In 2004, a number of unfortunate circumstances, including unprincipled preference allocations, led to HoWARd gaining control of the Senate. When HoWARd’s extreme IR policies could be enacted without even simple fetterment and with debate guillotined on party-line votes, HoWARd delivered WorkChoices , every businessman’s wet dream; legalised, anti-family exploitation of workers, rivaling the days of lords and serfs.
Union busting is illegal in many countries, including the United States; union representation is considered a human right there as well- but HoWARd felt no shame at all in giving away the farm to the millionaires.
With a mere stroke of his pen, HoWARd wiped out 150 years of labor unions’ gains for workers, whom traditionally had little power to negotiate wages and conditions. HoWARd took labor relations straight back to the pre-Harvester judgement era.
There’s an opportunity in 2007 for voters to diversify the balance of power in federal Parliament. GetUp Australia has brought together the 3 largest minor parties to advance the idea of voting for balance of power:
I have no faith that a Labor-controlled Parliament will be any more principled than is HoWARd’s. The more cooks tending this cauldron, the better.
The Greens have organised preference swaps with both the Democrats and Labor in some areas. Thanks to the preferential voting system in use in Australia, progressive voters can support this arrangement, which would lead at least to the Greens in the balance of power, by voting Greens #1, Democrats #2, ALP #3 and so on down the line.
-weez
3 Comments so far
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whee-hoo, my postal ballots for the House and the Senate were delivered yesterday. Yippee-ky-yay.
Comment by weez 11.08.07 @ 7:31 amLucky you!
An unremarkable and unfamous commoner like me can’t vote HoWARd out until the 24th.
Actually- you CAN vote now! AEC has provisions for pre-polling for those who can’t vote on election day.
Comment by weez 11.13.07 @ 5:42 amLeave a comment
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