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Issue No. 194 05 September 2003  
E D I T O R I A L

Relatively Speaking
At its heart, political debate has always been a struggle between competing views about how a society should organise itself to maximise the benefits for the majority of its citizens.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Crowded Lives
Labor frontbencher Lindsay Tanner talks us through his new book on the importance of relationships and why politics is letting the people down.

Activists: Life With Brian
Work by men like Brian Fitzpatrick is exposing new Australians to old truths. Jim Marr reports

Industrial: National Focus
A showdown looms in Cancun, Qantas gets bolshie, casual and lazy in its response to aviation challenges, and long festering disputes fester on in Victoria and Tasmania reports Noel Hester in this national wrap.

Unions: If These Walls Could Talk
Trades Hall is preparing for a major facelift but first, Jim Marr reports, it must bid farewell to the colourful bunch who have populated its dusty corridors in recent years.

Economics: Beating the Bastards
Frank Stilwell looks at some of the proposals for building a fairer finance sector.

Media: Three Corners
So its come to this. Four Corners, one of the world's longest running television programs is now under pressure from an ABC Executive that is less cultural visionary than feral abacus.

History: The Brisbane Line
Percy Spender was Menzies' foreign minister, but, Neale Towart asks, was he also prepared to serve as Prime Minister in a Japanese controlled Australia?

Trade: The Dumping Problem
Oxfam-CAA helps set the scene for this month's World Trade Organisation in Cancun.

Review: Frankie's Way
In The Night We Called It A Day Frank Sinatra learns 'sorry' Down Under is a loaded word and refusal to say it when due will lose fans in important places, writes Tara de Boehmler.

N E W S

 Truckies Tip Safety on AGM Floor

 Geelong Lockout Claims Family Homes

 Aussie Labour Laws Fail US Test

 No Accident � Insurance Dough Rises

 Union Mum Wins

 Rheem Runs Cold On Entitlements

 Unions Take It Up for Footballers

 Drug Boss Fails Workers

 Ministers Urged to Take Responsibility

 Museum Jobs Face Extinction

 Less News And More Of It

 Legal Costs Threaten Access

 Learning for Life

 Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Staking Our Territory
ACTU secretary Greg Combet argued for a fairer Australia in his keynote address to last month's ACTU Congress.

The Locker Room
Seasonally Agisted
Spring is a season when a person�s thoughts turn to�horse racing. Phil Doyle reports on the fate of nags and folk heroes.

Housing
Beyond the Block
We are wild about the people who live in The Block but not too interested in those who are on the streets outside, writes Michael Rafferty.

Politics
The Westie Wing
Workers friend Ian West MLC, reports form the Bearpit about a project to raise awareness about trade unionism amongst young people.

Postcard
The Awkward Squad
Paul Smith meets one of the new generation of British union leaders who is taking the ball up to the Blair spin team.

L E T T E R S
 Lyon Roars
 Spicey and Tart
 Tony and Pauline
 PNG Bags Plastic
 Fighting Words Craig Emerson
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Less News And More Of It


Hot on the heels of an improved profit performance the Seven Network has announced plans to slash 180 nationally in a move that has been slammed as "ringbarking localism".

The move follows the defeat of a rigorous union-busting campaign at the Seven Network after staff voted to reject a non-union deal. The campaign came in the face of hostile opposition from management and included blocking union email access to members and taking court action to prevent the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) calling members to discuss the ballot.

Ex Packer executive David Leckie announced the cuts in a move designed to placate the TV Network's shareholders at the expense of workers.

Leckie, treading a familiar path Australia's executives employ to achieve profit growth, announced the cuts in conjunction with half-yearly profit figures.

"We think this is an outrageous decision,' says the CPSU's Stephen Jones. "Channel Seven announced an improved profit for the year, and that comes off the back of the workers they're now sacking."

The Adelaide news service will now technically be operated from Melbourne; a move similar to the failed exercise by the Ten Network in having its Perth news read out of Sydney.

The move has created a backlash in South Australia where Premier Mike Rann has questioned the Seven Network's commitment to local production. It was revealed that 34 full-time staff will be axed from seven's Adelaide workforce.

Media reports said Rann accused the network of "ringbarking localism".

"It's about a Sydney-centric or Melbourne-centric view of Australia," says Rann.


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