Joyce recently complained to The Australian Financial Review about his coverage in this column, and to demonstrate the full support of the Qantas board, chairman Richard Goyderheld his hand as Joyce made the complaint. They are aggrieved that my criticism of Joyce has become personal.
It is not personal, of course. I am unconcerned whether Joyce is short or tall, gay or straight, Irish or Australian, here or there. I’ve never criticised his DNA, only what he says and does in the course of his work.
Over the past year, Joyce became liable to say ridiculously self-unaware things: that he’s not a public figure (so don’t ask him to justify his European vacation in the peak of a company crisis); that Qantas received “very little government support” in the pandemic; that “union claims… cause a lot of people to lose their jobs” when since 2008 he’d eliminated more than 15,000 (or 42 per cent) of jobs from the Qantas workforce; then that Qantas will hire 8,500 new staff by 2033 (what is he now, a clairvoyant?); even implying that Qantas would reduce its egregiously high airfares just as soon as its competitors started adding more flights.
Joyce now requests that at the end of any column I write about Qantas, I should disclose that I am a former employee. I left the company 13 years ago on perfectly good terms.
Such a disclaimer would make everything right! It would cause all valid criticism to disappear, miraculously reverse the underinvestment in the Qantas fleet and suddenly all of his customers would love Qantas again. Is this seriously the best Alan’s got?! Incidentally, his request is refused.
Alan Joyce has had enough - Joe Aston
Obeids sue over loan - only to be countersued for failing to pay rent
April 16, 2023 — 3.12pm
A legal battle is brewing over Passy, the palatial former abode of incarcerated former MP Eddie Obeid.
Documents filed in the District Court show that his wife, Judy, 82, is suing the purchaser, a company run by early childcare supremo Charles Assaf, for repayment of a $250,000 loan.
Eddie and Judy Obeid leaving the NSW Supreme Court in 2020.Credit: Renee Nowytarger
Assaf, 55, who is developing a childcare centre and sporting facilities on the site, is countersuing the Obeids for almost $34,000 in unpaid rent.
Obeid was a Labor backbencher in 1999, when the Hunters Hill mansion, on 4200 square metres of level land, was purchased in his wife’s name for $2.9 million.
Built in 1854 for the French consul, Passy was bought by Assaf’s Montessori Education and Sports for $11.5 million in July 2020. Settlement took place three months later.
In 2011, the Obeids had approval for $2.25 million worth of upgrades to the property, which included moving the pool and increasing the size of an underground car park from eight car spaces to nine. The plans were shelved with the advent of the explosive 2012 Independent Commission Against Corruption into a corrupt coal deal that delivered $30 million to the family and later resulted in the family patriarch, Eddie, being jailed.
Colette and Charles Assaf, whose company bought the Hunters Hill home in July 2020 for $11.5million.Credit: Facebook
According to Judy Obeid’s statement of claim, on the day of settlement, the Obeids agreed to lend Assaf’s company $250,000 which would be repaid a year later on the condition that the Obeids had complied by providing the necessary development applications and compliance certificates.
The Obeids claim that on the day of settlement, October 23, 2020, Joseph Georges, a real estate agent they claim was acting for Assaf, gave him a USB and a manila folder containing all the relevant documents. Georges went through all the documents with Assaf at his Woolwich home, says Judy Obeid.
However, Assaf says no USB or manila folders were provided by Georges at this time or at any other time. He said that just before the sale in July 2020, Georges provided him with poor-quality copies of plans but no documents stamped by either the council or a private certifier.
Former NSW Labor politician Eddie Obeid, currently in jail, at his former house Passy. Credit: Christopher Pearce
Assaf also said in his filed defence that Georges was the Obeids’ real estate agent, not his.
The Herald has previously revealed that Georges has acted as a front for the Obeids, including the family’s secret interest in the Elizabeth Bay marina.
In 2013, the Independent Commission Against Corruption heard that Georges acted as a front for the Obeids in a crooked coal deal that netted the Obeid family $30 million.
Georges initially told the corruption inquiry he had no business interests with the Obeid family, but later admitted both he and the Obeids were shareholders in a company granted an exploration licence.
Joseph Georges, centre, leaves the ICAC inquiry in 2013 after being questioned on his connection to the Obeids.Credit: Rob Homer
“That answer was false, wasn’t it?” counsel assisting the commissioner, Geoffrey Watson, SC, asked.
“Yes,” Georges replied.
“It was a lie?” Watson suggested.
“Yes,” Georges replied.
In his cross-claim, Assaf alleges the Obeids lived in Passy rent-free for a year. In August 2021, he told their son, Paul, they had to be out by October 23, 2021 so work on the site could start.
Paul told him his father “was not in a physical or mental condition to move residences, given the legal disputes he was involved in” and his mother was “stressed” and couldn’t move either, the court documents claim.
As it happened, Eddie Obeid did vacate the premises on the due date owing to being jailed on that day for misconduct in public office. His family stayed until December.
Assaf is refusing to repay the $250,000, claiming he couldn’t get a compliance certificate for the first stage of the works, demolition and excavation because the Obeids were still in residence when the loan was due to be repaid.
He is also suing over the $4000 per week rent the Obeids agreed to pay, but haven’t.
The matter will return to court in June.
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BAD BUSINESS I
I recently flew Qantas business from Singapore to Sydney and was incredibly disappointed. Almost every aspect was substandard, as Qantas seems to be cutting every corner and every cost they can. From the old plane, poor quality headphones, limited drink selection, old blankets, average food service all the way down to providing the cheapest no-name toothpaste in the toiletry pack. While the flight attendants were excellent, friendly and helpful, they just couldn’t make it a true business class experience. Unfortunately, Qatar, Emirates and Singapore business class make flying Qantas business seem like a glorified economy.
Simon Benedict, Docklands, Victoria
BAD BUSINESS II
Like Patti Bradbury (Traveller Letters, April 1) after negotiating the chaos that is Delhi International Airport and waiting for over 50 minutes to pass through immigration, we were looking forward to a relaxing time in the Qantas Club. The change to Irish House was insulting and a poor alternative. Why was an affiliated lounge not offered? To make matters worse our flight was over three hours delayed leaving, but even the thought of passing that time in the boarding area was not enough to make us scurry back to a third rate faux Irish pub.
Mary Bateman, Port Melbourne, Vic
