And to be fair to Gia who I originally replied to the same applies to labels of neo liberalism I would suspect.
-
IMPORTANT // Please look after your loved ones, yourself and be kind to others. If you are feeling that the world is too hard to handle there is always help - I implore you not to hesitate in contacting one of these wonderful organisations Lifeline and Beyond Blue ... and I'm sure reaching out to our PRE community we will find a way to help. T.
Talking Politics
- Thread starter Legends of 2017
- Start date
Of course, as I said, it is used as a label to further one particular point of view in an argument.
I'll answer the above when I find time.
DS
So the Morrison Govt made a submission to the Federal Court supporting Clive Palmer in his challenge to get Wa's hard border lifted.
Then a few days later when they found out that a huge majority of West Australians want the hard border to remain closed they come out and say that we are not going to support Palmer anymore.
They're not withdrawing their submission (not that they could), they just aren't supporting Palmer anymore
Then a few days later when they found out that a huge majority of West Australians want the hard border to remain closed they come out and say that we are not going to support Palmer anymore.
They're not withdrawing their submission (not that they could), they just aren't supporting Palmer anymore
Last edited:
To be honest the border closure is a bit of a no brainer - the constitution (rarely in the case of our constitution which doesn't say much about specific issues) does have a clause about free movement and it is pretty clear. That said, the ABC fact check has doubts as they cite reasonable regulation. But I see nothing in the words of the constitution that allows for any regulation. Although the ABC fact check has gone to constitutional experts, you have to ask whether they saw the business with dual citizens coming - after all, that wasn't an issue for well over 100 years.
The relevant section is section 92, which in part reads:
I can see no ambiguity here and the High Court would be obliged, as they were with the dual citizens, to interpret the words. Mind you, lawyers' interpretations of words, and humans' interpretations of words, often diverge
That said, the normal practice in the current situation would be to turn a blind eye to the constitutional issue, or, more likely, to restrict movement between different regions of the country (or a state) for health reasons and then you could just either define the boundaries slightly away from state borders or not bother really.
The closure of state borders may be technically disallowed but the current situation calls for restricting movement which, if not tied to state borders, would clearly be allowed, and is sensible.
DS
The relevant section is section 92, which in part reads:
I can see no ambiguity here and the High Court would be obliged, as they were with the dual citizens, to interpret the words. Mind you, lawyers' interpretations of words, and humans' interpretations of words, often diverge
That said, the normal practice in the current situation would be to turn a blind eye to the constitutional issue, or, more likely, to restrict movement between different regions of the country (or a state) for health reasons and then you could just either define the boundaries slightly away from state borders or not bother really.
The closure of state borders may be technically disallowed but the current situation calls for restricting movement which, if not tied to state borders, would clearly be allowed, and is sensible.
DS
Scott Morrison to get $10,000 pay rise in pollie wage boost
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is set to receive a bump of just over $10,000 to his pay.
Because he is a Liberal Government member, which means he is protected by the Murdoch-dominated media. And his boss is Scott Morrison, who not only condones corruption, he actively engages in and rewards it, and was probably sacked from Tourism Australia for a criminal form of it.
"This malevolent, convictionless, dull clod of vapid opportunism, that is completely unburdened by the inconvenient qualities of conscience, moral code, and most importantly, a proven lifetime track record of dismal performance in bureaucratic marketing, no creative flair whatsoever - as heaven forbid that might lead to the occasional outburst of free thought...a professional liar, who cares only about his image, and yet still looks like THIS."
#whatthebloodyhellhappened
Corruption in politics knows no bounds.
A Member's Interests: Angus Taylor's other Cayman Islands company is wound up - Michael West
The Parliamentary Register of Members' Interests is routinely gamed and ignored by politicians. Angus Taylor's other Cayman Islands company, AMLwww.michaelwest.com.au
I think all sides of politics have betrayed Australia with this.
I would be looking into this as a priority. Two things that need to be done immediately is that water must be owned by a landowner who can use the water, and that there is a public listing of who the individual owners of water. This can be done quite easily for example if a bank account is opened by a company that is trustee of a trust. It’s the law to identify with individuals have ownership of the business and what share of the business is their’s.
The Morrison government is trying to lock in a less equitable economy for years to come | Greg Jericho
Anyone thinking this government will use this crisis to give workers a better say at the bargaining table has a near life-threatening level of gullibility
yesThe Morrison government is trying to lock in a less equitable economy for years to come | Greg Jericho
Anyone thinking this government will use this crisis to give workers a better say at the bargaining table has a near life-threatening level of gullibilitywww.theguardian.com
We keep on hearing about negotiations with the Union movement but the problem is that the union movement in Australia doesn't really speak for the majority of Australians. In the last 40 or so years the unionised workforce in Australia has dropped from around 50% to less than 15% and outside the public sector (police, nurses, teachers etc) that number would be much lower. There needs to be a conversation about these things but if we continue to pretend that the Trade union movement speaks for the majority of working Australians we will be wrong.
I wonder why that is? My own view is that the unions I have dealt with in say the last 10 years have lost sight of why they exist. They are too busy with a phony class war, demonising everyone who is a manager and setting ambit claims for wages and conditions like it was 1985. There is little trust in the relationship.
I always liked the European model of workers councils and true collaboration between employers and employees that many western European countries have. It's far less combative and generally gets a better result.
Work place agreements and eba's were the beginning of the end for workers.
They got given a bit of a carrot, and have been hit with a big stick ever since. The evidence is the dramatic fall in wages and conditions.
Yes this is my perception from what I've observed of the unions I've had some dealings with.
Have you worked with those said unions in Europe?
I have and the reality isn't the rosy picture you paint it as.
Far more aligned with what you stated about unions losing their way. I can give several examples of this.
I do get the issue with lowering hours, but employers if they can't do this will generally innovate via technology taking away jobs anyway. Its a real issue but not a simple solution either way. Tough times always get businesses looking at cost control. Just look at the mining industry pre and post GFC. Pre GFC commodity prices were high, most businesses knew they had significant inefficiencies within their operation (think too much labour) but had no real drive to improve it, the growth in commodity prices was driving their margin and they didn't need to do much about it. Commodity prices crash and those same businesses then look inward in order to protect bottom lines, so they innovate via technology. Now we have significantly more technology in mining operations and less people. This drove costs down significantly and this cost will never come back. This is what prolonged economic pressures do to businesses. Again not an easy thing to protect workers hours etc in that sort of environment.
On the 2nd part of that article, "
And then this week the government also announced it would seek to remove funding for students who fail half their first-year courses.
Off the back of repeated interventions by the treasurer to ensure universities are unable to access jobkeeper, this is just another in the long line of efforts by conservative governments to keep university education for those they deem deserving.
It is a dumb culture war attack which in all likelihood will serve only to lower academic standards as the pressure not to fail students will rise. But it fits in with the government’s other culture war against the arts sector, which is unlikely to receive any emergency funding before the end of this year.
"
Wow just wow. I wonder how many university students over a period of time that have failed HALF of their 1st year subjects (when I was at uni the 1st year was the easiest) actually managed to pass their degree after the 1st year failures? I would estimate a very low number so why should government funding (taxpayers money) continue to be funding to people that will not pass their degrees? I did my degree in the UK and the amount of kids that went to uni in the 1st year because they didn't know what they wanted to do, so decided to party for a year was very high. I'm not sure if this is the same case in Australia I'm not sure. Aussie kids seem to go to unis near to home so they stay at home with parents, whereas in the UK far more move away from home, could mean that the amount of 1st year kids that go to uni for the wrong reasons is lower.
yes I have. I lived and worked In Western Europe.
As for the rest I don’t disagree. My issue is that our union movement is not capable of being in the conversation in a constructive way.
Good read on Morrison here. Almost if @spook wrote it.
imatthewsblog.com
If there is a Morrison doctrine, it is mission creep
On Saturday 4 January 2020, after returning from his overseas holiday during the worst bushfires this continent has ever experienced, prime minister Scott Morrison called a joint press conference w…
imatthewsblog.com
I have too and the one I worked alongside (I wasn't a member) was incredibly militant. Whilst they think this is what enables their members to prosper they are wrong.
I tend to agree about the unions in Australia. Having moved from the UK where the unions are very powerful, it was very evident that union power in Australia is miniscule in comparison.
I am sure it’s not all good but in the organisation I was working for it worked pretty well. It was bureaucratic and things took a long time but the part I liked was that it was about reaching consensus and that was cultural in that organisation.
Anyway it’s a bit of a digression in the sense that it doesn’t change the fact we need to have a real conversation about our labour markets.
