Tiger Airways

Tiger Airways Singapore Pte Ltd, operating as Tiger Airways Singapore, is a low cost airline which commenced services on 25 March 2005. It is a subsidiary of Tiger Airways Holdings, a Singapore-based company, which is owned partially by Singapore Airlines. Incorporated in September 2003, it is currently the largest low-cost airline operating out of Singapore in terms of passengers carried. In 2006, the airline flew 1.2 million passengers, a growth of 75% from the previous year.

The airline was the first to operate from the Budget Terminal in Changi Airport in order to achieve operating-cost savings and its cost structure is modelled after Ryanair. Despite regional competition, the airline has reiterated its current intention to remain focused on flying within a five-hour radius from its Singaporean base. To overcome regulatory hurdles in the region, the airline attempts to buy into regional carriers to expand into a pan-Asian carrier.

Flights to India started in October 2007, and expansion to Malaysia was started in 2008. Former plans to establish new hubs at Incheon, Korea have been suspended.

Incheon Tiger Airways

On 5 November 2007, Tiger Airways announced that it would be starting a Korean-based budget airline. Incheon Tiger Airways was to have been a joint venture between Tiger Aviation and Incheon Metropolitan City, flying to destinations in Japan, China, Mongolia and the Russian Far East. The airline was to be based in South Korea's Incheon Airport and planned to begin services by 2009; however, the project was abandoned in December 2008.

Thai Tiger Airways

Tiger Airways and Thai Airways International will form an airline based in Thailand, where Thai Airways International and Tiger Airways will own 51% and 39% respectively of the newly formed airline, while RyanThai will hold the remaining 10%. Operations are expected to begin in the 1st quarter of 2011.

Tiger Activity in Philippines

In December 2010, Tiger enter the Philippines market by proxy, without setting up an airlines in Philippines. Instead, Tiger goes into partnership with South East Asian Airlines(SEAir), whereby Tiger will lease aircraft to SEAir, and SEAir will operate the aircraft in SEAir's livery, using SEAir's pilot and cabin crew. Seats on the flight operated by SEAir using aircraft leased from Tiger will be sold and marketed by Tiger for SEAir. This Tiger/SEAir partnership began with international flight departing from Clark to Singapore, Hong Kong, and Macau; it was then expanded to domestic flight from Manila(NAIA) to Cebu and Davao. These flight will only show up on Tiger's website route-map. Shortly after SEAir and Tiger launch the partnership, Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Zest Airways, and Air Philippines send a letter of protest to the Department of Transportation and Communication. They claim the partnership between SEAir and Tiger is illegal and requested the authorities to stop flights operating under the partnership.

Tiger Activity in Indonesia

Tiger Airways ventured into Indonesia market by buying 33% shares of the troubled Mandala Airlines. The new Mandala Airlines will fly Indonesia domestic destination, as well as international destination within 5 hours radius.

Corporate management

Tiger Airways is wholly owned by Tiger Airways Holdings Limited, a holding company set up in 2007 to manage both Tiger Airways and start-up Australian subsidiary Tiger Airways Australia. Tiger Airways' original founding shareholders were Singapore Airlines (49%), Bill Franke's Indigo Partners (24%); Tony Ryan's Irelandia Investments (16%) and Temasek Holdings (11%). Tiger Airways Holdings Limited is listed on SGX since 2010.

History

The airline was incorporated on 12 December 2003 and began ticket sales on 31 August 2004. The airline flew into a period of relative difficulty for the aviation industry with rising oil prices and intense competition from other airlines. The airline held off imposing fuel surcharges as its competitors had done.

With Singapore Airlines having a stake in the airline, the airline occasionally fills in the gap when SIA drops its services from certain destinations. Macau, once served by SIA before being taken up by its subsidiary, SilkAir, in 2002, terminated all flights completely by the end of 2004. Three months later, the route was taken over by Tiger Airways with flights commencing 25 March 2005. A similar pattern can be observed in Krabi, where SilkAir suspended services in February 2005 in the wake of the effects of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Tiger Airways resumed direct services to the location from 7 October 2005.

In late July 2005, it was announced that the airline would commence flights from Macau to Manila (Clark) on 30 October 2005, a much-heralded move as it may signal the establishment of a secondary base besides Singapore, allowing the airline to expand and diversify risks.

On 21 September 2005 the company produced a report card on its first year of operations, with a total of over 500,000 passengers carried, 5000 scheduled flights flown, and a flight completion rate of 98.7 per cent. 94 per cent of flight departures and 90 per cent of arrivals took place according to schedule. It acquired four aircraft and launched a total of nine routes – of which four are flown exclusively by the airline – during the year.

The airline expected to increase its fleet to nine Airbus A320 aircraft by end 2006, and to carry up to three million passengers a year by then. It also hoped to add six more routes during the year, primarily to destinations in China and India, with flights to Southern China having commenced April. The airline also announced its switch from Singapore Airport Terminal Services to Swissport for ground handling when it becomes the first airline to operate at the newly opened Budget Terminal in Changi Airport on 26 March 2006.

Tiger Airways became the first Singaporean low-cost carrier to receive operating permits from the Chinese aviation authorities to fly to the southern Chinese cities of Haikou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in an announcement on 21 February 2006. Ticket sales to these destinations commenced 24 February 2006, with the first flight to Shenzhen taking place on 15 April, to Haikou from 26 April and to Guangzhou from 27 April 2006. The airline has since indicated that the routes were highly popular, with increased flights to Haikou and Guangzhou less than three months since their launch.

Tiger Airways Australia

Tiger Airways Australia Pty Ltd, operating as Tiger Airways Australia, is an ultra-low cost airline which commenced services in the Australian domestic airline market on 23 November 2007. It is a subsidiary of Tiger Airways Holdings, a Singapore-based company, which is owned partially by Singapore Airlines. The airline is based in Melbourne, Victoria, with its main base at Melbourne Airport. The airline's secondary base, Adelaide Airport, commenced operations on 1 March 2009. A smaller "virtual base" was opened in Sydney on 29 October 2009.Tiger also opened a third operational base at Melbourne's Avalon Airport, in November 2010.

History

Australian government policy and legislation currently permits airlines that are 100% foreign-owned to operate domestic airline services within the country. The change in regulations originally applied only to New Zealand-owned airlines in 1996, but were later relaxed, resulting in the establishment of Virgin Australia. Australian international airlines are still subject to ownership rules limiting foreign ownership to 49%.

The Australian Foreign Investment Review Board gave approval for Tiger Airways to establish its wholly owned Australian subsidiary in March 2007 and did not place any special conditions on its approval.Subsequently on 16 March 2007, Tiger Airways Australia Pty. Ltd. was incorporated in the Northern Territory, although the company itself is based in Melbourne, with Melbourne Airport being the airline's major hub. A$10 million and five aircraft were committed to start the subsidiary. The airline's business model is based on that of sister airline Tiger Airways, which attempts to increase the total market size (number of passengers), control operating costs of the airline, and maximise the number of sectors served by its aircraft. One way it planned to keep costs low was by avoiding expensive airports.

Tiger undertook the final stage of Australian regulatory procedures on 20 November 2007, performing two proving flights from Melbourne, to the Sunshine Coast and Launceston respectively. Each carried officials from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority as well as Tiger crew. Tiger successfully completed these flights, and received their Air Operator's Certificate on Thursday 22 November, becoming one of only two Australian airlines to earn the certificate on their first attempt, following OzJet.

The aircraft used by Tiger Airways Australia have the same livery as their Singapore sister company. The airline projected initial traffic of 2 million passengers annually.

Tiger Airways Australia's first scheduled flight was TT 7402, departing Melbourne for the Gold Coast, on 23 November 2007 at 7:30am. The first flight to Mackay took off just minutes later.

On 31 May 2008, it was announced that passengers would now be charged a fee for check-in luggage. It is a A$10 (for 15KG) fee at booking but if paid at check-in, it increases to A$20.

It was announced on 3 April 2009 that Tiger intended to launch into the Melbourne-Sydney market, the third busiest passenger route in the world, signalling an end to its operational policy of avoiding expensive airports.

On 18 July the same year, it was announced that Tiger would be increasing its Melbourne-Sydney flights by up to nine flights a day in each direction, and doubling the capacity on the Adelaide-Sydney Route. This is all part of expansion plans arising from new aircraft arriving from 4 October 2009.

On 5 November 2009 Tiger Airways announced the intention to launch into the Brisbane market with services to Melbourne, Adelaide and Rockhampton. Tiger celebrated these routes for A$2 during their Second Birthday sale, along with all Tasmanian routes, and the popular Melbourne to Sydney route.

Tiger Australia announced in February 2010 that the airline is now profitable. On 27 March 2010 Tiger Airways announced it would return to the Melbourne-Darwin route, with six flights weekly from 18 June. 1 June 2010 marked the departure of former MD Shelley Roberts, and the arrival of her successor Crawford Rix. "As far as I am concerned, on-time performance is going to be a big area that we will be focusing on," said Rix in a media interview.

On 1 July 2010, Tiger became the second airline in the world apart from Irish shareholder Ryanair, to introduce a fee to check in. The A$10 fee applies to those passengers who don't opt for the web check-in service. By October 2010, the charge has since risen to A$20.

On 16 July 2010, Tiger Airways announced its intentions to cease all flying from Launceston Airport as of 2 August 2010. The Adelaide-Hobart route is also to be suspended. Communications manager Vanessa Regan says the cuts are due to seasonal demand.

On 16 September 2010, Tiger commenced services to Cairns, operating a late night daily service from its Tullamarine base.

On 21 October 2010, Tiger announced that it was adding two Airbus A320 aircraft to the Melbourne base in the new year, bringing its Victorian fleet to a total of ten aircraft, in line with the deal struck with the State government.

Competitors' reactions

The arrival of Tiger Airways Australia in the market resulted in varied responses from its primary competitors, mainly Qantas (and its subsidiary Jetstar Airways) and Virgin Australia. Jetstar, in particular, has been particularly vocal, with its chief executive Alan Joyce quoted as saying "Tiger and what they have done have come across as a joke, and will probably continue that way". He further claimed that Tiger was losing over SGD$60 million over the past two years of operations out of Singapore.

Air fares began to drop, as special offers and other promotions were launched, such as Jetstar's announcement that it will "double the difference of any competitor's fare that is cheaper than its own fares". This was soon followed by a bonus system to entice its customers to stay with the airline. Jetstar immediately matched Tiger's Melbourne to Darwin fare upon announcement.

Tiger Airways Australia had previously been quoted as planning to offer "single digit" one-way fares when it began service. The announcement of AU$79.99 flights from Melbourne to Darwin was met with criticism from Jetstar.

When Tiger released its first route, Melbourne — Darwin, at a price of AU$79.99, Jetstar immediately undercut the price, offering sale fares at AU$79 on the same route over the same period. Similarly, when Tiger released its second route, Melbourne — Gold Coast, at a price of AU$49.95, Jetstar again undercut the price, offering AU$39 fares on the route over the same period. In response to Tiger's announcement of Melbourne — Launceston flights, priced at AU$39.95, Jetstar offered AU$29 flights over the same period, save a holiday blackout.

Virgin Australia, however, has yet to respond to Tiger in any significant way. Virgin Australia considered the possibility of establishing a low-cost offshoot to fend off Tiger Airways, but instead decided to focus the funds on its new trans-Pacific carrier V Australia and on increasing their business travel share by introducing a Premium Economy service.

Melbourne Airport announced plans to cut usage fees soon after Tiger's announcement of a hub there, in a bid to increase its share of low-cost traffic Tiger's mention of New Zealand as a potential market has also raised concerns in that country.

Just days before the launch of Tiger Airways Australia, Jetstar offered 5,000 seats on 21 November 2007 for the price of five cents, inclusive of taxes, on seven domestic routes, costing the airline $25.00 per seat. Jetstar claims that the sale has nothing to do with the Tiger launch, while at the same time referring to them as "competitive". The airline's spokesman, Simon Westaway, was quoted as saying that they "are a good airline in their own right. We are not going head to head. We respect them for the competitor that they are going to be".

On 23 November 2007, the airline publicly slammed Qantas for being unable to provide ground handling services to the airline at Alice Springs, forcing it to delay its launch to the city by three months to 1 March 2008. The airline had promised to pay any cost to Qantas, but services were still denied. Qantas executive general manager John Borghetti responded by saying "assisting competitors is not part of my job description".Tiger Airways Australia CEO, Tony Davis reminded Qantas that Tiger's parent, Singapore Airlines, provides ground servicing at Singapore Changi Airport for both Qantas and Jetstar, and it wasn't unreasonable for Qantas to provide Tiger the ground staff at Alice Springs Airport.

Tiger Airways cabin crew on their own

TIGER Airways' selling tickets in the hope the ban grounding it from Australian routes is lifted this weekend has brought a warning from the consumer watchdog.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel said selling a ticket without mentioning the uncertainty about whether the service could be provided ''would be potentially misleading by omission''.

Mr Samuel said it was not illegal to sell tickets for flights that may never take off but the company was responsible for ensuring customers understood there was some question about future flights.

The onus would be on the company to say 'you need to be aware that there is a possibility that we will not be able to fly you in accordance with the schedule'. It's no use relying on the small print to say that.''

A spokeswoman for the airline, Vanessa Regan, said last night its Facebook page had been updated with a message that ''all affected passengers of the Tiger Airways Australia domestic suspension will be automatically refunded back to the original form of payment''.

Ms Regan acknowledged it was difficult to get through to the company on the telephone but urged people to use the ''online customer service portal'' on the website.

Neither Tiger Airways nor Altara returned calls from the Herald Sun.

Australian Federation of Air Pilots executive director Terry O'Connell defended the ability of Tiger pilots.

"The Tiger pilot group has some very experienced pilots. We've received no complaints from any of the pilots about (safety)," Mr O'Connell said.

"We would expect that if there were any issues emerging, that we would be advised."

Tiger said it was meeting with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to address the safety concerns.

"Our goal is to resume our services as quickly as possible whilst restoring the confidence of both CASA and the Australian public at large that safety underpins our operations at all times," Tiger said in a statement.

"Affected passengers will be automatically refunded back to the original form of payment as soon as possible. They do not need to do anything at this time."

CASA has grounded all Tiger Airways Australia's domestic flights until Friday, affecting about 35,000 travellers.

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Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says Australia's large contribution of special forces soldiers and commandos in Afghanistan is justified, as the nation mourned the 28th fatality in the mission.

Sergeant Todd Langley, 35, from the Sydney-based 2nd Commando Regiment, died from a gun shot wound to the head during a battle in southern Afghanistan on Monday.

He is the 28th Australian soldier to die in action in Afghanistan since 2001, and the seventh this year.

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Just under half have been special forces and commandos, with many having been on multiple tours.

Australia has about 320 special forces soldiers and commandos in Afghanistan - the third largest contributor of such forces behind the United States and Britain.

Expressing the nation's condolences on Tuesday, Ms Gillard said that being in Afghanistan remained in Australia's national interest.

She said Australia's special forces were lauded around the world.

"We need them in the numbers we have in Afghanistan because they do take the fire up, push back the insurgency," Ms Gillard told reporters in Canberra.

But we will do everything we can to care and support his family and his mates throughout this time and beyond.'

Sgt Langley had been awarded two commendations for distinguished service and had a unit citation for gallantry.

General Hurley said the soldier who was wounded in the engagement was provided with combat first aid at the scene of the engagement.

He was airlifted to a medical facility in Karin Towt and then transferred to a hospital in Kandahar for further treatment.

'From there he has contacted his family,' General Hurley said, adding the soldier was in a serious but stable condition.

The intent of the Australian and Afghan National Army operation on Monday was to disrupt insurgents and deny them a safe haven to plan, coordinate and execute their operations, the general said.

Because the operation is still ongoing, no further details are being released by defence.

General Hurley said the 28 Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan since the start of the conflict were not just numbers.

'They are fathers, husbands, sons, brothers and mates,' he said.

'They are soldiers and Australians will not forget their selfless sacrifice.

Backpacker off critical list after emergency surgery

Daniel Moore, a 21-year-old backpacker, sustained serious brain injuries, a fractured skull and internal bleeding last month after catching a taxi from the city to the northern beaches suburb of Manly.

A 29-year-old taxi driver made a statement at Kogarah police station yesterday.

Police identified him after a public appeal for information.

His taxi has been seized for forensic examination.

Daniel remains in a critical but stable condition at Royal North Shore Hospital, nine days after he was found lying on the intersection of Pittwater Road and Collingwood Street, at 3.45am (AEST) on Sunday, June 26.

Mr Moore, 21, was found lying near the corner of Pittwater Rd and Collingwood St, Manly, at 3am on Sunday last week.

He required emergency surgery after being found with a cracked skull and also internal bleeding.

Police and Mr Moore’s parents, who arrived from the UK to be by their son’s side, appealed for information about the incident that has left the British man fighting for his life.

A taxi driver, believed to have driven Mr Moore and a friend to Manly from the CBD that night, has been asked to come forward.

Police said they were still investigating the incident and had yet to ascertain the identity of the driver.

Come Play With Me

Come Play with Me is a 1977 British soft porn film starring Mary Millington and directed by George Harrison Marks. The film's cast list contained many well-known British character actors who were not known for appearing in such films.

Synopsis

Cornelius Clapworthy (Harrison Marks) and his sidekick Maurice Kelly (Alfie Bass) are two elderly forgers responsible for flooding the UK with fake banknotes. On the run from their gangster boss Slasher (Ronald Fraser) and effeminate, cross dressing government official Podsnap (Ken Parry) the pair escape to the Scottish Highlands and posing as musicians hide out at Bovington Manor, a B&B run by Lady Bovington (Irene Handl).

Since Bovington Manor is scarcely attended, Clapworthy and Kelly are free to continue their criminal activities, albeit having to constantly recite "O for the Wings of a Dove" to drown out the noise of the printing press that produces the fake banknotes. However when Lady Bovington’s chorographer nephew Rodney and his troupe of dancing girls arrive at the manor, business picks up considerably when the girls, vaguely under the leadership of Rena (Suzy Mandel) decide - rather generously - to help Lady Bovington out by dressing as nurses and re-opening the Manor as a brothel with topless massages and 'the full treatment' being the order of the day. This means trouble and unwanted attention for Clapworthy and Kelly, especially when the girls’ services bring Slasher and his heavies to the Manor.

Cast

Harrison Marks as Cornelius Clapworthy

Alfie Bass as Kelly

Irene Handl as Lady Bovington

Ronald Fraser as Slasher

Tommy Godfrey as Blitt

Sue Longhurst as Christina

Cardew Robinson as McIvar

Suzy Mandel as Rena

Mary Millington as Sue

Rita Webb as Rita

Queenie Watts as Cafe Girl

Talfryn Thomas as Nosegay

Bob Todd as Vicar

Henry McGee as Deputy Prime Minister

Production history

Harrison Marks had written Come Play With Me's script in 1970 not long after making The Nine Ages of Nakedness, but it was to remain on the shelf while in the ensuing years Marks was declared bankrupt, had been the subject of an obscenity trial, and drank heavily. Marks made ends meet during this period by shooting softcore sex film shorts for the British 8 mm market, as well as hardcore, blue movie shorts for overseas.

In the mid seventies Marks had begun selling explicit photo shoots to porn publisher David Sullivan’s top shelf magazines, such as “Latent Lesbian Fantasy” featuring Cosey Fanni Tutti, which appeared in the first issue of Sullivan's Ladybirds magazine in August 1976. Evidently Marks had also sold Sullivan the rights to some of his 8 mm sex films as well, as adverts by Kelerfern (a Sullivan mail order company) carried Marks directed sex shorts like Hole in One, Nymphomania, King Muff and Doctor Sex for sale around this period. "George was a great entertainer, he was a bit of a drunk really, but he was good fun" Sullivan remarked in the 2005 documentary Oo-Err Missus, “he said to me: "I’ve got this old script I’ve had for years", I said: "give us a look George" and within three weeks we were shooting it”.

Sullivan saw Come Play With Me as a chance to turn his then-girlfriend and magazine cover girl Mary Millington into a film star, as well as an opportunity for some cross-media marketing. Sullivan's magazines like Playbirds and Whitehouse are seen/referenced throughout the film, but it was with promoting the film through his magazines that Sullivan really came into his own. Months before the film's release Sullivan’s readers were promised Come Play with Me would be "the British Deep Throat" and would "make Linda Lovelace look like Noddy". To add credibility to these claims, photo shoots that were only a few shades away from hardcore were published in Sullivan’s magazines and claimed to be stills from the upcoming film, whereas in fact they bore little resemblance to anything in Come Play With Me. A fixture in these photo shoots was hardcore actor Timothy Blackstone, sometimes billed in the articles as “Randy Buck, Esquire”. In spite of this exposure Blackstone does not appear in the actual film.

The hype for Come Play with Me also spread to the letter pages of Sullivan’s magazine, a fan letter of dubious authenticity (as it refers to scenes that don’t appear in the film) from “Bert U” to Mary Millington in Whitehouse, no.27 claims “Dear Mary, I must congratulate you on your film Come Play with Me, I found it screamingly funny and very sexy as well…I loved every randy moment… everyone was so natural, and Henry McGhee (sic) as the PM was superb.” The letter also goes on to falsely claim that the actor Roy Kinnear appears in the film and that “(Roy) looked like a Roman Emperor in the swimming pool scene. I‘ll bet it took him all his time to keep his towel on during rehearsals for the film… it looked to me, Mary, as though you were fucked rigid during the film”.

Several hardcore porn scenes were also shot for Come Play With Me. These would have appeared towards the end of the film, however in the event all traces of actual hardcore sex were cut from these scenes in the pre-release stage and the explicit footage went AWOL soon after. "For real" were the lesbian scene between Mary Millington and Penny Chisholm, as well as the heterosexual sex scenes between Lisa Taylor and Derek Aylward, Suzette Sangalo Bond and an unknown male, and Sonia Svenberger and Gordon Hickman. These scenes do remain in the film, albeit heavily cut down to soft core, with only Penny Chisholm's "flushed" beetroot colored expression during her sex scene with Mary, giving a hint of these scenes' explicit origins.

Regarded by many as the most successful of the British sex comedies of the seventies, the film ran continuously at the Moulin Cinema in London's West End from 1977 to 1981.

Censorship history

Come Play With Me was classified 'X' for theatrical release in 1977 with the following BBFC cuts

Reel 3 - Shot of woman astride a man to massage him in which her vulva is visible from behind was removed.

Reel 4 - Cabaret dancer's act was considerably reduced to remove initial writhing and caressing of her groin over G-string, her writhing alone in 'riding' copulatory movement, the CU of her pubic as she pours liquid over herself, and the shot of her wide-open legs as she covers vulva with her hand.

As Clapworthy urinates into wash basin, initial thrusting shots of man copulating with woman on massage couch were removed.

Reel 9 - In the copulation scene at the beginning of the reel (before Rodney and Christine's eating sex scene), all shots of his buttocks thrusting between her legs and her legs wrapped round him were removed.

In later sex scene (after Rodney and Christine's food scene), woman's dialogue line "Go down harder" and sight of him performing cunnilingus on her were removed. Her head reaction orgasm remained.

Imitations and spin-offs

The success of Come Play With Me, inevitably led to imitation productions sometimes similar in name only, and some more authorized than others.

Come Play With Me (late 1970s) : stage farce loosely based on the film, starring Bob Grant from On the Buses.

Cum Lay With Me (circa 1977) : short 8 mm sex film starring Sonia Svenburger and directed by Harrison Marks.

Come With Me (circa 1977) : audio cassette of sex noises “the turn-on tape of all time” also sold in cartridge format.

Come Play With Me: Part 2 (1980): unrelated Swiss sex film directed by Erwin C. Dietrich, re-titled by Tigon and David Sullivan and promoted as a 'sequel' to their earlier film.

Come Play With Me: Part 3: (1982) see above.

Release history

Come Play With Me was released on 8 mm by Fletcher Films and on VHS by Hokushin Audio Visual in 1979.

The film was periodically released on VHS in the 1980s on a variety of soft core labels, although a 1986 release on the "Pink Climax" label, while claiming to be the Marks film on the video packaging, actually contains the unrelated 'sequel' Come Play With Me part 3 on the tape itself, possibly released in error.

In April 1997 Medusa Pictures released the film on VHS as part of their “X-Films of the Saucy 70s” series (the first release to put the film into a retro/historic context).

The film had two early DVD releases in the UK, the first by Medusa Pictures (1999) with the short 6-minute prologue to the 1980 documentary True Blue Confessions as an extra. The second DVD is copyrighted 2005 and looked to have been derived from an old tape of the film, possibly the Hokushin one, and included the full version of True Blue Confessions, but again the picture appears taken from a VHS.

Doctor's sex, drugs habit 'out of control

Decade later, one was in court for the manslaughter of a female escort as the other - prominent surgeon Charlie Teo - defended his friend's previous good character.

Dr Teo yesterday told the District Court he held former colleague Suresh Nair in extremely high regard, despite the latter admitting to the manslaughter of a female escort in a drug-fuelled binge and supplying cocaine to another escort who also died in similar circumstances.

Dr Teo said he had agreed to "stick his neck out" for Nair, 42, despite advice to the contrary.

"I have a public profile ... but I felt very strongly that Suresh was a good person and people needed to know that," Dr Teo said. Having visited him twice in jail, Dr Teo said Nair was "very remorseful".

The pair met in early 2000, when Nair became registrar at Prince of Wales Hospital. Dr Teo described Nair as "awkward socially" but said his patient care and skills as a brain surgeon were exemplary.

"I spent so many hours with him, I got to know the real Suresh ... (he was) a peaceful sort of soul who cared very much for his patients and I thought he was an excellent neurosurgeon," Dr Teo said.

But he said if he was ever to discover Nair had performed surgery while under the influence of his drug addiction, his opinion would change.

Since being remanded at Silverwater jail 18 months ago, Nair has been the victim of a vicious assault, which resulted in the loss of some vision.

He also faces deportation to Malaysia because he does not hold Australian citizenship, despite migrating here in 1980 at the age of 11.

Nair's barrister, Peter Hamill SC, said his client's "dreadful, debilitating addiction" had resulted in a "tragic waste: the waste of the lives of the victims . . . there's also the awful waste of Mr Nair's incredible talents, 20 years of work down the drain."

But Judge Toner disagreed, saying Nair was not an addict, but a "binge cocaine user" and there was "one dead body too many".

"(It's) a very indulgent crime to me," he said. "On one occasion it led to a death, and he still did it and another died.

Banks prepared for Anonymous hacking plans

In a tweet today, @AnonymousIRC said, "A wild leak appears: for a change, we sail to Australia this time", providing a link to four SQL database dumps belonging to Mosman Municipal Council and the promise of more to come. LulzSec has previously made similar attacks, but over the weekend decided to disband after its 50th day of hacking.


Mosman Municipal Council's manager of IT services, Kevin Nonweiler, confirmed to ZDNet Australia that the council had experienced a breach, but emphasised that no rate-payer information had been compromised and that all the information in the dumps was publicly available information.


Text in the dumps match information that is publicly available on the council's website, confirming the claim. However, one of the files in the dump also contains information for a prototype website that is not yet completed and not indexed by search engines. Nonweiler said that the site had no direct links, so without knowing the address of the site, it was not possible to navigate to. Despite this, a quick Google search reveals the site is mentioned in draft plans on the council's website and, while not linked, could be easily accessed by anyone who had read the public document.


The prototype site currently has placeholder images and text used extensively throughout. Its content also matches information found in the dump, part of which carries a commencement date of July 2011.


Chief executive of the Australian Bankers Association Steven Munchenberg told News that the big banks had put in place adequate measures to bolster their security.


"Bank customers should not be concerned because banks are constantly monitoring for any IT security risks," Mr Munchenberg said.


"Security and protection of customers’ funds are the bedrock of any banking business, so protection and prevention against threats of attack are issues with which banks are accustomed to dealing."


This week Anonymous hacked Mosman Municipal Council’s website after attacking Sony, Bank of America and the CIA’s public website.


Mosman Council IT manager Kevin Nonweiler said that four website databases were leaked in the incident.