E D I T O R I A L

Wrong Way, Go Back
The weekend machinations over the structure of the ALP are in danger of missing the fundamental point: Labor�s current malaise is caused not be an excess of core values but through a deficit.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: The Wet One
NSW Opposition industrial relations spokesman Michael Gallacher stakes out his relationship with the union movement.

Bad Boss: Like A Bastard
Virgin Mobile is sexy and funky, right? Well, only if those terms have become synonyms for dictatorial or downright mean.

Unions: Demolition Derby
Tony Abbott likens industrial relations to warfare and, like a good general should, he is about to shift his point of attack � from building sites to car plants, reports Jim Marr.

Corporate: The Bush Doctrine
For the powerful, consumerism equals freedom, and is all the freedom we need, writes James Goodman

Politics: American Jihad
Let�s get real. The origins of modern Islamic terrorist groups are in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Langley, Virginia not Baghdad, argues Noel Hester.

Health: Secret Country
Oral history recordings are an inadequate tool in trying to find out what happened to Aboriginal stockmen and their communities on cattle stations in Northern Australia, writes Neale Towart

Review: Walking On Water
On the 20th anniversary of the first AIDS-related death, Tara de Boehmler witnesses the aftermath of losing a loved one to the illness in Walking On Water.

Culture: TCF
Novelist Anthony Macris captures life on the shop floor in this extract from his upcoming novel, Capital Volume II

Poetry: The UQ Stonewall
The University of Queensland has sought to join the ranks of union-busting companies like Rio Tinto in trying to sack the president of the local union - and made the mistake of thinking they were dealing with an array of acquiescent academics.

N E W S

Corrigan Fires Shot in Rail Showdown

Fight Begins For Long Weekends

Experts to Arrest Drug Test Outbreak

Jobs Auction Hitting Bank Workers

Libs Pledge Moderate IR line

Workers Kick Grand Final Goal

NSW Screws Down Lid on Funeral Scams

Hilton Strike Break Plans in Tatters

Detention Centre Workers Demand Safety Search

Religious Teachers Win Legal Coverage

Pressure Builds on Parking Sting

US Docks Lockout Hits Sea Trade

Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
I Walk The Line
American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has weighed into the Hilton Hotel dispute with this special message to the workforce.

Postcard
Mekong Daze
Union Aid Abroad's Phil Hazelton fires off a missive from Laos where he is spending a year working with the community.

Month In Review
Bush Whackers
It was a month where the world teetered on the brink of peace, no thanks to the leader of the free world, writes Jim Marr

The Locker Room
The Laws Of Gravity
Phil Doyle goes looking for the fine line that separates sport from an exercise in time-wasting

Bosswatch
Snouts in the Trough
It�s AGM season in the corporate world, and deal after shady deal is being exposed as highfliers treat company accounts like the proverbial honey-pot.

Wobbly
Songs of Solidarity
There has been a proud history of pro-worker tunes dating back to the early days of the 20th century, which will be continued in a new CD, writes Dan Buhagiar.

L E T T E R S

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Coonan the Barbarian

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The bleached bombshell may have made her name as a celebrity TV lawyer amongst the glamour pusses on 'Beauty and the Beast'; but her foray into psychotherapy had her sounding more like Stan Zemanek on a particularly feral day. Here's what she had to say: "People who are just malingering, or just have an anxiety condition or depression - that they really need to get over it and get back to work - that they are not going to be compensated just to stay in the workforce". Admittedly the syntax is tortured, but the message plain. The thousands of Australians with depression are just bludgers and withdrawing public support for them would we one way to get them off their lazy, morose butts.

The comments drew instant flak from all corners of the mental health fraternity; with the Mental Health Council of Australia calling for her sacking and the head of the federal government's national institute on depression, Almostblue, Ian Hickie, saying "the ignorance displayed by the federal minister and the stigmatising nature of her comments are truly remarkable". While most sensitive MPs would withdraw and apologise immediately, Coonan claimed the comments were taken out of context and said "it is unfortunate if my comments have offended anyone".

The ham-fisted foray into psychiatry is just the latest attempt by Coonan to run the insurance industry's line and attack the rights of Australians to pursue compensation and legal action. Throughout the so-called 'crisis' in the medical insurance industry, Coonan took the role of John Howard's cannon fodder, fronting the media without a clue of what to do about the prospect of doctors taking strike action to reduce their insurance costs. It was a daily torture watching her attempt to filibuster her way through the daily briefings, where she would assure the public she had a plan to keep the health industry operating, only she couldn't quite outline it because she didn't have the detail at her disposal. Seldom has one spent so much time saying so little.

For those who have followed Coonan's career the flexibility displayed is nothing new: this woman has more positions than the karma sutra. A one-time activist with the Womens Electoral Lobby who turned to peddling her family law business on the Mike Walsh Show - the televisual version of Prozac; Coonan entered politics a member of the Liberals' 'wet' faction, that fast-disappearing group of dreamers who think the Liberals are actually as good as their name. When it became obvious that the hardliners would have control of the winnable Senate seat at last year's election, Coonan jumped ship quicker than you could cry 'children overboard'; catapulted to the Top of the ticket and a place in the Howard Ministry.

Since then it's been all bluster and balls-up; with Coonan's unique look of high-hair, lots of jewels and pancake make-up has doing nothing to hide the underlying truth that this is a woman out of her depth. Those who remember Sylvania Water's matriarch Noelene Danniher, will recall her propensity to blow off after a few scotches, only to watch in bemusement as her bile wreaked havoc across her nuclear family. Coonan doesn't just share Noelene's bouffant; her words are proving equally destructive.

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005