
Issue No 65		04 August 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Letters to the Editor

Latham should watch the Footy Show

Without rejecting everything Mark Latham suggests, many of his proposals are so naive that it is difficult to take him seriously.

For families dependant on welfare support, Mr. Latham proposes a program of mutual responsibility including a requirement for parents to be good educators for their children. Parents who may themselves have a low level of education and poor literacy and numeracy skills would somehow be compelled to spend time reading and providing homework assistance to their children. A nice idea, but what sort of agency will enforce it, the police, the Department of Community Services the local school? With government agencies hardly able to cope with cases of serious child abuse, I hardly think they will be able to add "failure to help with homework" to their responsibilities.

Mr. Latham praises an arrangement by a British soccer team that requires all players to teach at least three hours per week in local schools. "The players fulfil a valuable function as role models and mentors," he says. This suggests that being good at sports automatically makes a person a good role model and a good teacher. Has Mr. Latham ever watched the Footy Show? Is he familiar with the checks required before a person can work with children in NSW? Presumably a new government agency will be formed to screen out sports people involved in drug abuse, illegal gambling, match fixing, head high tackles and anti-social behaviour before they take up their mandatory role as part-time teachers.

"Whether we like it or not, the days of tax and spend policies have ended," Mr. Latham says. I suspect that at their core, his ideas are really about education on the cheap, education provided by parents, shopping centres, fast food outlets or football teams; anyone except the government.

What is wrong with the community, through its government, providing community services and being accountable for those services? We elect our government, we don't elect fast food chains.

Wayne Patterson

View entire issue - print all of the articles!

Issue 65 contents

Interview: Hobart Perspective
Having held senior positions in both wings of the labour movement, Martin Ferguson went to Hobart with more perspective than most. He shares a bit of it with Workers Online.

Politics: Love-in In a Cold Climate
In our exclusive campaign diary we bring you the sights, sounds and smells of the ALP's Hobart conference.

Unions: Passion Plays
Canadian union campaigner Sharon Costello outlines how British Columbia nurses are using the arts to activate their membership base.

International: Spanish Telecom Builds Employee Portal
The prospect of on-line access for unions to company employees was outlined to Union Network International by the head of Spanish Telecommunications giant. Telefonica.

History: Husky Girls and the Female Psyche
When women entered the workforce during World War Two their male supervisors were given these simple tips to get the most out of them.

Satire: Communism Vindicated by Successful Collective Meeting
Tonight's meeting of the Marxism-Leninism Now Collective demonstrated the continuing relevance and ultimate success of communist principles, according to the Collective's Secretary, George Addison, 44.

Review: Following the Money
A new book looks at the role the bosses have played in the changing industrial relations framework.

» Chaudhry, Burrow Discuss Strengthening Unions' Stand

» Shopping Centres' 'Pay to Work' Plan

» Labor's IR Platform: Winding Back Reith

» Redback clerks buck casual trend

» No Joy in Ministerial Mind Slip

» Parlt House Cleaners' Fight Gets Dirty

» Rural Safety Lapses' Massive Cost

» 5000 Students Back the Hands that Feed Them

» Mobile Phones Health Warning

» Bank Staff Fight Fruitpicking Future

» No Science in CSIRO Sell-Down

» Hotel Workers Target Big Chains

» Wheels of Justice Slow as Reporters Walk

» Free Political Economy Classes for Activists

» APHEDA plans Asian and Middle Eastern tours

» The Soapbox

» Sport

» Trades Hall

» Tool Shed

» In defence of coffee

» Rail commuter warns pollies

» We want a bigger slice of pie

» Latham should watch the Footy Show

» Editor bagged

Notice Board
- Check out the latest events

Latest Issue

View entire latest issue
- print all of the articles!

Previous Issues

Subject index

Search all issues

Workers Online - 2nd place Labourstart website of the year

LaborNET is a resource for the labour movement provided by the Labor Council of NSW

URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/65/letters3_footy.html
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005

[ Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Credits ]

LaborNET is proudly created, designed and programmed by Social Change Online for the Labor Council of NSW