James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Alan Bond’s name has haunted the Australian media in 2008.

And it has me conflicted.

As a child, I remember Australia winning the America’s Cup and Alan Bond’s prominent involvement. But I also remember the circumstances that led to his imprisonment in 1997, when he deceptively siphoned $1.2 billion from Bell Resources to rescue the Bond Corporation (then, the biggest corporate fraud in Australia’s history).

In particular, as a young law student with an interest in journalism, I remember Paul Barrie’s masterfully coordinated ‘run-in’ with Bond on ‘the court house steps’ after airing a series of reports as an investigative reporter for ABC’s Four Corners leading up to the trial. (If anyone can find the footage, I’d love to link it.)

This year, Alan Bond re-entered the BRW 200 Rich List.

I don’t know about anyone else, but while I can’t get over his wrong-doings, Alan Bond’s phoenix-like return has ignited a strange, quiet admiration in me, which has prompted me to write the following letter and make the following proposition:

You will never go hungry. Why not give it back?

Here goes..

Dear Mr Bond,

As an Australian, albeit London born, you will know that the Australian media can be unforgiving. However, you will also understand that the Australian people love a comeback.

Your return this year to the BRW Rich List prompted admiration from many of your fellow Australians. But it also unearthed a great deal of latent resentment.

You understand why that might be so, so I won’t labour the point, except to say that your actions, leading up to your conviction in 1997, cost shareholders in Bell Resources and the Bond Corporation $1.2 billion (at least).

This might sound like an over-simplification, but it is what history will show.

This year, you were reported as having an estimated wealth of $265 million. As such, I would like to present you with the following proposition:

Give 90% of it back.

I promise that you won’t starve. In fact, you will continue to make bundles of cash and live extremely comfortably with the $2.65 $26.5 million [thanks for correcting my arithmetic] still in your pocket. You will continue to amass your fortune and may even, in time, return the remaining shareholder losses, if that should become your intention.

Best of all, you will gain the admiration of your fellow citizens.

And when that certain day comes, as it does for us all, when you lay your head down for good, you will rest comfortably in the knowledge that your family, your peers and Australia as a whole respects you deeply as one of Australia’s greatest entrepreneurs, ever.

You will be remembered for your successful involvement in the America’s Cup. You will be remembered for your mistakes. But eclipsing all that will be the collective understanding that you lost it all, fought hard and gave it back.

I hope that you will give deep consideration to this letter, as it was put together with the involvement of Anthill magazine’s readership - Australia’s current and next generation of entrepreneurial men and women, business builders who take their lead from the successes and failures of those iconic figures that came before them.

Thank you for your attention and I wish you well.

Yours sincerely,
James Tuckerman
Founder / Editor-In-Chief
Anthill Magazine

A brief history of Bond’s activities can be found on wikipedia.

Should Alan Bond be given a chance to redeem himself? Does my letter make sense? Am I barking to the wind? Will he always be a devil in the eyes of Australians?

Whatever the case, I plan to get a version of this letter on his desk, preferably in his hands, including whatever input and thoughts you, Anthill readers, care to submit. Any tips on how to reach the man himself would also be helpful.

So… want to help me write an open letter to Alan Bond?

James Tuckerman, Editor-In-Chief, Anthill Magazine

Have you ever heard of a ‘flash protest’? It’s similar to a ‘flash mob,’ where a group engages in seemingly spontaneous but actually synchronised behaviour.

The concept has been attributed to Bill Wasik, an editor at Harper’s Magazine, initially as a kind of street performance. Popular examples of the ‘flash mob’ concept involve getting dozens of people to perch on a ledge stone in Central Park (all making bird noises), a ‘zombie walk’ in San Francisco and an incident where over 100 people ‘froze’ perfectly still in New York’s Grand Central Station for one minute.

But it can also be used for political purposes. Let me give you an example…

Not so long ago, a small group of Belorussian citizens decided to stage a protest against the autocratic President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. The country had cut loose from the USSR after the collapse of European Communism. While many former Soviet states embraced the democratic process, Belarus retained a state-run economy and a President reluctant to give up his own brand of unchecked power.

So, what would you do if you were part of a small group eager to bring about political change in a state-run country like Belarus?

Option A: Stage an angry protest, with placards and organised chanting, where you would most probably be arrested during the planning phase, before even the first slogan could be shouted.

Option B: Stage a ‘flash mob’ by inviting participants through email and SMS to ’spontaneously’ show up at a public location and join other disenfranchised citizens in the act of eating… wait for it… ice-cream!

The second option is exactly what happened in Belarus in May 2007, soon followed by a mass ‘reading’ protest, and later a mass ’smiling’ protest. The two main benefits are obvious: 1) The plan cannot be ‘thwarted’ by the establishment due to the viral and instantaneous nature of new communication technologies; and, 2) It’s hard to arrest someone for eating ice-cream, reading or smiling without attracting international condemnation.

Of course, there’s also nothing more liberating (and nothing more politically destabilising to an autocratic state) than the public’s realisation that other’s are equally dissatisfied with the status quo.

Back to Commercial Ready…

According to the AFR, on 19 May 2008, at least 220 aspiring technology entrepreneurs were caught in the surprise axing of the four-year $700 million Commercial Ready program in the federal budget.

For a full grants overview (the good, the bad and the ugly), click here.

These people had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars collectively on their applications, and were offered little more than a letter explaining what other funding programs they might be eligible for.

However, according to many industry pundits, the closure of this program also has significant longer-term implications for innovation in Australia.

As reported by Slattery’s Watch, Ian Birks, CEO of AIIA, recently stated: “SME innovation and growth is a critical component of Australia’s aspirations in the information economy… and we cannot afford to fall behind in these areas.” While TVP General Partner Mike Zimmerman commented that he believes the death of Commercial Ready “will be an enormous blow to SMEs in the ICT sector… Many of the industry’s successful start-ups (and their investors) had seen the CR grant as THE critical government program supporting innovation.”

And from Perth-based venture capital investor Matt Callahan, published in the AFR: “Wow - that is probably the biggest damaging stake into the start-up companies’ heart I have ever heard of. I am stunned.”

Anthill also received an alarmingly large number of anonymous and public comments. Hence, this blog post.

So, what’s the plan?

Step #1: Add your comments below. Is there a genuine complaint to be made? If so, where should this complaint be directed? Your feelings, thoughts, opinions and suggestions will shape our actions.

Step #2: Join us in the first stage of a ‘flash protest’. You won’t be required to go anywhere or do anything complicated - just make a phone call when prompted by SMS.

To leave your mobile number and join the ‘flash protest’, click here. (Of course, we won’t pass on your private details to anyone else. This is all about activism! The power’s in your hands.)

Step #3: Forward this blog post to everyone you know who will be detrimentally affected by the scrapping of Commercial Ready (and anyone you know who is likely to feel strongly about the impact it’s closure will have on Australian innovation).

Step #4: Wait. Over the next five days, we’ll form a plan based on your comments and suggestions and the volume of responses we receive, and then alert you via SMS (see Step #2).

Here’s our ‘out’ clause…

If this ‘call-to-action’ fails to generate a significant response, we’ll drop the cause and move on. If the Federal Government introduces changes that will circumvent the complaints, we’ll again move on. And lastly, if this begins to get beyond us (we’re a small team at Anthill), we might need to review our position (and get back to work, so the next issue comes out).

Whatever the outcome, we’ll keep you posted, as we’re sure that whatever path we take, the outcome will present an interesting story on the rise of social networking technologies and ‘digital activism’.

What next? Get active, Anthillians.

To join the ‘flash’ protest, click here.

Leave any comments or remarks you might have below.