The NEXT coming Oz election thread!

You're a brave man, RJB! :wink:
I'm afraid that things have not improved all that much since you last looked. Well, maybe a little bit ... some backbenchers in the (Liberal) government ranks that have been making a stand on "conscience" issues. But this is a not an easy time to get through, I'm afraid.

Deb

How did last week's GetUp vigil in Adelaide go?
Haven't heard any reports about it at this end.

Good...reasonable crowd.....very mixed group, old people, young people, dogs.....nice feeling.

That's good, Deb.

Are you following the Jack Thomas case?:



http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/midnight-curfew-on-jihad-jack/2006/08/28/1156617274912.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Lawyers to challenge Jack Thomas control order

The World Today - Tuesday, 29 August , 2006 12:10:00

The control order taken out against Jack Thomas, who was freed last week after his terrorism conviction was overturned, could be challenged in the High Court on constitutional grounds.

Jack Thomas is the first Australian to have his movements restricted under the Federal Government's control order regime.

And while his lawyers have announced that they will oppose the order in a hearing later this week, a constitutional expert says this could become a test case for the whole control order system. ... <cont>

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1727023.htm

Jeeze, do they want to capture Osama, or what?
I mean, if Jack Thomas can actually contact him, the authorities could trace the call, and ...... :

Thomas control order 'farcical'
August 31, 2006 - 11:07AM/the AGE

A magistrate has blasted the federal government for including terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden's name in a list of people that cannot be contacted by terror suspect Jack Thomas.

In the Federal Magistrates court in Canberra, Magistrate Graham Mowbray accused the government of turning the proceedings into a farce by including Bin Laden's name on an extensive list of people who Mr Thomas is not permitted to contact. .... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/thomas-control-order-silly/2006/08/31/1156817006116.html

Meanwhile, the great Oz army recruitment campaign continues ...:

Just when you think those silly, gullible voters have completely forgotten, some pesky issues leap out at you again & bite you on the bum! :wink: :

Downer told WMD hunt was flawed
Marian Wilkinson and Bridie Smith
September 1, 2006/the AGE

FOREIGN Minister Alexander Downer has confirmed for the first time that he was personally told by a senior Australian weapons inspector that the US-led weapons hunt in Iraq was seriously flawed.

But he denies suppressing a damning six-page letter by the inspector, John Gee, who resigned from the Iraq Survey Group, which conducted the search, in March 2004.

The letter outlines in detail interference by the CIA and the Bush Administration in the first reports about the weapons hunt, aimed at avoiding finding that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction. ... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/downer-told-wmd-hunt-was-flawed/2006/08/31/1156817035297.html

Industrial relations is back in the news.(About time!)
How's this?: You work 5 days & your employer refuses to pay you because you've refused to work over-time during that period. Apparently you have no right to refuse over-time, so withholding your pay is OK. The federal government seems to think it's OK! (& that it's got nothing to do with the new IR laws!) Test case coming up!:

Last Update: Friday, September 8, 2006. 7:09am (AEST)

Test case: The ACTU says the Government must clarify what the rules about strikes and pay are.

IR dispute prompts call for clarity on pay laws

The ACTU believes an industrial dispute at Heinemann Electrics in Mulgrave in Melbourne will become a test case.

Forty-five workers have walked off the job after they were not paid for a week because they refused to work overtime.

The workers say the overtime ban was part of protected industrial action, but the company says the law prevents workers who are taking industrial action from being paid.

ACTU president Sharan Burrow says the Government needs to clarify the situation.

"We want the Minister and the Prime Minister to tell the country whether this is in fact the outcome of their Act," she said.

"Whether they think it's reasonable for workers to work for five days, to put in productive labour that the company is benefiting from and not pay working families.

"We believe that whether or not the workplace laws intended this to happen, this is just un-Australian, if not unconstitutional."

Prime Minister John Howard says the new IR laws have nothing to do with the situation.

He says the relevant laws have been in place for 10 years.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1735759.htm

Meanwhile, back in Canberra, federal politicians have given themselves a nice, little financial boost! (I wonder if the have to produce evidence of "productivity increases" like the rest of us? Ha! ) So much for Mark Latham's efforts to weaken parliamentarians' superannuation rorts. <sigh>:

Super news for MPs with travel allowance boost
Katharine Murphy
September 8, 2006/the AGE

FEDERAL politicians have had their travel allowances increased at the same time as John Howard and Kim Beazley have agreed to make the parliamentary super scheme more generous for politicians elected after 2004.

Travel allowances were quietly bumped up a week ago in a new determination from the Remuneration Tribunal, which increased the overnight accommodation allowances for federal politicians, in some cases by more than $70 per night.

The new batch of travel allowance increases comes as Prime Minister Howard confirmed yesterday that he would scrap changes to parliamentary superannuation in 2004 inspired by former Labor leader Mark Latham. .... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/all-aboard-the-gravy-train/2006/09/07/1157222265258.html

... um, let's see: We've sold of most of Telstra, Medicare Private sale coming up, moved heaps of our jobs off-shore, brought in (& exploited) foreign workers to fill "skill shortages", made university education unaffordable for most ordinary people, sold off heaps of our manufacturing companies so we hardly own anything any more, have an unbelievable, gut-wrenching balance of payments deficit, cut back on worker pay & entitlements with the fabulous new IR laws, cracked down on "dole bludgers", home buyers are mortgaged to the hilt so even the whiff of an interest rise causes mass frenzy ..... (Have I missed anything?) ...... But what a GREAT financial state we're in!!!! (not!) :

Wah!
I want a new government! (& not Labor Lite, either! )

Labor Lite is the best you'll get.