Campaign of information sparks community alarm

The campaign by the union movement to inform the community about the Howard Government attack on workers' rights has drawn widespread attention.

"Governments of all political persuasions advertise. If you go around the states no doubt there's some political type of campaigns which are being run at present time by state governments...Seventy, eighty, ninety million dollars is a lot of money to be spending on an advertising blitz like this. It's a considerable amount of money but this is major change."
Kevin Andrews on A Current Affair on how much the taxpayer was paying for the Government's advertising campaign, October 17

"I don't know of any case where deregulation and increased inequality in pay structures was associated with solving the unemployment problem and I don't think it will work here.
International economist James Galbraith quoted in The Age, September 27

"Rushing to pass legislation with little scrutiny and misusing public money on propaganda are odd ways to win public confidence in new workplace laws...
"The Government will permit only a disturbingly limited Senate review of a complex and extensive legislative package -- the report is due by November 22 -- and has excluded significant sections, such as the contentious abolition of unfair dismissal laws for companies with fewer than 100 employees. Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, who implemented his own hotly debated IR reforms, rightly questions why the Government is unwilling to put the legislation before Parliament and give Australians ample time to have a good look at it. The Age believes the campaign is also an abuse of office, because tens of millions of dollars in public money is being misused to shore up the Coalition's political position before the legislation that might justify an information campaign even exists. If this is not illegal, it should be.
From an editorial in The Age, October 15

"The new head of Australia's Fair Pay Commission should face a crisis of conscience between his faith as an evangelical Anglican and his role determining the wages of the lowest paid, says the head of the Uniting Church.
"Dr Dean Drayton, president of Australia's third-largest church, said yesterday the commission's mandate was to keep wages low, rather than assess what workers needed to live a decent life, and that this was incompatible with Christianity.
"Anglican and Catholic leaders also expressed reservations over the appointment of Professor Ian Harper, a leading economist to head the body that will replace the Industrial Relations Commission. A prominent Anglican, Ray Clearly, called the appointment 'politically savvy, but inappropriate'.
"Thursday's announcement prompted speculation that Prime Minister John Howard has deliberately selected a strong Christian to placate church critics of its industrial relations changes, particularly Sydney's Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen.
Religion editor Barney Zwatz reporting in The Age, October 15

"But after a week of saturation taxpayer-funded advertising and political debate, there are many things we still do not know about WorkChoices, including how many jobs the Government expects to create, what sort of productivity dividend, if any, the changes will bring, what impact the changes will have on families and what, other than ideology, is driving the assault on trade union powers.
Article in The Age, October 15

"There is no magic in the number 100."
Treasurer Peter Costello quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald about scrapping unfair dismissal laws, currently limited in the government's plan to businesses with less than 100 employees, September 27

"Of course Billy has given up his right to spend Christmas, Easter and other holidays with his family and friends. According to the Prime Minister -- who, I am sure, does not work on Christmas, Easter or other public holidays -- Billy's Australian workplace agreement (AWA) specifically excluded public holidays, but that is okay because Billy was unemployed."
Industrial Relations Minister John Della Bosca in State Parliament, quoted in Hansard, October 11

"'In the detail for the legislation that's coming up we can quite clearly see the PM has conned Australia workers,' Senator Fielding told reporters in Canberra today.
"'Australian workers will not be all guaranteed meal breaks and public holidays.
"'Australian workers and their families shouldn't have to bargain for meal breaks and public holidays.'"
Family First Senator Steve Fielding quoted in The Age, October 11

"It is our fundamental concern that this new system is creating an uneven playing field for those who have to bargain from a position of weakness."
Uniting Church president Dean Drayton quoted in the Hobart Mercury, October 15

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005