
Issue No 18		18 June 1999

Letters to the Editor

Chardonnay Debate Lacks Class

I read with interest the comments made by Martin Furguson about the ALP becoming a policy vehicle for a middle class 'rainbow coalition of interest groups' and neglecting the views and aspirations of Labor's traditional support base in the working class.

These comments sound a lot like Keating's comments about 'wider nature strips, more trees and everyone with a craft shop weaving baskets in Balmain'. They come at an interesting time.

Might it be a tactic by the industrial left to distance itself from its 'lunatic' or 'latte' left rank and file members in a bid to gain mainstream respectability in a leadership push?

Maybe it is just a warning to the left delegates of the national policy committees to moderate their demands in order to create a policy raft that will win the primary vote of one nation supporters?

Whilst I myself have been referred to as a member of the 'red-neck left' for my dismay at some of the anti-growth anti-progress views of some of my 'basket weaving' comrades in the left, I do not accept that it is necessary to adopt socially regressive, sexist or racist policies in order to gain a higher primary vote.

As long as the left focuses on environmentally and economically sustainable growth, activist government and a commitment to social justice it is up to the electorate to decide whether this is in the best interests of the nation.

I suggest that people like Ferguson should be taking up the advantages of a Labor-left government for the people (and the middleclass) and the nation, not just talking down the 'embarrassing fruit loops' of the 'rainbow coalition'.

I will follow the debate with interest.

Jai Wilson

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Issue 18 contents

Interview: Ballot Boxing
In the midst of a key anti-union ballot, the Finance Sector Union's Geoff Derrick is learning vital lessons about life in a deregulated labour market.

Unions: Psyched Out
Intense competition in the labour market has fuelled a new renaissance in psychometric testing.

History: Rhetoric and Reality
This month will be a big one for Labor Party rhetoric about the "light on the hill".

International: ILO Adopts Child Labor Convention
Child slavery, prostitution and hazardous work have been outlawed in Geneva

Legal: Competing Agendas in Enterprise Bargaining
Recent developments show unions how they can turn the Reith laws on their head.

Review: Sister Power
A new book offers practical help for women who want to be heard.

» Carers Crisis: Victims Turned Away

» Farmers Back Social Audit

» Holiday Bugs: Government Asked to Act on Y2K

» Oakdale Miners Take Message to Canberra

» United Front for Public Sector Pay

» Talking Books Silenced

» Upper House Reform: Lest We Forget Greiner

» Pregnancy Bunfight Looms

» Horta Launches East Timor Mercy Ship

» Sparkies Back Fantastic Plastic

» APHEDA Helps Beat The Blockade

» Torture Support Day, June 26

» Guest Report

» Sport

» Trades Hall

» Piers Watch

» Chardonnay Debate Lacks Class

» GST Rally, Town Hall, Monday June 21

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