CBD

Watch out Tiger, hunter on prowl

In unwelcome news for Australia's cheapest airline, Tiger-hunting country singer Dale Watson is coming back to Australia.

He's the bloke who had such a rotten time flying Tiger back in April 2011 that he wrote an entire song dedicated to the experience.

A tale of woe - like all good country tunes - it details Watson's allegations that Tiger charged him $500 in excess baggage fees to transport a box of 120 CDs, worth €1200, from Sydney to Byron Bay ... and then promptly lost the luggage.

Or, as Watson sang of the journey, which he dubbed "as bad as any trip can get".

He attacked Tiger Airways'

"we-don't-care ways", saying their staff didn't want to solve customer problems but would rather "ignore you until you just run out of time".

The song hit an, er, chord with the Australian public, which had endured strandings - in 2009 a planeload of passengers hoping to travel from Hobart to Melbourne were told they'd be spending an extra three days in the Apple Isle.

In an effort to put its shoddy past behind it and stem its losses, Tiger has now rebranded as Tigerair and aims to shift its focus from business travellers to holidaymakers.

Executives will no doubt be crossing fingers that the airline doesn't have to carry Watson and his band, the Lone Stars, as they criss-cross the east coast in November and December.

Bookie hounded

Why won't people leave loveable bookie Tom Waterhouse alone? In the latest outrage perpetrated against the shy and retiring racing scion, bookmaker Bet247 has launched legal action demanding almost $250,000 from the baby-faced betting baron.

In a Victorian Supreme Court writ filed on Monday, Bet247 alleges that Waterhouse withheld the money, due under a profit-sharing deal in which gamblers who had accounts with failed sports betting group Sports Alive were to be transferred to Waterhouse.

All this comes as the low-profile Waterhouse is reportedly trying to get away a sale of his business, with UK bookie William Hill said to be front-runner.

Mall kingmaker

The real kingmaker in the shenanigans between Commonwealth Bank and its listed trusts is the shopping centre billionaire John Gandel. Not only does he own a half share in the county's biggest shopping mall - Melbourne's Chadstone with CBA's CFS Retail - but he has a 15 per cent chunk of that trust. But while investment bankers are happy to finally have a deal to generate cash for the staff Christmas party, of concern to investors is that the last time trusts thought it was a good idea to internalise, the sector shrank from nearly 50 to under 20 listed trusts - that was 2001.

Smoking club

Did someone leave a lit cigar on a pile of freshly ironed $100 notes in the gilded library of Australia's No. 2 club?

This will be the question asked by committee members after white smoke was seen wafting from one of Melbourne's most exclusive venues, The Australia Club.

Rather than the new pope being elected, it was a fire in the chimney of the building on the corner of William and Little Collins streets about 8.30am. Four units from the Metropolitan Fire Brigade were on the scene but it was unclear if firemen were allowed in, given the club's strict dress code and firemen's questionable pedigrees.

Even so, the fire was extinguished by about 10.30am. The building sustained minor smoke, water and brandy damage.

In the pinkWhich of the big four banks were aspiring for perfection by having traders take on the "Pink Diamond" philosophy?

Got a tip?

bbutler@fairfaxmedia.com.au