Jill Roe [Photo courtesy John Hockney]Listen to author Jill Roe "Miles Franklin and politics"
[Recording courtesy Nick Franklin]
Paul Brunton, Jill Roe and Adam Searle [Photo courtesy John Hockney]Sunday, May 31, 2009
Stella Miles Franklin book launch
Stella Miles Franklin book launch a great success
Jill Roe [Photo courtesy John Hockney]
Paul Brunton, Jill Roe and Adam Searle [Photo courtesy John Hockney]
Jill Roe [Photo courtesy John Hockney]Paul Brunton, Jill Roe and Adam Searle [Photo courtesy John Hockney]
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Save money: ditch ABCC
Julia Irwin: Federal Labor MP
House of Representives 25 May 2009
I want to turn to one budget item that I regard as a disgraceful waste of public money, one which represents a continued attack on the rights of a group of Australian workers. Under the portfolio of the Minister of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations we have an appropriation of $33,446,000 for the office of the Australian Building and Construction Commission. Some of us, especially on the Labor side, recall that at the time of the last election Labor promised to allow the ABCC to continue until 2010 and that a review would be conducted, and I for one would have expected this budget item to be much reduced because it is for only half a year. We have of course had the Wilcox review, which recommended the extension of the ABCC for some time, but what staggers me about the ABCC is the size of its funding. It is more than $33 million a year. I am sure it is great at job creation for union-bashing lawyers, but that is one group of workers I would like to see retrenched.
The ABCC is limited to building and construction industry workplaces, but its budget is almost half that of the former Office of the Workplace Ombudsman, who was responsible for all other Commonwealth workplace laws. Comparing the ABCC with Comcare, the government’s workplace safety and rehabilitation body, which gets $5 million this year, the ABCC gets six times as much. Here we have a situation where on average one construction or mining worker dies from a workplace injury every week, but this government spends six times as much on union witch-hunts as it does on workplace safety for its employees. It is when you put the appropriation for the ABCC into context by comparing it with other government agencies that you see that it is a very well fed monster. If you compare the ABCC’s appropriation with agencies in the Attorney General’s portfolio, you see that it receives more than twice the $13 million allocation to the Australian Human Rights Commission, more than the $28 million going to the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia and more than twice the $16 million appropriated to the High Court of Australia, the body whose responsibility is ‘to interpret and uphold the Australian Constitution and perform the functions of the ultimate appellate court in Australia’.
If you look at the appropriation of the Australian Crime Commission, it receives $95 million and is responsible for reducing the impact of serious and organised crime in Australia, yet the ABCC gets more than one-third of the amount that goes to fighting serious and organised crime in Australia. I am sure that all Australians can sleep safe in their beds knowing that the government spends so much on chasing a few union members while drug rings and bikie gangs can run riot in our community. But looking at the real concerns of ordinary Australians, in the face of losses of more than $30 billion by 200,000 Australian investors and the collapse of companies like Storm Financial, Great Southern and Timbercorp, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission will spend an extra $20 million this year chasing corporate crooks. That is $33 million to chase building workers and $20 million to chase real criminals in business suits.
How does the ABCC’s appropriation compare with the total appropriation for the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority? It gets $23 million, $10 million less than the ABCC. Just what are the priorities of this government—protecting the savings of ordinary Australians or threatening building workers? It is like the Keystone Cops going after the wrong guy. And what is that $33 million worth to the Australian economy and improving productivity? It should be working wonders, because the ABCC gets only a million dollars less than the Productivity Commission.
But, to really understand how much is wasted on the ABCC, we should compare its appropriation to the salaries of members of this House. The ABCC gets more than the combined base salaries of all 150 members of this House as well as the 76 senators, and what has the ABCC achieved? That is a question that will have to be answered. If I could send a memo to the razor gang working on next year’s budget, it would say to save the people of Australia $33 million and axe the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
House of Representives 25 May 2009
I want to turn to one budget item that I regard as a disgraceful waste of public money, one which represents a continued attack on the rights of a group of Australian workers. Under the portfolio of the Minister of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations we have an appropriation of $33,446,000 for the office of the Australian Building and Construction Commission. Some of us, especially on the Labor side, recall that at the time of the last election Labor promised to allow the ABCC to continue until 2010 and that a review would be conducted, and I for one would have expected this budget item to be much reduced because it is for only half a year. We have of course had the Wilcox review, which recommended the extension of the ABCC for some time, but what staggers me about the ABCC is the size of its funding. It is more than $33 million a year. I am sure it is great at job creation for union-bashing lawyers, but that is one group of workers I would like to see retrenched.
The ABCC is limited to building and construction industry workplaces, but its budget is almost half that of the former Office of the Workplace Ombudsman, who was responsible for all other Commonwealth workplace laws. Comparing the ABCC with Comcare, the government’s workplace safety and rehabilitation body, which gets $5 million this year, the ABCC gets six times as much. Here we have a situation where on average one construction or mining worker dies from a workplace injury every week, but this government spends six times as much on union witch-hunts as it does on workplace safety for its employees. It is when you put the appropriation for the ABCC into context by comparing it with other government agencies that you see that it is a very well fed monster. If you compare the ABCC’s appropriation with agencies in the Attorney General’s portfolio, you see that it receives more than twice the $13 million allocation to the Australian Human Rights Commission, more than the $28 million going to the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia and more than twice the $16 million appropriated to the High Court of Australia, the body whose responsibility is ‘to interpret and uphold the Australian Constitution and perform the functions of the ultimate appellate court in Australia’.
If you look at the appropriation of the Australian Crime Commission, it receives $95 million and is responsible for reducing the impact of serious and organised crime in Australia, yet the ABCC gets more than one-third of the amount that goes to fighting serious and organised crime in Australia. I am sure that all Australians can sleep safe in their beds knowing that the government spends so much on chasing a few union members while drug rings and bikie gangs can run riot in our community. But looking at the real concerns of ordinary Australians, in the face of losses of more than $30 billion by 200,000 Australian investors and the collapse of companies like Storm Financial, Great Southern and Timbercorp, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission will spend an extra $20 million this year chasing corporate crooks. That is $33 million to chase building workers and $20 million to chase real criminals in business suits.
How does the ABCC’s appropriation compare with the total appropriation for the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority? It gets $23 million, $10 million less than the ABCC. Just what are the priorities of this government—protecting the savings of ordinary Australians or threatening building workers? It is like the Keystone Cops going after the wrong guy. And what is that $33 million worth to the Australian economy and improving productivity? It should be working wonders, because the ABCC gets only a million dollars less than the Productivity Commission.
But, to really understand how much is wasted on the ABCC, we should compare its appropriation to the salaries of members of this House. The ABCC gets more than the combined base salaries of all 150 members of this House as well as the 76 senators, and what has the ABCC achieved? That is a question that will have to be answered. If I could send a memo to the razor gang working on next year’s budget, it would say to save the people of Australia $33 million and axe the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
Thanks for the blast, North Korea
New Scientist
Editorial 30 May 2009
It may sound perverse, but the maverick nuclear state could have done us all a favour
Is a nuclear explosion ever good news? Well, the test in North Korea this week might just be something to celebrate. Hard to swallow, perhaps: the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) is tottering, countries all over the world are acquiring nuclear technology, and Iran is enriching uranium. So North Korea tests a second nuclear bomb, and this is a good thing?
In a way, yes. For one thing, it was an unmissable reminder that we need to call off the new nuclear arms race that is developing. And paradoxically it was also a bang-up demonstration that we have technology that might coax the runners off the starting line.
The world can't put off action much longer. The 1968 NPT asked countries without nukes to forgo them, and in return the five countries that already had them promised to give them up - eventually. That second promise has obviously not been kept, and after 40 years nuclear have-nots are reconsidering the deal especially as Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea have demonstrated that joining the nuclear club gets you respect. If the NPT review conference next year falls apart like the last one did, the arms race could be unstoppable.
The risks are huge. Some bomb would inevitably blow up somewhere, by accident or by design, and meanwhile we need money for schools, farms, clean water and energy so We'll be lucky much more than for bombs. How, then, can we curb proliferation?
Revive the NPT, for a start. That means the nuclear states must keep their side of the bargain. Encouragingly, Russia and the US are already talking about cutting missiles and fissile material.
But the clearest signal would be to bring the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) into force. New nukes need testing, and a test ban would mean that existing nuclear powers are serious about disarmament. The treaty languishes because the US signed but failed to ratify it. Congress was convinced both that the US needed tests and that other countries would secretly break the ban.
The scientific community has already disproved the first argument. Now the North Koreans have reminded us what the treaty's verification network long ago proved: we can prevent cheating. Dedicated seismographs relayed the test's giveaway vibrations to the state-of-the-art CTBT lab in Vienna in milliseconds. Detectors are even now sniffing for telltale gases. If someone had tried this in water or air, CTBT sensors would spot it.
No more excuses. We need this treaty to deter anyone else tempted to go nuclear - and even more, so that countries might again take the NPT seriously. Feel the shock waves from North Korea. Ratify the test ban treaty.
Editorial 30 May 2009
It may sound perverse, but the maverick nuclear state could have done us all a favour
Is a nuclear explosion ever good news? Well, the test in North Korea this week might just be something to celebrate. Hard to swallow, perhaps: the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) is tottering, countries all over the world are acquiring nuclear technology, and Iran is enriching uranium. So North Korea tests a second nuclear bomb, and this is a good thing?
In a way, yes. For one thing, it was an unmissable reminder that we need to call off the new nuclear arms race that is developing. And paradoxically it was also a bang-up demonstration that we have technology that might coax the runners off the starting line.
The world can't put off action much longer. The 1968 NPT asked countries without nukes to forgo them, and in return the five countries that already had them promised to give them up - eventually. That second promise has obviously not been kept, and after 40 years nuclear have-nots are reconsidering the deal especially as Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea have demonstrated that joining the nuclear club gets you respect. If the NPT review conference next year falls apart like the last one did, the arms race could be unstoppable.
The risks are huge. Some bomb would inevitably blow up somewhere, by accident or by design, and meanwhile we need money for schools, farms, clean water and energy so We'll be lucky much more than for bombs. How, then, can we curb proliferation?
Revive the NPT, for a start. That means the nuclear states must keep their side of the bargain. Encouragingly, Russia and the US are already talking about cutting missiles and fissile material.
But the clearest signal would be to bring the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) into force. New nukes need testing, and a test ban would mean that existing nuclear powers are serious about disarmament. The treaty languishes because the US signed but failed to ratify it. Congress was convinced both that the US needed tests and that other countries would secretly break the ban.
The scientific community has already disproved the first argument. Now the North Koreans have reminded us what the treaty's verification network long ago proved: we can prevent cheating. Dedicated seismographs relayed the test's giveaway vibrations to the state-of-the-art CTBT lab in Vienna in milliseconds. Detectors are even now sniffing for telltale gases. If someone had tried this in water or air, CTBT sensors would spot it.
No more excuses. We need this treaty to deter anyone else tempted to go nuclear - and even more, so that countries might again take the NPT seriously. Feel the shock waves from North Korea. Ratify the test ban treaty.
Stella Miles Franklin - a Biography
Listen to Jill Roe "Miles Franklin and politics"
Sponsors: Katoomba Branch ALP and Blue Mountains Union Council
CHAIR: Dr Neal Blewett with guest Mr Paul Brunton, Snr Curator, Mitchell library
COST: $15.00
Concession Unwaged $10.00 includes a sumptuous afternoon tea. Bar open.
BOOKINGS ADVISABLE All Credit Cards accepted.
Info & Booking Form: Kathie Herbert 4782 3384 kherbert@aapt.net.au
Paid Tickets will be mailed or will be available for collection at
Megalong Books, The Mall, Leura
Chekov’s Three Sisters Bookshop, Katoomba
ALP State Member’s Office, Springwood
Sponsors: Katoomba Branch ALP and Blue Mountains Union Council
Come and celebrate the astonishing life of Australian icon
Miles Franklin (1879-1954)
&
her international achievements in literature, politics and human rights.
GUEST SPEAKER
HISTORIAN & BIOGRAPHER
PROFESSOR EMERITA
JILL ROE
will discuss
MILES FRANKLIN’S BRILLIANT POLITICAL CAREER
in areas as diverse as
Votes for Women
The women’s trade union movement in the USA
Public housing in the UK
Australian literary and cultural activism
at
Katoomba RSL Club
Cnr Lurline & Merriwa Sts, Katoomba
on
Saturday 30 May 2009
2.00 - 4.00pm
Miles Franklin (1879-1954)
&
her international achievements in literature, politics and human rights.
GUEST SPEAKER
HISTORIAN & BIOGRAPHER
PROFESSOR EMERITA
JILL ROE
will discuss
MILES FRANKLIN’S BRILLIANT POLITICAL CAREER
in areas as diverse as
Votes for Women
The women’s trade union movement in the USA
Public housing in the UK
Australian literary and cultural activism
at
Katoomba RSL Club
Cnr Lurline & Merriwa Sts, Katoomba
on
Saturday 30 May 2009
2.00 - 4.00pm
CHAIR: Dr Neal Blewett with guest Mr Paul Brunton, Snr Curator, Mitchell library
COST: $15.00
Concession Unwaged $10.00 includes a sumptuous afternoon tea. Bar open.
BOOKINGS ADVISABLE All Credit Cards accepted.
Info & Booking Form: Kathie Herbert 4782 3384 kherbert@aapt.net.au
Paid Tickets will be mailed or will be available for collection at
Megalong Books, The Mall, Leura
Chekov’s Three Sisters Bookshop, Katoomba
ALP State Member’s Office, Springwood
Friday, May 29, 2009
Community outrage over Bonds betrayal
Joint MUA/TWU/RTBU media release
29 May 2009
A community assembly was set up outside West Swanson Dock in Melbourne over night after word got out that Pacific Brands, manufacturers of the iconic Bonds label, was attempting to ship tax payer funded equipment out of the country.
Transport workers have come together to call on the federal government to step in and save the jobs.
TWU federal secretary, Tony Sheldon, said the government could prevent the job losses by using its buying powers to secure Australian jobs.
"What we have here is policy which exports Australian jobs and imports unemployment," Mr Sheldon said.
"The union completely understands the public outrage," said MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin. "They've taken taxpayer-funded machinery like thieves in the night. It's an outrage."
RTBU National Industrial Officer Andrew Thomas said workers would be gob smacked at Pacific Brand's action.
"Does Pacific Brands really think that Australian workers would enjoy standing on the shoreline waving their jobs good bye?" he said.
"We need governments at all levels to put in place conditions which ensure Australian workers are looked after when they spend our taxpayers dollars, " said Mr Sheldon.
The truck loaded with a 40-foot container was secretly delivered to the Melbourne wharves this morning and community protestors have assembled outside the gate.
29 May 2009
A community assembly was set up outside West Swanson Dock in Melbourne over night after word got out that Pacific Brands, manufacturers of the iconic Bonds label, was attempting to ship tax payer funded equipment out of the country.
Transport workers have come together to call on the federal government to step in and save the jobs.
TWU federal secretary, Tony Sheldon, said the government could prevent the job losses by using its buying powers to secure Australian jobs.
"What we have here is policy which exports Australian jobs and imports unemployment," Mr Sheldon said.
"The union completely understands the public outrage," said MUA National Secretary Paddy Crumlin. "They've taken taxpayer-funded machinery like thieves in the night. It's an outrage."
RTBU National Industrial Officer Andrew Thomas said workers would be gob smacked at Pacific Brand's action.
"Does Pacific Brands really think that Australian workers would enjoy standing on the shoreline waving their jobs good bye?" he said.
"We need governments at all levels to put in place conditions which ensure Australian workers are looked after when they spend our taxpayers dollars, " said Mr Sheldon.
The truck loaded with a 40-foot container was secretly delivered to the Melbourne wharves this morning and community protestors have assembled outside the gate.
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