Ark Tribe case not over yet. Following yesterday’s not guilty verdict, CFMEU chief Dave Noonan has reported that Ark’s legal team will now apply for indemnity costs.

Fairfax dispatches #1: The highly regarded editor of the Australian Financial Review magazine, Stewart Hawkins, quit this week after tensions within the office with AFR editor Glenn Burge. He is believed to have landed a plum job in Hong Kong. Hawkins’ predecessor as editor, Kathy Bail, also resigned earlier this year to take up the job of running the University of New South Wales Press. Under those two editors, the magazine went from strength to strength, winning accolades for its stories and photography.

Fairfax dispatches #2: Bendigo Advertiser editor Peter Kennedy yesterday walked out on the regional Fairfax daily after a difference of opinion with former advertising manager and now general manager Margot Falconer. Kennedy is joining the Bendigo Weekly, a weekly freebie mostly owned by local real estate and other business interests.

Salary slow with NAB. Hoping to pay the rent, buy groceries, pay some money off my credit card,  really just generally live, I find out that I have not been paid today. Thinking it had was a problem with the firm I work at, instead it turns out as I am with NAB it, it is NAB’s problem. Apparently our payroll office has been advised that NAB is experiencing problems with salary, wages and Centrelink payments being deposited into people’s NAB accounts. There is a “team working on the problem” but with no timeframe as to when it wil be corrected.

Telstra hangs up on email. What’s going on with Telstra and Bigpond email using Macs? A friend is still having trouble sending email via Bigpond with their Mac. And yet they have no problems sending the same email from a small netbook using Windows. Woosh, off it goes. But using the Mac, the email takes minutes (more than 10 minutes in some cases) to send, they back up, or they don’t get send at all.

The Bigpond system asks for password and user names, after just sending an email, eventually. The friend has spent four long (hour-plus sessions) with Telstra help desk types who continue to say that it’s a big problem. Sure is, so when is it going to be fixed? So much for Telstra’s new mantra of being responsive to consumer needs.

Perhaps Telstra could also explain why it has just sent its external consultants away for seven weeks, forcing work to stop on a host of jobs, such as the TBox and Thub future development. Is it a budget cut? One consultant says they understand its across the country. Back in mid-January. Happy holidays.

Calling all refugee-looking people … An email from consultancy group Cultural Perspectives:

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: rekha sanghi
Date: 24 November 2010 09:53
Subject: Urgently seeking Afghani and Sri Lankan actors

A campaign is being conducted by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service in Malaysia to inform people of the dangers of people smuggling and human trafficking, please find following details of the campaign and the talent we are seeking.

The turnaround time is very short — casting is taking place on Thursday 25th November at the offices of Luscious the production company engaged to produce three vignettes which will form part of the campaign. Their offices are located in Redfern. Filming will take place the following week (day/time TBC). The casting brief for the three vignettes is as follows:

FEMALE 40s- Afghan and/or Sri Lankan MOTHER who has lost her son on the boat. She has borrowed money to put her son on the boat and now still owes the debt, even though her son is dead- Needs to be very emotional and upset onscreen.

MALE 40s-50s- Afghan and/or Sri Lankan FATHER. Weathered and has been detained by immigration authorities. He is now locked up overseas and cannot see or talk to his family — Needs to be able to be heartbroken and show guilt for the decisions he’s made

MALE 20s-30s- Afghan and/or Sri Lankan HUSBAND. He has lost his wife to her being put on the boats and now he has to bring up his daughter by himself and she has no mother.  — Needs to be able to cry and be emotional

The talent will need to speak their native language for the respective vignettes, however, performance is critical and language should not be a barrier to finding the right talent. We have not yet been provided with scripts.

Further information about the campaign can be found at the following link (www.australia-asylum.com/).

We are happy to discuss appropriate casting and talent fees. Cultural Perspectives staff will be present at the filming of the vignettes to ensure talent are supported and briefed appropriately.

If you have any questions, or are interested please feel free to call me.

Many thanks and kind regards

Rekha Sanghi | Account Director
Cultural Perspectives