The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > Under Labor, 'no ticket, no start' is back > Comments

Under Labor, 'no ticket, no start' is back : Comments

By Joe Hockey, published 2/5/2007

Its conference showed that the Australian Labor Party is in cahoots with the unions.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. Page 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. ...
  9. 10
  10. 11
  11. 12
  12. All
I have news for you, Mr Hockey. Regardless of official figures, we don't live in a era of low inflation. We live in an era of high inflation thanks to skyrocketing rents and house prices. And that's partly to do with conservative policy such as underfunding of the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement, grants (bribes) to first home buyers and rental subsidies. The result? Around 100,000 people in Australia are homeless and many more struggle to pay their rent, mortgage or rates. And that is one outstanding reason why people can't afford even union membership - even though they may understand unions provide a modicum of protection against their boss' unreasonable demands.

And if you are tuning in, Mr Hockey, I'll ask you this - if Workchoices is such fantastic policy why wasn't advertised in detail in the 2004 Federal Election? And why wasn't the legislation even ready until after the Election? Workchoices has no legitimacy as far as I'm concerned. It wasn't even on the table until the Coalition realised it had a majority in the Senate.

Disgusting opportunism and toading to the Business Council of Australia.
Posted by DavidJS, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 1:37:09 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
When the GST was being talked about it was Big Joe who fluffed his lines. He was asked the price of a bottle of Coca Cola under the proposed GST (an item costing less than $2). Poor Joe couldn't even work it out. And then Big Joe was accused of being asleep at the wheel when HIH went belly-up because he was the portfolio minister. Joe looked like a fish out of water as the difficult questions were fired at him over that crash. Why doesn't Howard hide this professional idiot somewhere. How 'bout Minister in Charge of Government Stationery.
Posted by Sage, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 1:44:42 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
A letter writer to The Age today reckons that the founder of the Liberal Party, Bob Menzies (Ming) being anything but supportive of the central plank of the Howard Government's AWAs, and that the Howard Government's broader economic settings "also fit neatly into the Menzian mould".

Readers should judge for themselves how some of R. G. Menzies' political life would fit with the Howard way: as a QC, Menzies represented unions in a number of key High Court cases; as attorney-general and minister for railways in the Victorian Parliament, he sought to regulate and control the burgeoning road transport industry, and he sought to make the railways pay instead of subsidising farmers' freight costs; in the Federal Parliament, he was deeply involved in the creation of the National Insurance Bill, designed to provide for medical cover and pensions for all working people, and he eventually resigned from the ministry in protest on a matter of principle; he initiated vast injections of Commonwealth funds into the (state-owned) universities, including Commonwealth scholarships that gave large numbers of students a free tertiary education; his governments funded an enormous expansion in research in universities and in the CSIRO; and on and on.

Geoffrey Heard, Cheltenham

DEMOS we have labour companies at the moment, they make the individual owners of the labour companies very, very rich eg Julia Ross, Rod Carnegie.

Not sure what advantage AWAs give employers who hire staff through labour hire companies?

Not sure how relevant AWAs are to the growing legions of low paid workers working as subcontractors.

Really can't see why mining companies will not be allowed to hire workers on individual contract under Labor, I have worked for a mining company under an individual contract when the Arbitration Commission existed. Oh, I see, workers will be forced to work on contract because the award will be abolished.

What other large employers are there? The army - no one will deny them a pay rise, ditto the police. That leaves teachers and nurses, female dominated professions, they should be a push over.
Posted by billie, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 2:01:34 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I can't help sharing Rudd's impression that Joe Hockey is a decent bloke with a crappy job, so I'm not inclined to blame him personally for this drivel. It's his party's line and his job is to spruik that.

When it comes to unions, the difference between the workers unions and the business unions is name alone. Why not be honest about it and change Business Council to Business Union?

These bodies are organisations with spokespeople, set up to represent the interests of their members and they're no more afraid of heavying and scare tactics than workers unions are. I imagine the biggest difference is their access to funding. Corporations unions don't seem to be having any problems there
Posted by chainsmoker, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 2:10:20 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Your Governmant was not satisfied with their gradual stripping away of Worker's hard fought for conditions that you got so confident you went all the way and gutted what was left Now cop the consequences and understand that it is not 'Union Bosses' who are going to give you lot the big "A" but the working families you have not served in your haste to please YOUR Corporate bosses.
Posted by maracas, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 2:28:40 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
None of the above posters have addressed the real issue:That politically, economically, and socially the Unions have the power, the wings of an eagle attached to a pigeonhead.

See Australia Calls America-http://australiacalls.blogspot.com
Posted by Themistocles, Wednesday, 2 May 2007 3:35:49 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. Page 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. ...
  9. 10
  10. 11
  11. 12
  12. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy