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The Costs of War
John Howard's chickens will come home to roost in the next week when Peter Costello delivers a dog of a federal budget.
Interview: Squaring Off
NSW Industrial Relations Minister John Della Bosca looks beyond last year's WorkCover dispute to rebuild relations between the wings of the labour movement.
Industrial: Heroes Betrayed
Seafaring veterans joining the protest against the CSL Yarra sell-out this week were fighting for their heritage, reports Jim Marr
History: At The Coalface
An oral history of working life on the NSW coalfields has been brought to life by ABC Radio.
International: Wobblies With Chinese Characters?
Workers in China's industrial heartland have started killing their bosses as a form of labour protest., writes Andrew Casey
Politics: Dancing with Trotsky
John Passant re-reads an old political favourite and argues that as fascism in Europe grows the Left must learn the lessons of history.
Economics: You Are What You Eat
Something's eating at Neale Towart, all those Aussie food brands in foreign hands.
Poetry: Alexander's Bragtime Band
When the foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, announced this week that �Australia, internationally, has never been better regarded,� the leaders of the world sagely nodded their heads.
Satire: Stott Despoja Celebrates Engagement With Minor Party
Australian Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja says she will celebrate her engagement to public relations consultant Ian Smith in typical Democrat style, with a minor party.
Review: Painting Paradise
NSW Upper House MLC Ian West meets Currawong's artist in residence Sophie Haythornthwaite.
 Gun-Runners Threaten Aussie Coast
Kings Cross Date For Commissioner Cole
Sunbeam Irons Out Sydney Grand Mother
Low-Paid Gridlock Melbourne
NSW Libs Open to Abbott Takeover
Ten Points for IT Workers
Low Paid Target Rose Bay Toff
Terror Bill Needs More Work, ACTU
Wage Clerks Duck For Cover
Burma Release Fails to Blunt Campaign
East Timorese MPs oppose Timor Sea Arrangement
Airport Screeners Face Men in Jocks
Black Label Roots For Hessian
Back Chat for Child Laws
Barking The Wrong Way In NSW
Unions Push into Regional Queensland
Activists Notebook
The Soapbox
Live a Little!
MEAA state secretary Michel Hryce tells Young Labor the party needs to get funky. The Locker Room
Something To Chew On...
Peter Filandia gave sports commentators something to chew on with the recent revelations regarding his activities with the old choppers, writes Phil Doyle. Postcard
Slow Train Coming
Union Aid Abroad's Phil Hazelton sends another missive from South-East Asia where union money is helping the people of Lao. Bosswatch
A Share of the Action
Big half-yearly results for the banks, a kick-along for a bomb-maker and a debate about executive options at the 'Woodstock for Capitalists'. Week in Review
Too Much Telly
That little box in the corner takes top billing as the cypher through which the comings and goings of an eventful week are best relayed, as Jim Marr finds out � Tool Shed
The Speculator
Labor frontbencher Mark Latham has taken out a controlling stake in this week's Tool Shed with his whacky idea that Labor should be underwriting speculation on the stock exchange.
Heaps and Heaps of Hate Mail
No Choice
Who Rules Australia?
No Wrap for Song Comp
Abbott's Contempt
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News
NSW Libs Open to Abbott Takeover
The state industrial relations system could fall into Tony Abbott's clutches if the Liberal Party gains power in NSW, with Opposition IR spokesman Michael Gallacher this week refusing to rule out a Kennett-style handover.
The suggestion, which will send shivers through both trade union and employer ranks, was part of the wash-up from Abbott's latest bid to hijack state industrial relations into the federal sphere.
NSW Industrial Relations Minister John Della Bosca flatly rejects the Abbott proposal. "Why would we hand our model co-operative system to a Federal Government that uses lock-outs, Dobermans and balaclavas to manage industrial disputes?" he asked.
"NSW workers and employers would lose their rights to a genuine umpire, lose benefits like parental leave for casuals and lose the collective and orderly framework which has delivered for the NSW economy."
But when Della Bosca challenged Gallacher in the State Parliament to make a similar commitment all that was forthcoming was: "Well, mate, I will answer that next year when I am in your spot."
Della Bosca says this shows the Liberals have no policy on IR. "The Leader of the Opposition does not intend to tell the people of this State what his approach to industrial relations is until after the next election.
"Will he hand the harmonious New South Wales system back to those who reintroduced lockouts as a means of managing disputes, those who gave us month-long stoppages, Doberman dogs and people in balaclavas as a means of resolving industrial disputes?"
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Issue 135 contents
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