In a time of low wages and near full employment howard sees a need for change, I wonder why?.
It has been shown that howard is a liar, according to n/paper polls the electors distrust him.
Howard is trying to emulate America and create a permanent low paid under class. As well it must be remembered that the underprivileged are ,or could be seen as Greens, Democrat or labour voters. The libs by pushing these people down will weaken their political opposition.
This push to demonise the ordinary worker is also liberal policy just like the destruction of medi-bank.
No one should trust howard or his mean spirited and miserable party. numbat

I dispute that unemployment is the lowest its been for 25 years, lets not forget that 25 years ago unemployed was the number of people looking for full time work, whereas today a person working in paid or non-paid capacity for 30 minutes per week is "employed".

As I remember it the largest employers of apprentices used to be government departments like the PMG, Railways, Electricity Commission. My friends who started apprenticeships with private employers did not complete their apprenticeships when their employers went bankrupt or retired.

My experience with AWAs is sobering. I was sent an abbreviated AWA to sign and upon return of AWA I was rostered for casual work at various sites in the metro area. One day I was contacted at 11:30 am to start work at 2:30 pm that day. When I arrived at the work place I was told that I was no longer required. Upon investigation I found there was no mention of minimum call out times in the abbreviated AWA that I signed and the full copy of the AWA was held at the employers office.

I can't see people who work for other people having a decent and frugally comfortable future in our current industrial relations landscape.

This is the kind of newspeak crap that is destroying this country. War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength. Now let's add "AWAs are job security" and "long working hours and low wages is wealth."

I can't believe businesses and politicians actually promote this with a straight face, arguing that the already appalling slave labour apprentice wages are a disincentive to employing people. We must have a near third-world American system before employers will feel confident enough to start employing more people.

Mobility and flexibility, and the other newspeak terms used by businesses and politicians, is code for freedom to enslave people and sack them on a whim, among other things. Don't be fooled by the language that hides what they are really talking about.

Employers and right wing politicians won't be happy until they've driven us into the ground and we're too busy trying to survive to notice anything else, when they'll slip in voluntary voting, more corporate control and excessive privatisation, and goodbye Australia, hello Amerikkka...

Australia is going to the dogs.

I'm outta here.

An open letter to John Howard:

Dear Prime Minister,

Why are you leading Australia down the path of greed, selfishness and the strong dominating the weak.

Since you have come to power:
1. WHAT have you done to improve egalitarianism in this country?
2. WHAT reform have you championed to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor?
3. WHAT legislation have you rushed through the Senate to help the poor, the destitute, the homeless.

That is apart from make the richest even richer so some of their scraps can trickle down to the masses.

Please Mr Prime Minister, remember: the rich factory owners don't need you to fight for them. Commercial Magnates do need you drafting new legislation to improve their rights. The strong, wealthy and the powerfull don't need you as their Hero.

If they did, they wouldn't be where they are now.

But there are THOUSANDS who are depending on you. It's the immigrant factory worker earning minimum award rates and who can't really read english. It's the single mum clerical worker who works lives from hand to mouth in Sydney and can't save for a house deposit. It's the 16 year old shop assistant who puts in unpaid overtime because she's afraid of loosing her job.

If YOU abandon them and hack away at the rights, who will be their defender! Who else will protect their standard of living? Big business don't care about the little people. All they care about is their bottom line.

It's one thing to try and make Australia more competitive, but why haven't we also heard from you regarding reducing the gap between the richest and the poorest. Not a day goes by without some Corporate Profit record being broken ... but haven't heard much from you about bold new initiatives to reduce poverty, protect workers rights or for that matter increase in Aboriginal life expectancy.

Protect the weak, champion the silent, defend the powerless. This, Prime Minister should be your supreme charge ... the needs of the wealthy can wait a little bit.

Yours sincerely,
A Concerned Australian.

What utter drivel, There will be nothing 'fair'about a system that abolishes a working AIRC and replaces it with an appointed panel of politically appointed cronies whose mission is to increase profits at the expense of workers.
What irks me is that the opposition has removed themselves from being the Party representing workers.They are afraid of being labelled Socialist.There is a desperate need for a party that sincerely strives for the welfare of the whole society instead of Corporate Australia..A Party with genuine passion
Wake up Australia.......Your Country needs you!