As a general rule, the greater the number and inventiveness of the excuses
offered by a politician in trouble, the bigger the trouble is.
By that rule of thumb, Assistant Treasurer Helen Coonan is in pretty deep.
Over recent days, in response to a series of very pertinent questions about
the tax, real estate, electoral enrolment and corporate dealings of herself
and her family, she has been very resourceful indeed.
Pleadings have included the honest-mistake excuse, the
that's-not-my-department dodge, the blame-the-staff evasion and, we are
pleased to note, the classic I-can't-remember.
Let's go through some of them.
Both the honest-mistake and that's-not-my-department defences were used
when it was revealed the Australian Securities and Investments Commission
(ASIC) had not been properly informed that Coonan had quit as a director of
a two-share family company, Endispute.
Her husband, Andrew Rogers, the other director who also acted as company
secretary, was the one who was responsible.
Well, really, anyone could make such a mistake - even a former chief
justice of the commercial division of the NSW Supreme Court and legal
adviser to ASIC, which is what Rogers is.
I-can't-remember got a run when Coonan was asked on Monday if she witnessed
Rogers' change of electoral enrolment, which made his million-dollar-plus
weekender his primary residence, meaning he stood to save a large amount
(the Opposition claims $50,000), in land tax.
It took 24 hours before she remembered she didn't.
And Rogers' memory is even worse, it seems. He has proven unable to recall
exactly when he actually lived at the Pittwater beach house.
Only after his memory was jogged by controversy, apparently, did he change
his address back to their Woollahra mansion (11 days ago) and pay his back
tax (on Monday).
Coonan gave the blame-the-staff evasion a gallop when it was revealed her
entry in the register of senators' interests had been changed to list the
Woollahra home as an "investment property".
That, she said, was just a "typographical error" by her personal assistant.
Of course it was.
It was an entirely cheap shot by Labor's Mark Latham yesterday to suggest
Coonan and her husband only become "born-again taxpayers" after being
caught out trying to fiddle their residential details to avoid tax.
Still, Coonan was running out of excuses and yesterday was forced to cut
hubby loose.
Liberal attack dog Chris Pyne noted "all the allegations" of impropriety
actually related to Rogers.
Like John Howard before him, Pyne said Coonan was being tarred with "guilt
by association".
How utterly unfair of the Opposition to suggest that just because Coonan
and her husband probably know as much about corporate and tax law - and
loopholes therein - as any couple in Australia, they might have been in it
together.
http://smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/03/1038712936849.html
The Perfect shitstorm for a dry gully bitch,she is a little aussie Anne Thrax.
ATO Facing the Perfect Storm?
by Sebastian Younger. 2:48am Wed Dec 4 '02
Three stories,four if you throw in the news that the Costelo bracket Creep
has made this,the highest taxing govt,EVER!
The ATO is in deep shit,could it happen to a nicer bunch?
ATO Facing the Perfect Storm? (full story)
http://www.adelaide.indymedia.org.au/front.php3?article_id=3819&group=webcast
