Issue No 17 | 11 June 1999 | |
NewsBudget Blue Looms as Carr Poohs Social Audit
With expectations of a horror budget including job cuts across a range of departments, trade unions have asked for the audit to ensure any budget pain is shared equally, particularly in regional NSW and western Sydney. Labor Council secretary Michael Costa says he's disappointed the Premier has ruled out the audit, which he argues would give the government a medium term plan for allocating resources. "I don't think anyone here worked to elect a Labor Government to see the political opportunism of budget cuts to suit the electoral cycle," Costa told last night's Labor Council meeting. "If the government wants us to take some hits in terms of job losses, it can't just do so in the narrow budget cycle." Russ Puts AWU on Collision Course The battle over the social audit could be played on the ALP Country Conference stage, with the Australian Workers Union signalling it move to debate the issue there. Speaking to the Labor Council meeting, AWU state secretary Russ Collison sprayed the Carr government for its "arrogance" in preparing a budget that will "attack jobs". "We elected a Labor Government and they are going to act like a Labor Government," Collison said. "We will place this issue on the agenda for Country Conference and place as much pressure as is necessary to bring about a meaningful social audit. "We are not going to back off, even if it means making people from this government feel a bit uncomfortable."
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Interview: Class Consciousness Long-time ALP member Michael Thomson has thrown a few grenades with a new book arguing that middle class trendies have taken over the ALP. Legal: Reith�s AWAs Dealt a Blow ASU v Electrix rules that AWAs can't be a take it or leave it proposition. Unions: Survey Misses the Point Last week's attempt by the Australian newspaper to rank trade unions contained some fundamental flaws. History: The Light on the Hill Fifty years after his seminal address, Ben Chifley's words still ring true -- and still challenges Labor. International: Child Labour: Kerala�s Recipe Of India�s 55 million slave children, not one is to be found in the state of Kerala, in the south of the sub-continent. Review: Bazza Mckenzie Holds His Own Tony Moore on perhaps the greatest Australian movie ever made. Women: Equal Pay - We've Come A Long Way Thirty years have passed since women around Australia raised their fists in victory at the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission's historic equal pay for equal work decision. Activists: Throwing Off the Chains Thirty years ago, Zelda D'Aprano was so incensed by the lack of progress in achieving pay parity that she twice chained herself to public buildings in Melbourne. Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre View the latest issue of Labour Review, a summary of industrial news for trade unions.
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