The NEXT coming Oz election thread!

... meanwhile, back in Lebanon ...

Tense wait for trapped Aussies
July 21, 2006 - 7:14AM
the AGE

Up to 1000 Australians could be evacuated from Lebanon today, although hopes are fading of tracking down another 400 families trapped in the south of the country.

Stung by criticism over its handling of evacuation plans, the government is hopeful between 500 and 1000 people will be shipped out - most probably to Cyprus.... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/tense-wait-for-trapped-aussies/2006/07/21/1153166551418.html

... meanwhile back to the IR debacle in Oz. I don't suppose this will exactly come as a big surprise to any of you? No doubt it will be "good for the economy". :



Push to freeze the wages of low paid
David Uren, Economics correspondent
July 22, 2006/the AUSTRALIAN

A KEY adviser to the body responsible for setting the pay of up to 2.5 million Australians has warned against any further rises in the minimum wage, saying any increase could limit jobs for low-skilled workers.

The University of Canberra's Phil Lewis, who was appointed to advise the new Fair Pay Commission on the link between wages and unemployment, said 650,000 more people would now be working if the minimum wage had been frozen for the past decade. ... <cont>

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19870380-601,00.html

Back in Oz again ...:

Oh good grief! What shocking timing! :

Unions claim $30 pay increase

AUSTRALIA'S union leadership will today lodge a $30-a-week pay claim for low-income earners - the largest ever - to offset inflation and an 18-month wage freeze under the Howard Government's new workplace laws. .. <cont>

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19936459-601,00.html

An interest rate rise based on escalating petrol prices & expensive bananas? Huh? :

'Bananas given too much weight'

AUSTRALIANS like bananas. And until Cyclone Larry drove prices through the roof, about $1.20 out of the $8 a week the average household spent on fruit went on bananas.

That is barely one tenth of 1 per cent of the average weekly household expenses of $1000. So many were surprised when the 250 per cent leap in banana prices made up 0.7 per cent of the 4 per cent leap in the consumer price index in the June quarter.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics was yesterday criticised for its failure to adjust the weight of bananas in the basket of goods measured each month. ... <cont>

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19936483-601,00.html

... speaking of an anticipated banana-driven interest rate rise, the treasurer's hopes & dreams of leadership dashed, broken & all that .... Perhaps Peter should get out quickly while the going's (sort of) good?:

Grrrrrrrr:


Dear friends,

Something dangerous is about to happen to the very heartland of Aboriginal Australia - and neither the traditional owners, nor you, have been warned.

Under the guise of promoting economic development for indigenous Australians, the Federal Government wants to ram through new legislation this Tuesday that actually jeopardises future generations of Aboriginal livelihoods. It's quite possibly the most important law you've never heard of.

The law will amend the iconic Land Rights Act, stripping away power from one of the only true representative bodies, the Land Councils, while pressuring Aboriginal communities to hand over control of their lands for 99 years. With profound disrespect, many of those who this new law affects most have not even been told.

Only your senators can put the brakes on this legislation, to allow time for real debate and understanding. Tell them now these seismic policy changes are too important to rush through.

www.getup.org.au/campaign/StoptheLandGrab

While the government claims the 99-year leases are voluntary, traditional owners are being cajoled into signing away their rights to their land just to secure basic services that we all deserve, like houses and schools.

The original Land Rights Act was an iconic piece of bipartisan legislation. This is a rush job - scarcely understood and widely contested. A scant one-day Parliamentary inquiry should not be permitted to rubber stamp a policy that will leave four generations without land or leadership. Even Government senators expressed 'alarm and concern' at this totally inadequate debate.

Tell your senator to delay the vote until they have done their due diligence as lawmakers, and sufficient time has been made for the traditional owners to be properly consulted.

www.getup.org.au/campaign/StoptheLandGrab

<sigh>

Will do, Deb.

Rebel falls on sword over asylum
August 11, 2006Mourning lost Liberal democratic traditions:

.... The migration bill yesterday passed the House of Representatives with three courageous and principled Liberal MPs - Petro Georgiou, Judi Moylan and Russell Broadbent - voting against it. It is hoped that Judith Troeth and others in the Senate can similarly withstand the pressure being put on them and that the issue will be properly debated, as it was by the Coalition-dominated Senate committee, which recommended in June that the bill not proceed. ....[/color]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/editorial/mourning-lost-liberal-democratic-traditions/2006/08/10/1154803025571.html

According to media reports it's sounding as though Steve Fielding (Family First) may hold the the controlling vote on this bill in the Senate next week. And apparently he's been consulting Liberals, Papuan refugees & Indonesians to decide the "right" way to vote! (Consulting the Indonesian government on Oz immigration policy decisions???? ) His 15 minutes of fame are coming up & I have no doubt he will make the most of it!
Any bets on which way he'll vote? I know what I think!

Thanks for posting this Deb - unbelievable.

Mrs Hinge predicted that the talk and focus on 'dysfunctional communities' was a smokescreen for a land grab - I don't usually hate it this much when she's right.

Why don't you ever see Yrrkala on telly? or even new Mapoon?