Bunhill: 'Not in front of the Australians'

THE OLD saying 'not in front of the children' appears to have been replaced by 'not in front of the Australians'. At least that's what it says at the top of the latest salvo fired by Enterprise Oil in its battle with Lasmo: 'This announcement is not for distribution in or into Australia.'

Enquiries to the Enterprise camp induced off-the-record groaning noises. Apparently, the Australians have become rather upset that the reputation of their financial community had grown, shall we say, less than fragrant as a result of the activities of Mr Bond et al. As a result they have adopted a holier-than-thou attitude, needing to vet any announcements with a magnifying glass. As the Enterprise people put it, 'They're out-SECing the SEC.'

The hypocrisy of the Australians' new attitude reminds me forcibly of the headline in one of Mr Murdoch's papers years ago during a battle over pornography: 'Keep this filth out of Australia - six pages of pictures inside.'