Flight plan altered. Staff at Jetstar were told this morning that both Jetstar and Qantas B787s will be flown under a new start-up company.

Fairfax mutterings: life after Churchill. With The Age‘s Don Churchill said to be in his last few months as CEO, there is increasing talk at Media House about who will succeed him. Churchill’s advertising director David Hoath is said to be manoeuvring to take over but this seen as unlikely because senior Fairfax Sydney management see Hoath as joined at the hip with Churchill and therefore jointly responsible for a $50 million decline in profits with the haemorrhaging of real estate revenue.

Is Bradbury looking to life after Canberra? There is talk in Labor circles that embattled Lindsay MP David Bradbury is already seeking support to put in a nomination for the NSW Upper House spot made vacant by John Della Bosca. The spot has been promised to Walt Secord but Bradbury thinks he deserves a plan B should Linsday be lost. Some Labor bigwigs are furious Bradbury is looking beyond the 21st despite the resources the ALP have been putting into Lindsay to hold it.

Public forum, locked to the public? I tried to find out how my partner and I could go to the public forum at the Broncos Leagues Club last night and was told it was a private function. How is the general public expected to ask questions?

NT departmental net filter. The NT Department of Education operates about 40 ‘Homeland Learning Centres’, but they don’t put any information about them on their own website. I’m now informed that they have blocked the Wikipedia entry on Homeland Learning Centres so it can’t be accessed by Departmental employees. Attempts to access the page result in “blocked deemed to be of no educational value”. Is this the only Wikipedia page censored by the Northern Territory government, or are there many others they don’t want their employees knowing about?

HSU in damage control. Following on from his interference with the ALP in the removal of Kevin Rudd, it seems Health Services Union secretary Michael Williamson should keep his eye on the ball in Victoria.  The attached letter was sent to Victorian members

Dear HSU Member,

The new HSU Leadership Team is dedicated to returning the HSU to the position as the leading health union in Victoria. To achieve this we need to know what you want from us and from your union. We also want to know your ideas for improving the Union.

While we would like to meet with as many of you as possible, face-to-face, that’s not always possible and takes quite some time. As one alternative, we are conducting a web survey as a first step. In the next few days you will receive a survey invitation email from Australian Survey Research, a trusted external research agency that we have engaged to collect your feedback. Please look out for this email and use the link you will be provided to go straight to the survey.

This is your chance to have your say and to further strengthen your union. Please take up the opportunity to give us feedback. And please understand that your views will remain anonymous and confidential. The research company will only be providing us with summary feedback and at no time will they give us individual names and answers to questions.

If you have any questions about the survey please contact the HSU at xxxxxx@hsu.asn.au

This email does NOT contain a survey link.

Michael Williamson
General Secretary

A member from one of the networks rang to speak to the assistant secretary and was told by a staff member of the union: “F-ck off, we have had a f-ckin gutfull of you all.” And of course the members still have not been told about the rule changes and that the Victorian branch is going to be managed in Sydney.