Ok Paul, I withdraw that comment then.

As for Tony implementing work choices, do you honestly think we can retain the current working pays and conditions, especially the penalty rates for the likes of hospitality?

More importantly, do you think people have the right to work nights, weekends for less if it suits, or should we continue to make some people unemployable, example being a mum, who wants to work in a caffee on weekends, so dad can have some one on one with the kids, but she can't get a job because the boss has to employ some non coffee drinking, face book dependent kid.

This is where the IR system is wrong, no flexibility between what is essentially two adults.

As for the polls, I don't care because I know that practicly every problem Tony encounters has been caused by the labor/green alliance and usually suffers from lack of funding, why, because you lot wasted so much and achieved so little and left behind either a mess, or unfinished, unfunded and unworkable policies.

You must remember how popular the labor/green alliance was back in 07/8, then they went on the record the greatest waste and mismanagement period in our history.

So the polls mean nothing, and people have good memories.

I hope Tony does call a DD election.

I'll try to be unbiased and as fair as I can. For as long as I can recall Australia has been "blessed" with reasonably good government from both sides of politics. Fundamentally there is not a huge difference between Labor and The Coalition. The differences tend to be confined to the periphery and never go to the core of the system. Change is concerned with emphases of policy and not fundamental change in political direction. Labor in office done little to change Australian society, there was no radical reforms, nor do I expect any under Abbott. But we'll argue the point on such things as taxes and industrial relations etc until the cows come home, for no other reason than we like to.
The Greens are not a radical party either, they fit the mold of the Australian political system as well as anyone else, with an emphases on the environment and social justice that alone does not make them radical in my eyes.
Butch, I am a strong supporter of workers rights. I have been to third world countries and seen the tourists living in the lap of luxury whilst the locals run around like ants in servitude. My short answer to your question on the hospitality industry is no. Butch the number of children working in both the retail and hospitality industries is a vexed question with me. Unfortunately the lure of the big bucks, 5 dollars an hour casual, is hard for many children to resist, and employers like Coles, Woolworths and McDonalds are quick to oblige. I would like to see children live like children more, which I think is very important in their development, and restore some balance in society on child labor.

Rechtub you use words carelessly.
And your thoughts seem to have rumbled around in a cement mixer before you use them.
Labor and Liberals have long supported car making in this country.
I doubt any brand was ever made without government help here.
Unions your child you love to kick , workers took a reduction in pay to help build cars here.
Strong Australian dollar is the worst thing facing Holden.
But are you aware America has called on its manufacturing industry's to return home?
To take on the massive maybe imposable task of rebuilding America?
Rechtub your fixation on a bad Union movement and Bad ALP isolates you from reality, this country has a leader who is lost and out of touch.
And while he continues to blame Labor that will not wash forever .

Belly,
To blame others for the situation you 'chose' to be in is the refuge of those with little talent, vision or ability.
Sadly that about sums up the LNP front bench.I am sure many of them think the GFC was Labors fault.Their vision goes no further than the walls of Parliament house.
It is a sad state of affairs.
SD

children working in both the retail and hospitality industries
Paul1405,
To have children working is not an ideal situation in any case. Small business would not resort using kids unless of course the kids wanted to earn some pocket money in their school holidays. The problem is that there simply are too many hangers-on & Governments have to impose more & more taxes, rules, regulations etc to collect more money to pay the hangers-on. Small business cops the brunt of this extortion. To protect our jobes Government needs to ease off & workers also need to ease off with their demands. Penalty rates are a killer of most industry, the hospitality industry in particular. Overtime is what you do if you want to earn more. Penalty rates are just bludging & costing everyone. Don't feel like working at night or on weekends ? Then don't. Let a someone with more integity do the job who is pleased to have time off during the week. Unions have played a great part in protecting workers' rights for many years but then they turned to extortion & started to undo all the good work. They still call themselves unions but they're not. They've become economic terrorists.

Belly,

What has been killing manufacturing is the high dollar, the carbon tax, militant unions, and new layers of red and green tape.

The number of cars made in Aus has dropped by about 75% during the Labor regime leading to the loss of more jobs and supporting jobs than would be lost if GMH and Toyota left today. Yet what do we see from the AWU? - When Toyota warns that it might also close if conditions don't improve, the AWU thugs accuse Toyota of making it up and insist on keeping all their rolls royce wages and conditions

The point has been passed years ago when the car industry became no longer viable, to the point where government subsidy has almost reached the point of paying the employee's wages in their entirety.

The government should follow Campbell Newman's example where he inherited a bloated bureaucracy and high unemployment, and in short order has trimmed the fat and achieved the lowest unemployment in Aus.