E D I T O R I A L

The Power of Ones
Lorissa Sevens is no shrinking violet; she had mown down attackers for her nation playing defence for the Matildas. But even this sort of toughness means nothing in the face of WorkChoices.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: The Month Of Living Dangerously
When the mobs took over the streets of Dili it was the people of East Timor that bore the brunt. Elisabeth Lino de Araujo from Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA was there to witness what happened.

Unions: Staying Mum
Penrith mums, Linda Everingham and Jo Jacobson, are at the heart of a grassroots campaign to boot Jackie Kelly, out of federal parliament. Jim Marr caught up with one half of the sister act.

Economics: Precious Metals
There's a lot of spin around AWAs in the mining industry, but Tony Maher argues all that glitters is not gold.

Industrial: The Cold 100
The Iemma Government has come up with 100 reasons why WorkChoices is a dud, with 100 examples of ripped off workers

History: The Vinegar Hill Mob
This month's Blacktown Rally was not the first time workers had stood up for their rights in the region, writes Andrew Moore.

Legal: Free Agents
Is an independent contractor a small businessperson or a worker? The answer depends upon whether the contractor is genuinely �independent� or not, writes Even Jones.

Politics: Under The Influence
Bob Gould thinks Sonny Bill Williams is a hunk; he reveals all in a left wing view of The Bulletin�s 100 most influential Australians, questioning the relevance of some, and adding a few of his own.

International: How Swede It Was
Geoff Dow pays tribute to the passing of Rudolf Meidner, one of the architects of the Swedish model of capitalism.

Review: Keating's Men Slam Dance on Howard
These punk rockers are out to KO WorkChoices. Nathan Brown joins the fray.

N E W S

Jihad Johnny Targets Perth

Rio Sets Up Own Goal

Telstra Fails to Snag Protest

AWAs Bucket Queenslanders

Kev Gives Aussies the Finger

Movie Blue: Win-Win for Critics

Wage Cut Scam Legal

Hardie Boss Takes 60 Percent Rise

The Stack Goes On

Boss Opens Door For Thieves

Hendy Banks on Mass Amnesia

Eisteddfod Win: Your Rock At Work

Airline Crashes Into Paypackets

Canucks Can BHP

Activist's What's On!

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Work Choice: US Military Style
John Howard has learnt a few lessons on workers rights from his Texan buddy, writes Rowan Cahill.

Politics
Westie Wing
As Pru Goward slams into the glass ceiling of the NSW Liberal Party, Ian West considers how women are faring under the Howard-Costello Government.

The Locker Room
A World Away
Phil Doyle is pleased that a display of subtle beauty and athletic grace has been overtaken by some good old-fashioned mindless violence

L E T T E R S

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Capsicum Spray

*****

When the appropriately named Andrew Laming, the brave and bold Liberal Federal Member for Bowman, ran away from sacked Canberra mum, Emily O'Connor, it initially came as a surprise.

Y'see, Andrew is a big champion of WorkChoices.

So much so that when Emily's situation was raised in parliament, while she was in the gallery, the Member for Bowman had the decency to heckle her from the floor of the chamber, telling her to "get a job".

This was a very brave thing to do.

There are some churlish souls that would declare Laming's outburst as the act of a bulling cad or a bottom-feeding toad, but this wasn't entirely the case.

It was actually the ranting of a very disturbed man. Crazy brave stuff. An attitude that writes large the accelerating imminent train wreck that is the Howard government.

Laming was meant to meet Ms O'Connor at a Family Fun Day in Brisbane, but went MIA when he realised he'd have to face the woman he had taunted from the safety of the leather benches in Canberra.

So, instead, he decided to keep his integrity from the light of day and bravely skulk away instead.

What exactly Laming has against family fun, or battling childcare workers, isn't immediately clear (apart from perhaps a pathological hatred of anyone who has the temerity to stand collectively), but nonetheless he was a no-show.

The ambivalent state of Laming's intellect became all to clear when, in a previous address to the good people of Bowman, Laming explained how WorkChoices is really like a, err, pizza:

"Consider the relationship between bosses and workers as ordering takeaway pizza.

"At present there is 2,300 federal award pizzas and around the country another 1,700 state award pizzas and as an employee, the boss is entitled to only serve you one variety.

"These reforms open up the choices. If you are a meatlover you should be able to ask for more pepperoni and a little less capsicum.

"Under the present system, the unions are out in the kitchen counting the pineapple pieces on every pizza. We need the unions out of the kitchen but available to the employee on the odd occasion that the pizza is unacceptable. The basic awards remain in place and more often than not there is another pizza shop across the road with a better offer."

So there you have it, workchoices is the pizza we had to have.

The truth is Mr Laming's WorkChoices pizza comes in many flavours, all of them brown - and bearing a distinct resemblance to the sandwiches Eddie McGuire is serving up at the Channel Nine cafeteria.

And obviously no one has pointed out the perils of a junk food diet to Laming; for we do not live on pizza alone.

If there is an appropriate analogy of pizza and workchoices, which most sane commentators severely doubt, it is with the pizza oft found on the city's footpaths early of a Saturday morning, congealing in the sun, and reminding us to tread carefully when passing the pub.

Laming's deep and considered analysis of the effects of workchoices is more than a little underdone, it's beyond insulting to rip people off and then suggest that being fleeced is good for you.

The idea that job security and rights and conditions fought for, for generations, can be reduced to how many pieces of pineapple is on a pizza is beyond bizarre and is a curious insight into the troubled mind of one Andrew Laming., Federal Member for Bowman and this weeks most deserving Tool Of The Week.

Read more stunning logic from laming at

http://www.andrewlaming.com.au/icreate/documents/CommSpeech05.pdf

Show Us YOUR TOOL! The most inspiring interpretation of this week's tool get's a souvenir edition of Ship of Tools. Deface the Tool of the Week, click the button above to post your artwork, fill out the form and send your entry in and we'll post the winners next week in the Tool of the Week Gallery.

Ship of Tools - All the tools in one shed!

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Last Modified: 07 Jul 2006