The Greens are pushing for a Four Day Working Week.
http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/greens-start-debate-on-four-day-work-week/news-story/2c359b52baed132065f6bcc5d2da6f63

Good? Bad? Dimwittery?

How typically Green, the most mathematically challenged group ever to go to Canberra. Ask Tasmania how good they are with math, when they gain a bit of power.

I did not hear any discussion of taking a pay cut, so I suppose that rather than receiving the same hourly rate, the greens believe we should get the same pay cheque, just work less for it. Just what you would expect from a bunch of clowns, who have always sucked on the taxpayer teat in one way or another. If only a few of them had to find the money to pay the wages bill from income they may have a bit more grasp on reality.

Then this rubbish about it reducing the cost of child care. Either we pay child care workers the same money for less work, therefore need more staff, so costs & charges go up, or we pay the same hourly rate, but have to cover overheads from a 4 day week, so again costs & charges per hour must go up.

If ever this bloke had any grasp on reality, the rarefied air of Canberra must have wafted it way out of reach for the poor dill.

Bet our bureaucrats will try to defend this stupidity, just like academics, only a few of their hours a week are actually productive.

//The Greens are pushing for a Four Day Working Week.//

A four day working week? How's that going to work? Who's going to make Dick his quinoa and kale salad when he goes out for Sunday brunch if everybody's only working four days?

I think he's a bit out of touch on this one. The argument might have made some sense 50 years ago, but that ship sailed long ago. These days it's a seven day working week. Somebody should inform the banks.

Dick would be better off directing his efforts to improving pay and conditions for the working poor who have to take on two or minimum wage jobs to make ends meet, rather than improving conditions for the middle class in cushy 9-5 office jobs where the lazy buggers sit around in air conditioned comfort anyway.

Typically Green attitude. Typically Green economic illiteracy.

What's wrong with having a discussion about a 4 day work week?

What the heck is wrong with us that we can't try to at least
discuss something new?

I remember when flexi-time was first introduced - there
were screams of "doom and gloom" which never happened.

Working five days in an office environment with interruptions
can be less productive than two straight days on a week-end
without interruptions in a more private environment.
As some people in the creative fields (design) have experienced.

We do have so many people in this country who are working
more hours than they should. At the same time we have so many
people who are underemployed or indeed unemployed.

Would a shorter working week solve some of our traffic
conjestion, improve our transport problems,
have people spend more time with
their families and children.
Be more relaxed (healthier
as a result) and more productive at work on their return.

Will it make people happier, create more opportunities for others,
reduce the costs of full-time child care?

It's a debate we at least - need to have.

Lets keep politics out of it.

it would be reasonable to conclude with public holidays, sick days, flex days, compassionate leave days, grieving days that many or even most Government workers would be flat out working 4 days per week.

//What's wrong with having a discussion about a 4 day work week?//

There's nothing wrong with discussing it - it's just a bad idea.

Forget about the poor little office workers with their air-con and their comfy chairs for a second, and think about how this will affect other sectors of employment:

Some people now have a three-day weekend. What are they going to do with it? Are they going to spend it with their kids, or take up watercolour painting or something? Some will: some will look upon it as another night to go out and get shitfaced. More fights, more accidents, more visits to the emergency room. More police? Maybe. More paramedics, nurses and doctors? Seems unlikely.

But before they get to the hospital they'll be at the pub, where I work. It's always busiest on weekends, but you do get paid more to compensate for the fact that you're working three times as hard (for 1.5 times the money, if you're lucky). Penalty rates on the extra day of the weekend to match the higher workload? Seems very unlikely.

And before they're old enough to go to the pub, they'll be at school. Are we going to cut the amount of education they receive by 20%, or will the teachers still have to work just as hard as ever while everybody else (who isn't in healthcare or hospitality) gets to live the life of Riley? That seems a bit unfair - teachers have it hard enough already.

Oh, and who's going to staff the local library on a Friday morning? Volunteers? I would if I could, but I don't know how the local council feel about letting amateurs have run of their nice library.

Foxy A while back the 9 day fortnight was all the go.

I had a couple of large tourist boats built for my company by NQEA a Cairns engineering company. Unfortunately during this time they won a contract to build patrol boats for the navy. It almost sent them broke.

You see they had to add an influx of southern militant unionists to expand the workforce, who held the company to ransom for a number of things including a 9 day fortnight. With our new boats, particularly the 29 meter 330 passenger catamaran this was a disaster for us. New boats usually have a few teething problems.

Boats have a lot of interdependent systems. If the steering doesn't work it could be the low pressure hydraulics, or the high pressure, it may be the 24 volt electrics, or the 240 volt system, or it could be mechanical. With the 9 day fortnight we could only access all the experts involved on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, if some weren't tied up with something else.

I had to run one boat with no rudder steering for a month because of this, & it took 3 months to get the air conditioning working properly. The company had to do away with the 9 day fortnight to avoid losing all their customers, & going broke, but had a 2 month strike because of it.

This was actually fortuitous, as most of the southerners returned home, & industrial peace returned.

An 8 day fortnight would be even more disastrous.

Now that is absolutely narrow minded, has been.

Hasbeen,

I am reminded of a little dockyard incident when a fitter and his mate had to wait a day to fix a porthole (metal work) because a carpenter didn't have time to come and remove the ornamental surround (woodwork).

Would be funny if it wasn't so stupid.

Dear Hasbeen,

I understand that there will be some jobs and situations
where an eight day fortnight will not work. However,
I still think it is worth while discussing the matter
and seeing where it might work - or at least giving people
options and choices and more opportunities for others.

How typically Green, the most mathematically challenged group ever to go to Canberra. Ask Tasmania how good they are with math, when they gain a bit of power. http://tiendichshop.vn/

The Green Senators only want to share what they have.......lolololol

Over in NZ not up with the news at home, but I did catch the WA election result. To all the 'usual suspects' and the rest of OLO's right wing ratbags, Hanson lovers etc all I can say its has been a fantastic result. What has the loverly out of touch Pauline been smoking! What have you got to say now?

Hanson gets more votes than the Greens in the upper house and Paul like the rest leftist fake news claims it as a victory. Hanson did everything she could to get people not to vote for her and she still beat the earth worshippers. Not bad eh Paul?

Runner, I was happy with the result, are you? A poly who says "dont vote for me" well if the lovely Pauline were to say that, who am I to disagree, good to she has got something right. How did the bible bashing party do?

As usual the Greens come up with a suggestion, in this case the four day week, but where is their plan to implement it?

' How did the bible bashing party do?' Come on Paul you are not so ignorant to think that God has left His throne. His kingdom is everlasting not like the few years of arrogant deniers.

Issy, plans are for the commies and the pinkos, so as we Greens are nothing of the sort, I have to say, sorry, no plan.

Runner old buddy, good to hear that, keep up the good work, god's in his kingdom nòt a problem for me.

//Come on Paul you are not so ignorant to think that God has left His throne.//

Sounds like God should eat more fibre.

Runner, I can't agree, I met a god yesterday in the flesh so to speak. He lives in the Waipoua Forest. He's 2000-2500 years old, older than JC himself, his name is Tane Mahuta, rather impressive, didn't have much to say, the big silent type. As good a god as you can get.
Toni no prob with fibre Tane Mahuta is all fibre.

Paul,

To big to hug?

//I met a god yesterday in the flesh so to speak.//

Speaking of seeing God in the flesh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL7FcvEydqg

See, he is real!

Group hug Issy, group hug! You me runner Toni about a doz needed. Once the forest is gone its gone forever. Seen the other side today, pine felling and its results. I support balance, but the loggers are well on top at the moment. Community protest to keep logging trucks off the back roads seems to be working.

What utter disgusting twaddle this Paul fool produces.

One of the big complaints in the country was the classifying of once cleared improved pasture as "pristine" bushland when owners had lost the battle with the trees. Idiot claims that the trees won't come back is just so much twaddle by inner city twits.

Many graziers as they got older could not keep up the work rate to keep the bl00dy bush at bay. In my area tree changers complain bitterly when a grazier locks up a paddock for a year, then puts a fire through it to control the regrowth. They don't like the smoke, or are greeny ratbags.

The same occurs if it's done to control rampant invasive weeds after a drought. That many of our worst invasive weeds are escaped city garden beauties is another sore point out here.

I think the extra noise we are hearing from the greeny ratbags is from their fear. They can see that are past their high tide mark, & the green wave is receding. They will be nothing but a bad memory, like the Democrats, in the quite near future. Good riddance too.

Hassy, what can I say! When it comes to the enviroment you are centainly the tree of knowledge. Your ignorence on old growth forests is amazing. They take 100's of years to regenerate if at all. They are not some scrub in a paddock as you see it. I speak of balance, people like you want total destruction of the enviroment, nothing less.

But has the Big Green got a point?

Jobs are getting less, or so it seems, as automation takes on more and more tasks that were performed by humans.

The voice of the telephone receptionist is now robotic, Veterans' Affairs is one of the last Government Depts. to have a human initial contact.

Supermarkets are relying more and more on Self Checkouts (it amuses me to see most of the local socialists happily doing someone out of a checkout job).

The automation of the major car makers is well publicised and automation looms large on the horizon in many more industries.

So how are people going to have jobs if the working week is not shortened?

Lets also not forget the population is getting older
and some are looking towards "downsizing" in their
working hours. A neighbour recently has shortened
to working 3 days a week "as a start towards eventual
retirement). This may open up opportunities for
others who are currently unemployed.
Changes are inevitable.

Hi Foxy, still in NZ for a few more days, been interesting over here. Some believe work is the number one priorty, and that is fine by me. Others have different values and they to should be respected. A discussion on work and its place in society is worthwhile.

"Your ignorance on old growth forests is amazing. They take 100's of years to regenerate if at all".

You will of course support graziers re-clearing their previously improved pasture, as it can not be classified as pristine forest if old growth forest can't be re-established.

It was Beattie, trying to buy green preferences that started requiring clearing permits, simply to maintain pasture. Strange how the story changes to suit the attempted con job.

Hassy, I am not unreasonable about these things. I am talking about old growth forests and the need to retain the little that is left. Like many you can't see the forest for the trees. Your issue is something different.