Category: Politics

A PLUNGE in support for the Federal Government was a clear message that people did not like Prime Minister John Howard’s industrial relations plans, Labor frontbencher Penny Wong said today. Actually, I’m more inclined to think it’s that people don’t like the ACTU/ALP interpretation of Howards IR plans and when the battle smoke has been cleared away by some boring old facts people will be quiet happy. I respect the ALP’s right to claim victory when the polls are more favourable to them but it’s a long way out from the next election and by then common sense will prevail.

ASTOUNDING comments from Amanda Vanstone ridiculing federal airline security measures and questioning increased spending on national security warranted an apology and the Immigration Minister’s resignation, Labor frontbenchers said last night. I have literally made similar observations to Amanda Vanstone except I use a ball point as an example. A ball point pen can be a weapon in the hands of anyone capable of stabbing another human and this fact simply demonstrates how hard total security is. Amand’s comments are relevant but should be made outside of the public arena lest politicians and journalists devoted to the destabilisation of the Howard government get to sing and dance about every utterance she makes. Still, it gives ammo for Matt Price and Glen Milne to bolster their attack on Howard and I now wonder how Milne will include the event in his monthly Howard threatened by Costello article. On a positive note Amanda has managed to get IR off the front page all by herself. Well done!

According to this report, nation-wide, approximately 130,000 people have answered the ACTU call for workers to march in protest of the IR bill. The Union movement will say the figure is much larger of course so let’s give them the benefit of doubt and call it 200,000. That’s about 1% of the population. If you subtract the rentacrowd dreadlocked adorned and body pierced anti-everything crowd the percentage would be even less. 1%…5%…doesn’t matter. It will still look good on TV tonight. Transport workers in Sydney blockaded the M4 motorway. Good call guys. You now have the whole peak-hour population pissed off. I don’t know how many use the M4 to get to work but reckon the figure might match the people peeing in the wind at Martin Place. We now undergo the application of the Law of Exagerated Attendance whereby the ACTU, ALP and ABC/SBS exagerate the number of people running in the streets protesting about Howard’s IR laws. Rports from Melbourne…. …..In wet and windy weather conditions, estimates around 9am suggested crowd numbers had reached at least 60,000. ….Unions had predicted that 100,000 would attend. ….Sky News later broadcast aerial shots showing packed Melbourne city streets, estimating 175,000 had taken part. Lets see what the figures are come news time tonight given ABC/SBS journo’s have 5 or 6 hours to work on it. Australian Education Union state president Mary Bluett justified the stopwork during the sensitive VCE period by saying: “This (the industrial relations legislation) is not the legacy we want to leave our children.”

More than 50 government schools, 40 non-government schools and up to 50 kindergartens are expected to close across the state when up to 20,000 teachers join the rally, which begins at Federation Square at 9am. Working parents who cannot obtain or afford child care are expected to take carer’s leave.

It’s bad enough that the kids of 50 schools are denied education during the sensitive VCE period but surely there is something wrong with unions expecting parents to take carers leave to cover for them. Of course none of this really matters. The IR changes will come into place, things will improve in the market place and the country will get on with life knowing that the Howard government has taken another positive step. Despite all the spin the sky wont fall in. UPDATE: The ABC have raised the bar to 200,000 The ABC also report three Maritime Union members in McKay have been sacked despite Adsteam Maritime Corporate Communications Manager Paula Wilson stating clearly they had not been sacked. They will undergo disciplinary action and being sacked is one option but no, they haven’t been sacked. It was amusing to hear the journalist almost plead with Paula to say they were sacked It was as if the journo had been told by her Editor to go find a ‘sacked because they attended a rally’ story and it wasn’t panning out that way. Great stuff on an otherwise no news day. Update II: ABC news, the ALP/ACTUTV has the figures at 540,000 nation wide and 250,000 in Melbourne. Wow. I’m impressed

As much as the left and the Intelligensia complain, the anti-terror and IR laws are going to be passed before Christmas. The ‘Shoot to kill’ red herring can stay in or out…doesn’t matter much as no court would convict a federal or local agent of murder, or even manslaughter, if he thought the other guy was trying to kill him. Oh, and don’t waste too much money on champagne celebrating the demise of Howard in the poles largely acredited to the IR Laws by optimistic pundits. The voter still has to shed the message of the ACTU/ALP adds with their lies and propaganda and absorb the truth.

Gary Morgan says: “Despite the mass of publicity, debate, and advertising by the Federal Government and the Unions, the opinions of Australians have barely changed since the last Morgan Poll on the Industrial Relations reforms in July of this year. In fact, a slightly higher proportion of Australians now disagree with the Industrial Relations reforms (49%) than disagreed in July (47%). The percentage of Australians who agree with the reforms (17%) remains unchanged since the previous survey.�

The voters don’t know enough about the reforms yet to have any firm opinion. Ads like the current government releases take time to be absorbed. Lets face it – they’re pretty boring. Surfing over at Ranting and Rambling, Hamish quotes a piece from Crikey that I can’t find so I’ve quoted it in part here. Truth in advertising would go a long way to giving Howard a postive poll for Christmas.

Much has been said about the fact that the Government is spending around $100 million advertising its planned changes to the Workplace Relations Act. But not much has been said about the pathetic advertisements that have so far been produced. The Government would be better off sacking their grossly overpaid advertising agency and media buyers and running ads like this: Advertisement One: Cameras focuses on an employee rifling through the handbag of a fellow employee and removing money from her purse. Midway through the act the thieving employee is caught by a manager and summonsed to the manager’s office. The manager tells the employee he can no longer trust him and that he will need to find another job, and offers the employee a generous one month payout. The employee swears at his manager and says he’s going to call the union. The next scene is a hearing at the Industrial Relations Commission in which the Commissioner announces that the dismissal was harsh, unjust or unreasonable and that the manager must re-employ the thief in his previous position as he was not given a proper warning before being dismissed. The Commissioner also announces that the thief is to receive pay in lieu for the time he was away from work. The advertisement then concludes with white writing on a black screen which reads:“The New Workplace Laws – Allowing thieves to be sacked.”

The people know this type of thing goes on and will eventually accept the need for new IR regulations. Just wait and see.

The union movement’s challenge to the legality of the Federal Government’s $20 million industrial relations advertising campaign has failed, and the High Court yesterday awarded costs to the Government. Teeheehee.

Mr Combet said he did not believe that the costs, yet to be decided by the court, would be as high as $200,000. Either way the sum is likely to only slightly dent the funds gathered by the unions for a campaign against the Government’s planned changes. It is understood unions have raised $8 million and plan to raise $30 million over three years.

That’s a lot of money to be washed out with the tide as the ALP and the union movement try and do a King Canute. Look up the numbers in the Senate, guys. It’s happening…Australia’s IR laws are moving forward- not marking time or regressing as you would want.

And the left go ballistic. Margo and her pixies are beside themselves with this news and have penned a letter to the Appeal of Conscience organization in New York

The Honorable John Howard will receive the World Statesman Award for his “inspiring leadership that has made Australia a beacon of democracy, religious freedom and human rights and for his courageous stand against international terrorism,” Rabbi Schneier said. Serving as Australian Prime Minister since 1996, Howard most recently announced Australia’s partnership in the Asia-Pacific Partnership On Clean Development and Climate, an enterprise devoted to addressing the challenges of climate change, energy security and air pollution in a way that strives to encourage economic development and reduce poverty in developing nations.

It’s not a big deal to me and most probably isn’t to Howard either but it is worth the effort and time involved just to read the left’s vitriol. Although, on reflection, the way Howard upsets the left should make him a shoe-in for the award.

Past recipients of the World Statesman Award include Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson, President of the Government of Spain José Maria Aznar, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Republic of Korea President Kim Dae-jung, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, Presidents Cardoso, Gorbachev, Havel, and von Weizsaeker, Chancellor Schroeder, as well as Prime Ministers Prodi and Thatcher.

A small quote from the letter;

Mr Howard’s anti-terrorism laws have targeted Australian Muslims. These laws give extraordinary powers which are intrusive and demonise the Muslim community.

I doubt if Rabbi Arthur Schneier, founder and president, would have bothered reading past this accusation.