the company. Even ifWoolworths and Foodstuffs getgreen-lighted, their bids meannothing if Tindall doesn't like them.

Tindall approached thecompany's board last Septemberseeking access for him and PEP toundertake due diligence with a viewto privatising the company. Twoweeks later, after W oolworthsbought 10 per cent, he reiterated thathis clear preference was to privatisethe company because he believedthis was the best approach for it toimplement its strategy, but that he'"",..,

and PEP would analyse marketdevelopments and assess theimplications. One month later, theirconsortium withdrew citingWarehouse's cbanged shareholdingstructure and markedly higher shareprice.

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NOthing has changed, andnothing will in the short term.Not only does the High Court

chaDenge need to play out, but Tmda1lis nrmly ensconced in Valenciacheering on Team New Zealandagainst the other Kiwis in theAmerica's Cup. When he returns,however, he will have a few options toconsider. It should be rememberedthat he actually started this ball roningwith a privatisation proposal, which,among other things, may suggest hehas tired of public listed life.

With Warehouse's shares back inthe ballpark envisaged by his initialprivatisation, he may dedde to tryagain - either with his originalpartner or new ones. After all, eightprivate equity players are mown tohave formally looked at Coles,along with Wesfarmers andMacquarie Bank.

. .For that matter, there are a

number of similarities betweenWesfarmers' Bunnings operationand that ofWarebouse - big-boxsi!e$outside traditionaJ high-rentretail precincts operating on a no-frills basis with minimal windowdressing. Bunnings does have a NZfoothold. It is also significant thatColes, unlike Woolworths, has notas yet ventured across the Tasman- an option its prospective newowners may fmd appealing.Especially if they can do so beforeW oolworths gets too mucb of a headstart. A Coles/Foodstuffs .consortium is not beyond the rea1msof possibility nor, for that matter,are various combinations ofFoodstuffs and private equity.

Tmdall could also decide tosimply cash out. although this isthought unlikely by those wbo knowhim. They point to his carefullychosen words when, on aband0nin8his planned privatisation, be said hewould "assess future options In aconsidered manner and ensure allstakeholder Interests werecontemplated".

Alan JUI)'ajury@afr.r:om.au

Checkout can driveyou off your trolleyFrom back pa&8

Normandy on D-Day, That soapopera mag can start looking prettygood when you've got two or threepeople abead of you who appear asthough tbey've stocked up for MealsOn Wheels routes.

So It was with some bope that Iread recently of an Americansupermarket ehaln. Whole Foods,that bas devised a four-minute waltsystem for c\leckout llnesln Its NewYork City stores. Whole Foods is oneof those upscale chains tbat not onlycarries tbe basics but also seml-prepared food you can Just heat up,such as, say, stuffed pork chops oreven an entire ThanksiPvlng dinnerIf you order In advance.Importantly, the strin& beans arereUably placed.

Anywa)', what thc)' do II blve tilecbeckout customers form one Une (asyou'd sedn a bank), whleh movesquickly because the store bassomeone dlrectlnl: them, apparenllystrikln& a balance between thosewith heavy and those with lightloads. All the regl.ters are open plu.

they bave "noaten" whoImmediatelyJump In wben anemployee takes a break. What hadhappened was tbe stores got worriedwhen they saw people taking onelook at the long lines at the checkoutand couldn't be botbered golnl: In.This Is, after ,II, NewYorlc,wherepatience Isconsidered a characterOaw. '

The chain obviously did thenumbers and figured out theaddltfonal expense of keeping allregisters open, bavlng a trafficdirector and hiring tbe Ooaterswould payoff in terms oflncreasedbuslnes., They probably were alsoaware thatlncreaslnl:ly people areshopping for their fruit andvel:otables In produce shops andI:ettlng tbelr meats from butcbers,as tbe trend here Is also sbowlng.Wbole Foodl, unlike mlny otberAmerican and Au..le .supermarkets, has superiorproduce and meats, but why lo.ecustomers becau.e they can't getIn andout in, as tbe saying goes; aNew York minute.

Peter Ruehl

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