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Issue No. 127 08 March 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

Power Plays
Depending on where you sit, the decision by a State Labor Government to sell off the division of the power industry responsible for its long-term planning is either bold or reckless.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Still Flying
ACTU Secretary Greg Combet looks beyond the bid to save Ansett to a broader union agenda for 2002.

Women: Suffrage or Suffering
Alison Peters marks International Women's Day by surveying the achievements - and shortcomings - of a century of female suffrage.

Industrial: No Coco Pops For Brenda
The working poor get short shrift from the hypocritical Minister For Workplace Relations says Noel Hester.

Unions: Back to the Heartland
Lidcombe, western Sydney. A boring cultural desert, right? Wrong, wrong and wrong again according to CFMEU officials who talked to Jim Marr about relocating their headquarters to a working class base.

Activists: Getting to the Point
Rowan Cahill reports on a development battle that has fractured a South Coast community and the role the union movement has played to drive a just outcome.

International: Push Polling
On the eve of elections in Zimbabwe, trade unionists are paying the price for their commitment to democracy.

Economics: Debt Defaulters
Amidst the colour and movement of CHOGM little was said about the pressing issue of debt relief, writes Thea Ormond.

Poetry: Those Were the Days
The Golden Wing lounges have closed. The last of the commiserating Ansett workers have long since departed those makeshift taverns.

Review: Black Hawk Dud
If you want to find out exactly what went wrong during the US Marines' 1993 peacekeeping operation in Mogadishu in Somalia, do not see Black Hawk Down.

Satire: Fox-Lew Launch Rescue Bid for Beta Video
Businessmen Solomon Lew and Lindsay Fox have shocked the financial sector with a daring bid to rescue the communications giant Beta Video.

N E W S

 Egan Sells His Brains

 Spying Bill Targets Strikers

 Dunny Wars: Will Workers Carry the Can?

 Drivers Appeal To Commuters

 New Tack on Asylum Seekers

 Go Forth and Multiply � Unions on Women

 Howard Shuts Workers Out Of Steel Talks

 Questions Remain As Rio Rings Changes

 Labor Hire Swifty Exposed

 Unions Fight 'Industrial Blackmail'

 AIRC in Contracting Debacle

 Mayne Chance For A Wage Deal

 IT Workers Get Their Own Geek Scopes

 PNG Women Visit Australia

 Brazilian Unions Study Aussie Experience

 No Shangri-la in Jakarta

 Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Love Thy Neighbour
Bruce Childs explains why he's reactivated the Palm Sunday committee to take a stand for refugees.

The Locker Room
Debt Before Dishonour
In a week that featured allegations of drugs in footy, fast horses and faster cars, Phil Doyle struggled to keep up.

Week in Review
Bullies Rule, OK?
Jim Marr considers a week which highlighted the absolute joy of being big, rich and powerful in a lassez faire world.

Tool Shed
Leader of the Free World
George W Bush barricades himself in this week's Tool Shed with the sort of double standards that gives world domination a bad name.

L E T T E R S
 How to Beat the Banks
 Collins Goes Cahill
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Egan Sells His Brains


NSW Treasurer Michael Egan has won Cabinet approval to override ALP policy and sell off the brains behind the electricity industry in a move critics believe will inevitably lead to full power privatisation.

With Caucus due to consider the future of Pacific Power International (PPI) on Tuesday, unions will spend the coming days attempting to convince ALP back-benchers to delay the sell-off until after it is considered by the May State Conference.

Unions see PPI as a vital state asset, responsible for long-term planning of power resources, regional development and the maturing sustainable energy industry

Labor Council secretary John Robertson warns the Carr Government the sale would risk further alienating the union movement and have the potential for electoral backlash, after winning the last State Election on an anti-privatisation promise.

"If this sale goes ahead the power industry will inevitably be privatised," Robertson says. "If the public sector doesn't have the capacity to plan its growth, that role will fall into private hands."

A Slap in the Face

The Public Service Association's Maurie O'Sullivan says the Carr Government is asking for trouble if it proceeds with the sale.

"The Labor Party is struggling to come to terms with its defeat in the last federal election," O'Sullivan says. "A government that breaks such a core election promise and flagrantly disregards its own party policy in doing so is a government asking for defeat."

O'Sullivan says he's bewildered by the decision that is a "slap in the face" for the union movement, who will lose significant membership through the process.

The Electrical Trade Union's Bernie Riordan says the explanation is simple: "We all know Michael Egan is not very bright, but he's really hit a high-water mark on this occasion."

Common Position

Unions have consistently argued against the PPI sale, arguing it is a:

- a highly skilled technically capable organization.

- an integral part of the NSW power industry

- an organisation that possesses significant scientific skills that are compatible with emerging markets for sustainable energy and alternative generation.

- an organisation that aligns well with a range of NSW Government policy priorites such as regional development and sustainable energy.

The joint position calls on Pacific Power International to be established as a stand alone state owned corporation.

Unions will rally outside State Parliament to draw attention to the issue next Tuesday at 10am.


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