ONE VERY SUCCESSFUL MAORI

We have long admired Sir Ralph Norris , banker, affable bugger and a Maori. Ask anyone who has worked for him and they all say he is a good bugger.

He has been named as one of the top ten bankers in the world. That should make all kiwis very very proud.

A BLOODY GOOD IDEA - FROM THE BANKS

A mortage holiday of up to a year if you are made redundant. Thats what theCommonwealth Bank in Aussie is planning - the bank is headed by Ralph Norris.

With CBA itself predicting last month that the jobless rate could blow out from its current level of 5.2 per cent to a peak of 7 per cent late next year, Mr Norris said that it was not in the bank's interest to see people "get into trouble".

"In the case of those unfortunate to be unemployed, we will provide repayment holidays for six months, and in some circumstances up to 12 months, with interest being capitalised," he said. Mortgage holders will ultimately have to pay the deferred payments, plus interest.

Mr Norris added that he could not rule out job losses at CBA because of deteriorating economic conditions.

The rest of the story in the Australian here

We think its time for the banks on this side of the Tasman to step up with someone similar.