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Issue No. 212 12 March 2004  
E D I T O R I A L

Unfriendly Fire
The decision by Rail Corp to invoke Peter Reith�s hardline industrial laws against NSW rail maintenance workers could cause more casualties than intended.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Baby Bust
Labor's Wayne Swan argues that the plight of our aging workforce is only one side of our demographic dilemma.

Safety: Dust To Dust
Failure by authorities to police safety in the asbestos removal industry is threatening the lives of members of the public, writes Phil Doyle.

Bad Boss: Shaming in Print
Delegates from print shops around Sydney will publicly shame this month�s Bad Boss nominee with a rally outside his new Alexandria operation next Thursday.

National Focus: Work's Cripplin' Us
Noel Hester reports on a spin doctors' talkfest, workplace pain, stroppy teachers and IWD party time in the national wrap.

International: Bulk Bullies
An extraordinary five month struggle over affordable health care, by nearly 70,000 Californian supermarket workers, has just come to an end, writes Andrew Casey.

History: The Battle for Kelly's Bush
Green Bans saved a piece of bush before they saved much of the Sydney�s built environment, writes Neale Towart

Economics: Aid, Trade And Oil
Tim Anderson reveals Australia�s second betrayal Of East Timor is playing out before our eyes.

Review: The Art Of Work
Workers and westies are being celebrated as the cultural icons they are thanks to two Sydney exhibitions reminding us there is a world of art in the everyday, writes Tara de Boehmler.

Poetry: Sew His Lips Together
Wondering where the next porkie is going to come from? Resident bard David Peetz knows.

N E W S

 Bring It On Costa

 Dodgy Tests Cost Drivers

 Peeking Dicks Roasted

 Serial Killer Cops Fine

 Printers Defy Age

 Actors Bucket "Crap" Deal

 Burrow Lashes Independents

 Perth Loses Ugly Fight

 Ambos Bans -Free Rides

 Millions Rung Up on Telstra

 AWU Publishing Coup

 Deliveries Scratched

 Activists What's On!

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Iraq and Your Mortgage
How high interest rates go will be a key issue in 2004 and if you are looking for a clue, there's no better place to look than the war in Iraq, writes Michael Rafferty.

Sport
Hang Onto the Day Job
Show someone else the money, says Phil Doyle.

Politics
Westie Wing
Ian West shows why Eveleigh Street�s not so far away from Macquarie Street

Postcard
Don�t Give Up the Fight
Get Up, Stand Up is the logo of choice on a popular range of subversive condoms. Ken Davis from Union Aid Abroad reports from Zimbabwe�s second city

L E T T E R S
 Bring Back Gough
 Seven Good Reasons To Save Medicare
 Naked Leading The Blind
WHAT YOU CAN DO
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News

Burrow Lashes Independents


Millionaires will get the same subsidy as single people on $340 a week, under Tony Abbott�s prescription that strips Medicare of its universality.

"Instead of committing to restore bulk-billing for all GP visits, the independent senators have joined the Health Minister in setting up a blatantly unfair, two-tiered health system," ACTU president Sharan Burrow said.

"The independent senators are now as guilty as the Howard Government in ripping the heart out of Medicare."

Burrow's attack was prompted by news that independent senators would usher Abbott's MedicarePlus into law, although it would deny bulk-billing subsidies to working people earning more than $340 a week.

Medicare, originally, was conceived as a universal health insurance scheme, based on free general practitioners visits for the vast majority of the population.

Burrow said while independents had squeezed hundreds of millions of extra Medicare dollars out of Abbott, they had signed off on a two-tier system that provided one set of subsidies for children and concession card holders in mainland cities and another for those baswed in regional areas and Tasmania.

She pointed out that they had also agreed to different safety nets for concession card holders and low-income people than for single workers, irrespective of income.

"The Howard Government is turning Australia's world-class public health system into a US-style two-tiered system where only the rich can afford good quality health care," she said.


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