Howard regrets immigration stand. Opposition leader John Howard’s comments on Asian immigration in 1988 resur-faced to haunt him, this week 10 years ago. “It would be in our medium to long term interests and supportive of social cohesion if it were slowed down a little,” he said. These comments caused a furore at the time and were brought up when he spoke at a Chinese community in Melbourne as he tried to win election votes from Australia’s ethnic comm-unity. Mr Howard was asked “have you changed or are you just changeable?” To which he replied “Everybody in a long public life says things that he regrets, that he may have said differently.” Mr Howard also emphasised that a conserve-ative government would strengthen and deepen the relationship between Australia and it’s neighbours. “Time will tell us whether what he says is true,” the president of the Victorian Chinese Association Teong Soo So said. Bank-west nets $99.2m. The Bank of Western Australia said its group net profit for the year to September 30 was $99.2 million, an inc-rease of $16.5 million on the previous year. At the time the bank was owned by the state of Western Australia and was taken over by the Bank of Scotland on November 30. “These results prove that BankWest is well and truly ready to compete as a private sector bank following the completion of the sale to the Bank of Scotland,”chairman Ian Mackenzie said. Doriemus wins Melbourne Cup. Five year old stayer Doreimus won the Melboune Cup comfortably in wet con-ditions by four furlongs. The horse was owned by the Pacers Australia syndicate from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. The horse earned $1.3 million for his owners and gave Lee Freedman his third Melbourne Cup triumph. Ridden by Damien Oliver the horse was rated a 10-1 chance of winning the 3,200 metre race. Doriemus completed the most prestigious double in Australian distance racing having taken the Caulfield Cup two weeks earlier.