Peter Abeles interviewed by Daniel Connell [sound recording]
- Bib ID:
- 2861053
- Format:
- Audio
- Author:
- Abeles, Peter (Emil Herbert), Sir, 1924-1999, interviewee
- Online Version:
- National Library of Australia digitised item
- Access Conditions:
- Access open for research, personal copies and public use.
- Description:
-
- 1985
- 2 sound cassettes (ca. 163 min.) : analog, mono.
- Biography/History:
-
Peter Abeles, business executive, was born in Vienna in 1924 into a wealthy Hungarian Jewish family and educated in Budapest. He worked briefly with his father, a dealer in ores and metals, before emigrating to Australia in 1949. In 1950 he formed with fellow Hungarian immigrant George Rockey the transport company Alltrans Pty. Ltd. and later appointed Governor-General William McKell as a director. In 1967 he merged Alltrans with Thomas Nationwide Transport (TNT) and was appointed its managing director in 1968. He established TNT as a worldwide transport empire orchestrating takeovers of major Californian and Canadian trucking companies and then expanding into shipping. In 1980 with the assistance of Rupert Murdoch, TNT took control of Ansett Airlines with Abeles as joint managing director of Ansett Transport Industries Ltd. Having established himself as a major force in Australian industry, he influenced the careers of important business and political figures such as Kerry Packer and Bob Hawke in particular.
He supported Hawke's prices and incomes Accord and participated in his 1983 National Economic Summit. He formed strong links with the ACTU in respect to the two-airlines agreement of the 1980s and was appointed a director of the Reserve Bank in 1984. Abele's position as a close confidant of Hawke aroused suspicion particularly during the 1989 airline strike when Hawke's action in taking on the pilots' union enabled both major airlines to enter the deregulated market in a far more competitive position. In 1992 TNT was suffering from debt-ridden investments in Europe and Abeles then retired as its managing director but was later re-elected to the Board. He also chaired the Trade Advisory Council and the Australian Cancer Foundation for Medical Research.
- Notes:
-
- Recorded in March, 1980 in Canberra, A.C.T.
- Also available online http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-196111724
- Index/Finding Aid Note:
- Timed summary and uncorrected transcript (typescript, 74 leaves) available.
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Connell, Daniel, 1947-, interviewer
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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- Reason for copyright status:
- Until 2055 [Created/Published Date + 70 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Sound Recording
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 1985
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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