Ohhhh, is the ALP now being run by the "Faceless Women" ?

Dear Pelly,

Antiseptic talked about the mining boom and
"all the hard work being done men."

According to the Minerals Council of Australia -
better pay and more career opportunities has led
to a rising number of women working in the
mining industry in Australia. Women apparently make
the best truck drivers, there are female mine
managers, female mining engineers. There's a shift
in attitudes. It's a shift in the industry's
understanding of what has to change to attract the
brightest of the best.

Fran Burgess who's been in the industry for 28 years
(mine manager of Zinifex Roseberry Mine in Tasmania
predicts that in less than a decade 50% of the mining
workforce will be women.

Lexi, you'll be interested in this

http://www.startupsmart.com.au/planning/2011-06-17/new-employment-figures-highlight-boom-in-health-care.html

"The latest employment figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal health and social assistance took on an additional 57,200 workers in the year to May.

This was followed by education and training, adding 44,400 people to its workforce, while retail took on an extra 44,000 despite a downturn within the industry.

In fourth place was the finance sector, adding another 38,100 people to its ranks. Meanwhile, the mining sector added 35,200 workers, bringing its total workforce to 217,100 Australians, up from 181,800 a year ago."

and

"As the health and social assistance sector starts to expand, other sectors are well and truly struggling in the current economic climate, namely manufacturing.

The ABS employment data reveals manufacturing has recorded a net loss of 5,100 workers over the year to May, largely due to the crippling effect of the high Australian dollar."

Would you like to hazard a guess as to the hender of most of the new employees and the gender of those who have lost their jobs? Would you care to hazard a guess who pays most of the wages in the health, social assistance and education sectors?

If 50% of the mining workforce is women it will only mean that there has been some legislated means of forcing them in and/or men out. Perhaps a new quota that mandates an arts degree majoring in the history of Fench romantic literature is equivalent to one in mining engineering?

Most women simply don't want to do the dirty stuff any more than most men want to do the hair and nails bit. No amount of screaming and stamping your tiny feet will change that.

runner, individual (and others)

You bang on about how awful a job the ALP are doing at running the country.

I'm sorry, but apart from the unsubstantiated nonsense coming from Abbott, the Liberals and the Murdoch Press, I'm not actually seeing any evidence that they are actually doing that much wrong, apart from having very poor PR.

Can you tell me, what have they done wrong and to what detriment? So far I've seen very little in substance on this matter except vitriole and ignorant broad swipes.

Then tell me what Abbott actually has to offer to fix these so called calamities. And maybe let me know what Howard/Costello did that was oh so right, apart from provide surlpluses.

Dear Antiseptic,

Sorry but you seem to be somewhat misinformed.
As far as the mining industry is concerned in
Australia the women that are part and parcel of it
got there on their own merit. As I cited in my previous
post - taken from the Minerals Council of Australia -
"Women make the best truck drivers, mine managers, and
mining engineers. To the best of my knowledge an Arts
degree is not the qualification one needs to be an
engineer.

As the Minerals Council indicated, "It's a shift in
attitudes. A shift in the industry's understanding of
what has to change to attract the brightest of the best."

Something you obviously are not capable of understanding
when it comes to women.

...Well trashcanman, I'll begin and end with the overnight decimation of the live cattle export trade worth an estimated $350m where livelihoods and the future security of a complete industry were trumped by Gillard climbing onboard the vote machine to save herself and her failed Government!