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As another year draws to a close I have been thinking about how this year has been littered with events that have made many people stop and think about how lucky they are. Early this year Queensland suffered the tragic consequences of Mother Nature’s force with a one in 100 year flood that caused three quarters of the state to be declared a disaster zone. Then in February we witnessed the devastation to Christchurch when a magnitude 6.3 earthquake caused massive destruction that continues to cause anguish as parts of the city are still closed to the public. More recently we have tried to make sense of the man-made disaster occurring in Europe, where citizens in some countries have not paid taxes or attended work for decades, which has led to a debt crisis that is becoming ever more serious. Meanwhile our Treasurer, Wayne Swan, continues to reassure us that we will be in surplus in 2012 which of course is being questioned in a number of quarters. However, surplus or not I believe we are very lucky to live in Australia. On a more personal note, a major milestone for Aston Ryan Malcolm occurred in November when we celebrated our 25th anniversary in business. During all of this time we have been located in our current premises and we have seen many changes to the local area. Just recently we joined IGAF Polaris, a global association of over 350 independent accounting firms in over 85 countries, which means that in future we will be better able to assist our clients with international transactions and overseas ventures. Once again, on behalf of the Directors, I want to thank all the members of our team as they have worked very hard to provide our clients with the level of service that they deserve. I also want to thank our clients, business associates and friends for the ongoing support we have received from them during 2011. I hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2012 Regards,
Greg Cusack |