PS,

Enforcing anti piracy laws is hardly "getting the government to do your dirty work" and stating "oil industry, arms industry" is not an example.

Foxy,

I haven't accused any one person of a crime so this does not apply, but there is more than ample evidence of union thuggery at various sites, the organised crime connection is new. (Are you still asserting that Craig Thomson is innocent?)

To refresh you on the findings of the Cole commission: (has anything changed?)

I am satisfied that the material received evidences practices and conduct which exhibit:

(a) widespread disregard of, or breach of, the enterprise bargaining provisions of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 ;

(b) widespread disregard of , or breach of, the freedom of association provisions of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 ;

(c) widespread departure from proper standards of occupational health and safety;

(d) widespread requirement by head contractors for sub-contractors to have union endorsed enterprise bargaining agreements before being permitted to commence work on major projects in state capital central business districts;

(e) widespread requirement for employees of sub-contractors to become members of unions in association with their employer obtaining a union endorsed enterprise bargaining agreement;

(f) widespread disregard of the terms of enterprise bargaining agreements once entered into;

(g) widespread application of, and surrender to, inappropriate industrial pressure;
(h) widespread use of occupational health and safety as an industrial tool;
(i) widespread making of, and receipt of, inappropriate payments;
(j) unlawful strikes, and threats of unlawful strikes;
(k) threatening and intimidatory conduct;
(l) underpayment of employees’ entitlements;
(m) disregard of contractual obligations;
(n) disregard of federal and state codes of practice in the building and construction industry;
(o) disregard of the rule of law.

5. Much of the evidence of such conduct and practices is not in dispute. Such conduct and practices are not restricted to any one category of participant within the building and construction industry

The word is spelled Labour.
AND I am not going to try to rebut most of what is said here.
I unlike my past union have zero time for the one targeted but highlight it put wages cuts to its members to help the firm.
The tenuous attempt to link the ALP is par for SM.
I however have questions.
SM do you think voters wanted to see Holden go?
SPC knocked back
ABC targeted to reward Abbott,s deputy PM Murdock?
Then Sir why is your polling so bad and to get far worse?
I think his replacement will be Hockey but hope, for my party,s sake, it is not your best chance Turnbull Abbott can start looking for a job
Bicycle sales man?

Belly,

The link between the unions and Labor is far from tenuous, in fact Labor is largely the political arm of the unions, getting most of their funding from "taxes" on worker wages and most of the MPs are ex union heavies. The issues with Thomson and Williamson's corruption while being involved both with the union and the Labor party are prime examples.

The unions and especially the CFMEU has been losing members and has been sourcing income from other sources, some of which are far from legal. Their immunity from scrutiny has allowed the corruption to fester, and the removal of the ABCC which provided some oversight has made the situation much worse.

As for subsidies, I remember a recent poll where the question whether the govt should continue subsidising the car industry got a strong NO.

Labor governments are very popular until they run out of other peoples' money.

Shadow Minister - burying your head in the sand, good tactic.

American and NZ judges have ruled what was done was illegal.

You forgot to address the comments by Arjay.

In this instance you appear to be being naive and not accepting what you know to be true

Dear Shadow Minister,

You may not have accused "any one person of a crime,"
but you certainly infer a great deal, and sling a lot
of mud, don't you. But that's a typical Liberal
tactic - twist and deny when confronted.

Let's look at the Cole Commission's record
of achievement:

1) The Commission's investigations led to not one
single prosecution of a union official or delegate.
Not one.

And as one article on the web points out:

"Yet the Murdoch press rountinely dragged affected
individuals and their unions through the mud. And not
surprisingly, the unions targeted by the Commission
had to divert time and resources (very considerable legal
fees) to defend their representatives. And for what?"

"Innocent people had their reputations smeared and their
lives shattered. Unionists who had dedicated their lives to
standing up for others were subjected to intensive cross
examination in the witness-box and they had their faces
splashed on the front pages of newspapers and on TV news."

We're told that "Despite the Cole Commissions' failure to
find corruption, the Howard Government used the Commission
to set up a special police force for the building industry
which the Abbott Government is now bringing back - the ABCC.
With little to do, the ABCC became little more than a
menace to building workers, spending their time harassing
rank and file union members. Construction Bosses were
delighted."

Here's the irony.

We're told that - "corrupt practices
occur in Australian unions on a lesser scale than those that
take place across other institutions in Australia, such as
sporting clubs, charities, governments, and political
parties. Serious corruption tends to follow the curcuits of
money and power. The union movement does not represent the
rich and powerful. What goes on behind those closed doors
is something about which most Australians know little -
but you can be assured that a Coalition Government would never
subject those elite interests to the investigative intrusions
of a Royal Commission."

Mr Abbott's Royal Commission is not about
corruption. Political commentators seem to agree that
"it is purely political strategy".

The CFMEU has always been on the edge, that has been established.
Another RC is just grandstanding and a waste of money.
Big business is what needs looking into, they don't support liberal for nothing, far from it they pay plenty.
SM only picks out the juicy bits, and leaves the seeds to grow.
Liberal govt; are very unpopular, especially this one. Headed by Howard and that newspaper bloke, they have Abbott as their personal puppet.
Big Joe is out pig hunting, trying to come to grips with counting, and julie is as hard faced as ever, trying to be important.