Work choices
From the Australian editorial
Employment Minister Joe Hockey said that since the Government’s workplace reforms were introduced in March 2006, 430,700 jobs have been created. Where the rise in job numbers is an objective fact, measured by the ABS, academic investigations into the impact of Work Choices on working conditions and employee security and sentiment have been highly politicised and the data is unreliable as a result.As Health Minister Tony Abbott told a Quadrant and Institute of Public Affairs discussion this week, the problem for the social justice lobby is explaining how 10.9 per cent unemployment under a more regulated labour market is more fair than 4.3 per cent unemployment under the policies of the Howard Government. No amount of articles claiming detractors have found someone who is worse off under work choices can counter Abbott’s point. In a large system we can always find someone who considers themselves worse off but it is never someone who was previously unemployed that now has a job. Just ask the 437,000 new job holders. Denied overtime? Yes – worse off but the guy doing your overtime isn’t if he didn’t have a job before. Not getting Leave Allowance? Yes worse off but you should never have got it in the first place. Leave Allowance is totally unsupportable….money for jam…money for nothing! Have to work weekends without Penalty Rates? Yes- worse off but your penalty rates are someone else’s base salary so get over it. And as a matter of interest, double time on Sunday is based on just what exactly? Religion? If Rudd gets the keys to the Treasury, voters must keep in mind that Unions will get the key to awards and conditions and while unions had their place in the bad old days of kids in coal mines there is little use for them now. Unions seek power to extract conditions for workers in a vacuum that has no place for the employers ability to pay these conditions and that is a proven formula for less jobs. Just to make it easy for you on election day to decide how to vote I have summarized the entire Work Choices debate into two short lines. Anti Work Choice – political driven opinion Pro Work Choice – ABS indisputable facts
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Kev, the chickens are coming home to roost for the architects of “Workchoices”. Even its name is enough to worry me – it’s straight out of George Orwell.
Do you recall Barbara Bennett’s confirmation that 25000 of the recently submitted agreements fail the “fairness test”?
Remember, these agreements (involving 4000 employers) disadvantaged employees. To add to the confusion, between 3000 and 4000 employers were asked to resubmit their agreements because of insufficient information. That’s gone over really well with small business.
It has become abundantly clear that the ill-considered changes were a product of political dogma – not rational economic policy. The Coalition misjudged the mood of Australian workers, who generally do know what’s in their best interests, and the back pedaling they’ve done since has created total chaos.
I know for a fact that there are many coalition backbenchers who are in the habit in private of describing the legislation in words of four letters generally not used in polite company.
Incidentally, one of my sons is one of the 437000 new job holders. He’s employed on an award, because the company he works for, which is a innovative regional outfit pioneering new construction techniques, won’t touch AWAs with a bargepole.
Even $93 million of taxpayer funded advertising hasn’t been enough to fool Australian workers.
Comments comparing the current situation with years ago when we didn’t have the international economic context don’t bear analysis. Our current prosperity coincides with Workchoices; it hasn’t been influenced by it.
“I know for a fact that there are many coalition backbenchers who are in the habit in private of describing the legislation in words of four letters generally not used in polite company.”
And how, pray tell, could you know this ‘as fact’? Read it in the papers? Been hanging out in the party room? Taking tea and bikkies at Manuka pubs? In the end, the public will decide this issue before the end of this year.
Taking tea is closest – but not in Canberra. Try far North Queensland through a family connection with whom I regularly debate the state of the nation over a few good reds. In the course of my work I mix with all sorts of people – many who have very different opinions to mine. It keeps the brain fit.
Second hand gossip is fact. And your a ‘teacher’?
Gary –
“in vino veritas”
and when it comes to teaching –
“A teacher is that rare individual who coaxes the existing knowledge systems of his students out of hiding, drags every last tentacle of the monster from the depths into broad daylight, hoses off the slime, wrestles it to the ground when it puts up a fight, and finally gives it a heart transplant. That’s subversion. That’s teaching.”
Postman & Weingartner, 1969
Вы можете впечатлить малые детей, 1735099 с alleged латинскими искусствами но к нам вы справедливый взгляд как унылое poser.
Gary
A long time ago, I did study Latin. Sometimes it does a better job of getting the meaning across than English.
The closest you’re going to get for a Russian translation of “poser” is “актер”.
I’d like to join the debate boys, but my brain hurts
Dear Kev
Great result last night. I hope that you celebrated – I certainly did.
Good to see Costello the architect of Work Choices etc has thrown in the towel. Keating was right about him – no ticker, no guts and basically a flawed weak man. He did not have the guts to take on Shifty and he now knows that Shifty has deprived him of the P Ministership. Shifty went ” one too far”. The getting to senate majority went to their ehads and Work Choices was the result and the result for Shifty and his cohorts is plain to see. It was good to see that a fair go for the Joe Blow and the battler came through.
Good to see democarcy at work in Bennelong – they finally worked out that all the lies and deceit came home to bite shifty on the bum. Brough is another casualty – I think the public realized that it was desparate short sighted intervention in the NT which was never previously on the agenda by Howard. He never has never had respect for the the indigenous popualtion but seemed to suddenly care at the 11th hour. Aussies are not that gullible.
I warned you Kev that one day the bullshsit and devit woult catch up yo Shifty.
By by and good riddance to this divisive and deceitful man.
Bush your gerat hero will also be gone next year and I hope that the wolrd and escpecially this great country will have more ethical and less deceit from our leaders.
Out of Iraq and concentrate on Afghanistan.
Gloat and enjoy Peter. When things go bad you won’t have the smarts to realize it and will blissfully continue to smile.
This may have been a good election to lose. I don’t envy Rudd & Co the task of keeping inflation in check. Having said that, I was personally very surprised by the size of the swing. In my electorate (Groom – safe Liberal) it was 10%. I voted at 10am, and had to queue for 30mins. The last time I remember having to do this was 1972.
There’s a similarity in terms of the mood of the electorate, but it would be very difficult to find two more different leaders (Whitlam vs Rudd).
Rudd is a very dull person – an absolute technocrat. Don’t expect excitement. I share only one thing in common with him – we both attended Nambour High. I was there ten years before he was, but have been told by those who knew him then, that he was generally invisible. He shook up the Senior Executive Service during his time with Goss, and most of them were glad to see the back of him.
His nickname then was “Doctor Death”.
I can’t decide where to begin in correcting that Peter guy!
His complete lack of knowledge
His ignorant yobbo working class attitude
His poor grammar
Or his spelling!
Jordan
Peter’s not working class.
He is in fact this blogs village idiot and a Melbourne Barrister.
LOL!!
It’s hardly worth the effort Jordan but at least he does give you a choice in angles of attack.