E D I T O R I A L

Australian Idols
It was a week for the little people as Casey won Australian Idol and Rebecca beat the railways. In entertainment and politics it was a young woman from the burbs who ran rings around the pros.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: The Reich Stuff
Robert Reich has led the debate on the future of work � both as an academic and politician. Now he�s on his way to Australia to help NSW unions push the envelope.

Economics: Crime and Punishment
Mark Findlay argues that the present psychological approach to prison programs is increasing the likelihood of re-offending and the threat to community safety.

Environment: Beyond The Wedge
Whether the great forestry divide can ever be overcome or whether it is best sidestepped for the sake of unity and sustainability in other areas is up for debate, writes Tara de Boehmler.

International: The End Of The Lucky Country
Linda Weiss, Elizabeth Thurbon and John Mathews show us How To Kill A Country

Safety: Tests Fail Tests
Nick Lewocki from the RTBU lifts the lid on the shonky science behind RailCorp testing

Politics: Labo(u)r Day
John Robertson lets fly at this years Labor Day dinner

Human Rights: Arabian Lights
Tim Brunero reports on how a Sydney sparky took on the Taliban and lived to tell the tale.

History: Labour's Titan
Percy Brookfield was a big man who was at the heart of the trade union struggles that made Broken Hill a quintessential union town writes Neale Towart.

Review: Foxy Fiasco
To find out who is outfoxing who, read Tara de Boehmler's biased review of a subjective documentary about corrupt journalism.

Poetry: Then I Saw The Light
Brothers and sisters! Praise the Lord! Brother George has saved the White House from an invasion by infidels, writes resident bard David Peetz.

N E W S

Helicar Fingers Victims ... Again

Rabbits Sick of Clover

What a Banker

Pack Up and Go Home

Pratt By Name

Horror at the Hacienda

Women Wiped for Bush Jobs

Veteran Fights Bullet

Tunneler Survives Death Trap

Bathurst Three Face Court

Chullora Cuts Struck Out

Bully Breaks Heart

Southern Cross Flies High

Activists What's On!

C O L U M N S

The Locker Room
In Naming Rights Only
Phil Doyle has Gone to Gowings

The Soapbox
Homeland Insecurity
Rowan Cahill tells us how the Howard Government�s appointment of Major-General Duncan Lewis to head up the national security division of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet has received little critical comment, until now.

Parliament
The Westie Wing
New proposed legislation in NSW provides a vital window of opportunity for unions to ensure they achieve convictions for workplace deaths, writes Ian West.

L E T T E R S

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Bathurst Three Face Court

The women will be represented by the USU in an Administrative Review, normally the preserve of corporate high flyers.

The family day care operators are seeking judgements that Bathurst exploited them through "harsh and unconscionable" contracts.

USU official, Greg McLean, said the review was the only avenue available to women who had been removed from IR processes by being classified as independent contractors.

"Their businesses have been closed by the council without any explanation. Under existing regulations, they aren't even entitled to ask why," McLean said.

"The Carr Government has just changed that situation in NSW because the Premier understood there was no natural justice available to battlers who perform an important social service. Unfortunately, the Bathurst women have been caught under the terms of the old regime."

The Administrative Review Tribunal is an expensive jurisdiction, not least because it can level costs against unsuccessful litigants but, McLean says, the cases are of "fundamental importance".

The USU, led by organiser Julie Griffiths, has run a long campaign to have governments extends rights to operators of family day care centres.

It began after the federal government successfully challenged an award for the sector in 1995, leaving people who cared for toddlers in their homes devoid of any rights or avenues of appeal.

The position was reinforced when Dubbo Council refused point-blank to justify closing a local centre. It claimed to have been defrauded out of an amount of less than $3 after a worker inaccurately completed a time sheet.

The union organised workers and used its political and industrial contacts to convince the NSW Government workers needed an appeal mechanism when authorities removed their rights to operate.

McLean said Carr needed little convincing and pin-pointed the NSW model as one that should be taken up around the country.

"The situation that still exists in other states is ridiculous," he says. "It flies in the faces of any concept of a fair go."

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005