Oz Election Thread #4 - Gillard's Labor

500,000 new jobs? I told you a new round of immigration was in the wings. The long term unemployed are largely unskilled - there is far from a perfect match between the jobless and the jobs.

In Cairns we are at around 10% unemployment but employers are screaming for skilled labour and lobbying the government for work visas.

Do you think we have priced ourselves out of the unskilled labour market?
Its seems to be cheaper and faster and more accurate to design a machine that sweeps streets than employ people to do this.
Those that are unable to educate themselves or unable to develope the skills necessary are going to be forever unemployed.
Do we now need the government to create a system of sheltered workshops for the terminally unemployed?
Should uit bbe mandatory for unemployed workers to go to areas that need the skills and labour they have to offer?

Hi Dad

We haven't priced ourselves out of the unskilled labour market (if I understand your meaning) because of the minimum wages safety net, and unlike the US we don't have thousands of illegal immigrants offering their labour on the 'black market'.

Cairns is particularly weird because we 'attract' long term unemployed - it's easier to sleep rough here, particularly in the colder months. I've mentioned the 'rugged and the buggered' before and Cairns has them in spades. We can't give up on them, but we can't expect them to be able to move into skilled positions 'as is'.

A lot of govt money is invested in making the Cape's unemployed indigenous employable, but there's not always local jobs for them, so a big push is to get them involved in remote housing projects.

I don't think mandatory economic resettlement of anyone is acceptable in a democracy. I'm guessing that compliance on work for the dole will tighten up again (it went soft with the 2007 change of govt) - which will make Centrelink and Job Services Australia's job a lot easier.

Getting back to your point about 'pricing ourselves out of the market' I think the it's almost the opposite, take WA for example, with the mining boom a truck driver can get $120k a year - why would you take a council job? If you were 18 and could get that sort of money why would you opt for a university education? We run a risk of putting all our eggs in the natural resources basket. I wish the super profits tax had gone through, particularly if it was used to fund research in 'smart' industries.


Imagine if the Oz dollar was back at 0.8 of the US dollar - imagine how much petrol would cost! Think about how much iron ore China will buy to make cars when petrol is $15 a litre. Change is going to foisted upon us very quickly and I don't think we are preparing enough for it - sorry, I went off on a tangent.

Hear, hear!
I suspect we might already have done that.

Yes.
A lost opportunity if ever I saw one!

Did you catch Q&A last night? Started off with a question about Bin Laden. Much rejoicing and Hinge HQ when two guests (a winemaker and Victorian Country Woman of the year) expressed unease at the manner of the death and the triumphalism of our big brother across the ditch. Seeing the slap down Eorl got on the OBL is dead thread expressing the same thoughts I'm taking this as a hopeful sign that we aren't going to be the 51st state anytime soon.

Another budget 'leak', this time from Crean, $65mil for a cancer clinic in Albury hospital. That's another kiss, are they saving all the kicks for budget night?

Tony Windsor again showed why the rest of the country would like him to be their independent.

Sophie Mirabella flopped - she's the liberal local member in an area that's just got rid of a massively inneffective labor govt - and the audience didn't like her at all. Smart audience.

oooh, interesting comments on Crikey's post about Q&A courtesy of First Dog On the Moon
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/2011/05/03/were-in-your-qa-asking-them-questions/#comments

Apparently Andrew Bolt thinks anyone in the audience who didn't cheer when Crean said 'Bin Laden is dead' is an inner city left who deserves condemnation. Albury is full of inner city lefties. I may yet learn to like my country.

Just watched it, hinge.
(Hooray for iview! Such a boon for forgetful people! )

Q&A series 4 / Episode 12 Mon 2 May 2011:
http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/search/q%26A

I agree, good program last night.
Q&A should go bush more often!


I share their (& you & Eorl's) sentiments.
I haven't come across anyone "in real life" who's seen much cause for wild rejoicing, either.
Finding many of the reactions here rather discomforting & over-the-top, really. Feel a bit like I live on another planet.
But anyway ....

My respect for Tony Windsor has increased as a result of his contribution last night. He really is a thoughtful, constructive politician, isn't he? I certainly wouldn't mind one of those representing my electorate!

Well he would say that, wouldn't he?
I'm thinking of moving to Albury now.

Just passing through. I am glad to see so many of you are still active. I tried to see the Q&A from May 2nd. I got a message saying that, due to copyrights only you in Aus could view it.

Aw that's a real shame, RJB!
If you're interested in Oz politics (& I know you're interested in politics everywhere! ) it's a great "finger on the pulse" program. One of the best going.
I'm really disappointed you can't receive it in the US.

I have to confess to bailing out about half way through - anything juicy happen in the second half?

I concur with Olgs, it is sad, and a little odd, that it's locked to you - I can only imagine that it's the iview platform itself that is restricted because Aunty ABC holds full IP for Q&A and would probably not mind letting the rest of the world watching (probably be a little amazed anyone outside of Oz would be interested, truth be told).

There are many A2K threads about Osama's death and how it is being "celebrated" in the U.S. There are chants of "USA. We're #1."
More thoughtful writing, though, starts with how horrific 911 was to Americans - it was the worst domestic attack on the mainland and ended last night with some sense of cloture. The end of a chapter, perhaps.

I am virtually off to Canada tonight for their elections. The Libs are going to get hurt badly. The Conservatives could hold on but I see the NDP as being the big winners.

All juicy to me, hinge!

Seriously, some very interesting discussions on the country/city divide/s, relating to a number of issues. Quite a bit on the the planned telecommunications network.

I kept thinking as I watched:
* why don't our state & federal governments make a really serious effort to decentralize business & services, instead of allowing or major east coast cities to become so ridiculously over-populated?
* how come country folk keep directing their votes to the 2 major parties (often to the Libs) when they feel so dissatisfied with the treatment they receive from them?

Your points are well made -

Decentralisation raises its head every couple of decades doesn't it? Was it Gough who pushed for Albury Wodonga and Bathurst Orange? Believe it or not there is a school of thought that says cities are ultimately more envirofriendly than multiple suburban towns (much less of a carbon and physical footprint) as well as being the hotbed of major innovation. If you ever get a chance have a look at The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson - fun and educational...

Trouble with decentralisation is chicken and egg aka people and services

On your second thought I guess at least three country electorates have made the choice to forego the 2.5 major parties - I wonder what the rest think of the result?

Liked Tony Windsor's praise of the WA Nats - small minded and petty he is not.

Yes & can understand that to some extent, RJB.
But, I don't know ....
I, like everyone else, was appalled by the loss of innocent lives as the result of 9/11.... But I was equally (if not more so) appalled by the "shocking & awing" of Iraq by the US, for absolutely no good reason. I was just as appalled by the loss of about 200 innocent Australian lives in the Bali bombings, too. So many other instances I could name.
It is not only Americans who have suffered terribly, & it is not only Americans who were/are still involved in "the war on terror"(though many of us here opposed our involvement, particularly the Iraq invasion, from the start) .

What I'm trying to say (rather badly, I think) is the the celebratory rhetoric , the celebrations on our TV screens, seemed totally US-centric. Almost as if it was only about the US & US nationalism , when this diabolical "war on terror" has impacted on so many other innocent people around the planet.

Like many people I've spoken to about Bin Laden's death, I found the celebration of death, with such exhilaration, well ... rather distasteful. It seemed to be more about revenge, than anything else. I was, & remain, far more concerned about the possible retaliation from "jihadists" seeking revenge for his death. And that could happen in any US-allied country on the planet.

Duly noted, msolga. We in the U.S. have a tendency to not look beyond our borders. It is us vs them and we fail to see the impact that terrorism and the war on terrorism has on many more people than just us. Hence it becomes, to use your word, US-centric.
Thank you all for letting me drop by for an evening. I will be quiet now and follow along.

I've started watching The Ghost Map. Very interesting so far!

Yep, decentralization talk (& plans) come & go. But (apart from what I thought was a promising start in Albury/Wodonga, followed by a permanent lapse) it hasn't ever been seriously attempted. But if ever there was a time to at least begin serious planning, it's now. We hear predictions of Melbourne becoming a city of 8 million eventually. That is just crazy. Right now there isn't enough housing, public transport, medical facilities, schools, etc, etc, to cope with the massive population explosion of recent years. It makes perfect sense to me to decentralize. How much further can the suburban sprawl sprawl? But decentralization, as pointed out on last night's Q&A, won't happen unless state & federal governments are proactive. The university lecturer on the program talked of being able to train young people for various professions locally, only to find that they had to leave the area when they'd completed their education, because the jobs for them don't exist. Governments are going to have to create those opportunities for work, because they are not going to happen otherwise.


But look at the pressure those independents are under!
Rob Oakshot is already being talked about as dead meat at the next election.
Country independents have to be very special politicians to survive ... in the present climate, anyway.


Totally agree. My respect for him grows & grows.

You are most welcome to drop by & comment anytime, RJB!

Sadly this description of Melbourne is pretty much accurate for any regional centre you'd care to name.