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Issue No. 137 24 May 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

An Aussie Icon
The public deification of the Last Anzac, Alec Campbell, proves the adage that when you scratch the surface of an icon you'll invariably find a far more interesting reality.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Just Done It?
Nikewatch's Tim Connor gives his verdict on the global giant's latest innovation: ethics.

Tribute: Lest We Forget
Rowan Cahill goes looking for the real Alec Campbell and finds a story the Telegraph will not be publishing.

History: Solidarity Forever
Neale Towart looks at the enduring relationship between the union movement and the defence forces and finds it all comers down to solidarity.

Technology: Unblocking the Superhighway
Michael Gadiel argues the case for Open Standards as a way of breaking the grip of big business on the IT industry.

International: Gloves Off
Workers and their unions are facing a battering throughout South America as a wave of economic turmoil sweeps across the continent.

Unions: Out Of Work
Jim Marr travels to the frontline to witness the impact of the Howard Government's decision to close Employment National.

Review: Strange Business
Tara de Boehmler looks at a new flick that exposes the dark side of the Material World.

Poetry: The Lawyer's Lament
One of the big issues of recent weeks has been the explosion of insurance costs for public and community events, many of which have had to be cancelled as a result.

Satire: Government Mourns Loss Of Last Anzac
Treasurer Peter Costello has lamented the death of Alec Campbell, the last surviving ANZAC, bemoaning the lost revenue the government could have gained at his expense following the Budget.

N E W S

 Workers Honour Radical Digger

 Retailers in Outworker Spotlight

 Nurses, Teachers Snare Agenda

 Syd in Vicious Backpacker Stand-off

 Microsoft Monopoly Under Challenge

 Kiddies Not Exactly Having a Ball

 NSW ALP Faces Asylum Seeker Test

 Canberra Acts on Industrial Manslaughter

 Carr Delivers on Dismissals

 Santa Claus Strikers on Christmas Island

 Abbott Believes Management Should Dictate

 Low Paid Not To Blame For Beer Price Rise

 Casino Award Covers Eastern States

 Security Workers Want Bosses Sacked

 Sydneysiders Rally For Western Sahara

 Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
The Cold Hard Truth
The Rail,Tram and Bus Union's Nick Lewocki argues our hard-hearted treatment of refugees is a betrayal of our proud immigrant history.

The Locker Room
The South Melbourne Football Club Pty Ltd
A spectre is haunting football; it is the spectre of revolution; a free market revolution, writes Phil Doyle.

Bosswatch
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Jobs are under threat in the textile and trye markets; but there's better news in the Newcastle mills and the Nike factories.

Postcard
Gas Treaty - The Raw Deal
East Timor is getting less then 40%�not 90% royalties from the oil and gas revenue in the Timor Sea, reports HT Lee.

Week in Review
Origin of the Species
Phil Gould, Andrew Johns and Danny Buderus may have buried the laughable notion that Rugby Union is the sport they play in heaven, but outside Stadium Australia life goes on, as Jim Marr discovers.

L E T T E R S
 Dancing With Trotsky? Not Bloody Likely.
 Your Tools Page is Down
 Big Dave Foster
 Give Us a Click!
 Will the Real Mark Latham Please Stand Up?
 Unified Labour
 The Last Survivor
 Not Hate Mail
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Canberra Acts on Industrial Manslaughter


The ACT is set to become the first Australian jurisdiction to introduce industrial manslaughter laws.

While similar provisions have been side-tracked in Victoria, NSW and Queensland, ACT Industrial Relations Minister Simon Corbell will introduce legislation based on a private member's notice from Labor MLA Katy Gallagher.

Gallagher says she is "extremely hopeful" a Government Bill, amending the Crimes Act, will go before the territory's Parliament next month.

It would apply sanctions, including prison terms and heavy fines, to employers found "grossly negligent" over workplace deaths.

"This is not about people who observe the law. It's aimed at those who know their workplaces are unsafe and do nothing about it," she explained.

Hidden Menace

Gallagher said industrial deaths were a hidden menace and it was the proper role of Governments to take actions that could save the lives of their constituents.

In calling on the Minister to introduce industrial manslaughter legislation she pointed out that more Australians died in industrial accidents than on the country's roads.

"Yet, there is no industrial deaths toll on our nightly news bulletins, there is no hard-hitting advertising campaign to raise awareness of the issue and, sadly, it is relatively infrequently that anyone is held accountable for a workplace death," she said.

Australia has industrial death rates higher than comparable countries - New Zealand, Canada, the UK, US or Japan.

Gallagher called, in the absence of Federal Government action, for states to take a co-ordinated, national approach in a bid to cut the rate of workplace deaths.

Beefed-up provisions were needed, she said, because corporations and directors could currently escape criminal liability because of the difficulty of applying manslaughter laws to corporate entities, or individuals protected by complicated corporate structures.

Contributions to her notice from Liberal, Green and Democrat speakers left Gallagher confident Corbell's legislation would gather enough support in a legislature where Labor governs as a minority.


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