It's official, in today's Sydney Morning Herald there is an article about how Mr. Howard knew that "Work Choices" would harm a segment of workers. This view has been published in the very recently biography on Mr. Howard.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/libs-knew-laws-would-hurt-workers/2007/07/20/1184560040254.html

It means that the $55 million squandered on the "Work Choices" advertising was promoting at best deception, if not down right lies.
It also means the current Government advertising is also promoting flawed perceptions in relation to "Work Choices".

This is interesting! Where are all the conservatives argueing the case for AWA's not one so far. I think their absense tells a huge story don't you.

"Yet median hourly earnings for AWA employees were only 16 per cent above median award-only earnings." That is like saying that interest rates are only 5% lower on average under Howard than Keating. If unemployment is low then there are more opportunities to advance to better paid jobs and any boss with half a brain is not going to risk losing a good employee, whether they are in unskilled or skilled work. From my own experience collective agreements in the public service do not protect workers from unscrupulous managers either, including being expected to do unpaid overtime and not being paid appropriate allowances (yes this is fact), nor did it result in anything but dismal productivity. To all those hailing a Rudd victory in the next election, well maybe, but thankfully, unlikely. How many federal govts have ever been voted out when both unemployment and inflation are low? Oh yes the polls, well hopefully this will be reminiscent of the last US elections exit polls. Kerry was sucking up to the left wing media while Bush was out rallying to the public.

"How many federal govts have ever been voted out when both unemployment and inflation are low?"

Is inflation low? Have there been 8 interest rate rises? Very few governments have stayed in office when inflation and interest rates are higher than they were at the previous election.

You probably believe the "never had it so good" line as well.

ruawake, interest rates are nothing like they were in the 70s and 80s. We are probably no better off now though, as the cost of housing is so high. We are meant at present to have low unemployment rates; however, my recollections are that in days of yore there was not the level of part time employment that there is now. Nor were people encouraged to take on so many education programs; in other words, oranges are not being compared with oranges. Just part of the misleading information we are fed by the Coalition Government.

Perspective is important.

People forget that when interest rates were high, they were high all over the world.

Now they are low - all over the world. (Actually they are a bit higher in Australia now than in many other comparable nations.)

Soon, almost everybody will either be directly affected by an AWA, or know somebody else who is.

No amount of spin is going to change first-hand experience and this legacy will haunt the Coalition for many years.