Oz election thread #3 - Rudd's Labour

It seemed to me, way too many times, during the Howard rain (intentional pun) that the cartoons were the only part of the (largely murdoch-owned) print media that were espousing anything like the truth, the big picture or a humanistic viewpoint. All too often they could juxtapose seemingly unrelated issues in a way that the journos didn't (whether that was because they a) couldn't see it b) didn't think we had the attention span to get it, or c) were being censored/self censored by the politics of their bosses, is unclear).

Most did well (not Zanetti) a few earnt, or confirmed existing, sainthood, like Cathy Wilcox.

You said: "How does one decide 'when' it would affect ones decisions. As for the how, that would seem (to me) almost as difficult."

Quote:

I think it's a reasonable expectation of Labor voters that "traditional labor values" should have considerably more influence on a Labor leader's decision making than his/her particular religious beliefs

Labor's stance on particular issues do change over time, of course, but till now the accepted way to achieve change has been through a long established process of participatory decision making.

To have one leader exercise "presidential" power is a complete change to this.

My point was, that labour values (and liberal values) fit quite easily within the christian value frameset...therefore making it hard to differentiate 'how' it would effect policy)

To have one leader exercise "presidential" power is a complete change to this.

I may have missed something. Has he not only reserved the right to pick cabinet? Is he exercising other presidential powers? (that said, given how Howard exercised presidential power for about 8 years, it's an easy to follow precedent)

My understanding is that he reserves the right to say what goes & what doesn't, across the board. In a not very consultative way, it looks.

Petrol could hit $1.50 a litre: NRMA

AVERAGE petrol prices could hit the $1.50 mark within a week and an interest rate rise could follow, after world oil prices soared to $US100, says motoring group NRMA Motoring & Services.
Oil prices soared to $US100 a barrel in New York for the first time last night, as global demand for oil and petroleum products continued to outstrip supplies.

The rise was attributed to the surging economies in China and India, and to political tensions in oil-producing nations like Nigeria, Iran and Iraq.

NRMA president Alan Evans today said the price of petrol could rise by five to seven cents over the next week, pushing average prices above $1.50 per litre.

In Sydney the average is $1.44, with reports of prices already exceeding $1.50 in some suburbs.

"It's quite a hike that is going to occur - at least somewhere between five to seven cents on top of what they'd be now," Mr Evans said.

"The rule of thumb is that for each dollar increase in the price of a barrel of crude (prices increase by) about a cent at the pump.

"Your average is going to come up around the $1.50 mark, while in the country, you're going to see them come up to the mid-$1.50 (range)."

Mr Evans said the effects of the petrol hike would be severe, not just for motorists, but for the broader economy.

"My worry is that not only will it hit us at the pump, but it is going to feed inflation and then come through to interest rate rises," he said.

Some things are out of the government's control, vikorr.

Labor to lift gag on critics
Matthew Franklin, Chief political correspondent | January 09, 2008

LABOR will rewrite thousands of government contracts with the not-for-profit sector to rip out clauses that it says the Howard government used to gag its critics.

Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday accused John Howard of silencing the advocacy efforts of the not-for-profit and volunteer sectors by reserving the right to censor their public statements in contracts for delivery of government-funded welfare services.

Labor will scrap the clauses in future contracts and review all existing agreements with a view to excising the gag clauses and reinstating freedom of speech.

"Effectively, the Howard government moved to close down debate," Ms Gillard said.

"We believe robust debate is the best way of making sure the right things get done, and everybody's voice is heard."

Ms Gillard made the comments in an interview with The Australian in which she revealed that the Government had banned the use of Australian Workplace Agreements by the public service and ministerial offices except where it was unavoidable.

And she said preliminary findings of an audit into computers in high schools indicated that many Catholic and low-fee independent schools were as inadequately equipped as struggling state schools.

During the Howard years, not-for-profit groups delivering government welfare services often complained they could not speak out against general government policies for fear of losing their contracts or ruining their chances of winning work.

Yesterday, Ms Gillard, standing in while Kevin Rudd is on holiday, said a Labor review had found routine contracts riddled with gag clauses.

"There are clauses which require them to give government their media releases before they issue them, require them to give government submissions and reports and campaigns and matters to do with launches prior to them doing them," Ms Gillard said.

"It's very common for there to be a clause which says the department may, at its absolute discretion, give notice to the contractor to remove personnel from work in respect of the contract services."

The initiative to remove the gag on not-for-profit organisations comes as the Government has been under Opposition attack for directing key statutory agencies in the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research to have all "strategic media releases" overseen by the Prime Minister's office. Ms Gillard said there was nothing wrong with the Government dictating terms related to the delivery of contracted work. But Mr Howard's government had extended its veto rights over public statements that had nothing to do with contracted services and were simply aimed at crippling the advocacy functions of welfare groups.

"We want to make sure the not-for-profit sector, the advocacy sector, can do what it does and have a say within the public domain," she said.

"We think it's important to a mature democracy that people who have got expertise in dealing with provision of services with disadvantaged groups in our society aren't constrained from entering the public debate."

She said welfare groups could have confidence under Labor that they could express views critical of the Government without fear of punitive action.

The move will affect hundreds of organisations, from big welfare providers such as the Salvation Army to the smallest community-based groups.

Australian Council of Social Service director Andrew Johnson welcomed the move last night as the beginning of a new era in welfare provision.

"The important thing is that the voices and the experience of those people who were closest to knowing about the issues weren't getting through as strongly as they could have," Mr Johnson said.

"This recognition means that at the end of the day, the country is going to get better policy."

Ms Gillard also said her parliamentary secretary for social inclusion and the voluntary sector, Ursula Stephens, would consult welfare groups in coming weeks ahead of a crackdown on red tape in contracts with the Government.

She said all contracts "came wrapped in a bundle of red tape" and that rationalisation of arrangements would mean the community groups would have to spend less on administration, leaving more money for service delivery.

Ms Gillard said that since taking office in November, the Government had instructed all departments to avoid the use of AWAs - the controversial individual workplace contracts put in place under the Howard government's Work Choices industrial relations legislation.

Labor came to power vowing to scrap AWAs but to allow common law contracts with special flexibility clauses for high-income earners.

Ms Gillard said all departments and ministerial offices were hiring either on collective industrial agreements or common law contracts, except in rare cases where there was no alternative but to use AWAs pending Labor legislation creating new interim agreements as part of a phase-out of AWAs.

Ms Gillard, whom Mr Rudd appointed to oversee his so-called education revolution, will be responsible for the Government's $1 billion plan to ensure every Australian student in Years nine to 12 has a computer at school.

While the Council of Australian Governments is conducting an audit of computer resources in schools across the country, Ms Gillard said early indications were that the levels of resources varied dramatically.

"Some schools are sitting there with good-quality internet access, with good access to computers, and far too many are beyond the reach of broadband because of this nation's problems with broadband," she said.

While some schools were well-resourced, some had only a limited number of computers being shared by many students.

She said shortages were not confined to government schools. "It certainly goes into the private sector as well," she said. "Many Catholic schools are without IT resources and many low-fee independent schools are without IT resources."

Despite the variability, all schools would receive a share of the new funding, she said. Those with high levels of existing resources would be given grants to upgrade their existing systems.

On top of Rudd's promise to Meet the Press after Parliament, this is a very promising sign. Hopefully this attitude gets extended to the Universities, to the Public Service, to Senate Enquiries etc etc etc

Adding to this cool announcement is that Kev let Julia make it - he isn't looking like a prima donna at the moment is he?