
Issue No 98		01 June 2001

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Letters to the Editor

Satire is not Serious

Dear Bruce Gray re the Chaser Satire

Satire is a humourous (hopefully) attempt at making a serious point. The serious point in that satirical piece is that there are NO SIMPLE ANSWERS to children's drug abuse.

Now Bruce may think that the millions of dollars the Federal Government has spent on an advertising campaign that basically says "talk to your children about drugs" is money well spent, but where I live and work I see the results of drug addiction on the streets every day. The same Federal government that spends up big on ad campaigns has spent lots of money to try to stop serious alternative approaches to drug abuse being tried in Vic and NSW. And the simple approaches eg. zero tolerance, lecturing etc do not work. And never will.

So lighten up (don't light up though) a bit Bruce. Satire is not for you if you don't have a sense of humour. Workers and unionists are entitled to a sense of humour in my book and in this era of worker entitlements being wound back we need to laugh any chance we get.

Mark

An ASU member

PS Whether that piece was good satire is a separate question.

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Issue 98 contents

Interview: Balancing the Books
Opposition Finance spokesman Lindsay Tanner on bringing a Labor agenda to managing the nation�s finances.

Compo: Undampened Spirits
Despite atrocious weather, building workers took to the streets this work over the carnage in their workplace. Mark Hebblewhite was there.

Unions: Giving Blood
Local government workers are mounting a campaign to have leave to give blood donations recognised in their award.

Women: A Checklist for Women Voters
With a mountain of demands on Australian working women, the biggest question could well be which is the biggest?

History: May Day Meditation
May Day has been and gone, but we thought Peter Linebaugh�s take on its meaning was worth reading on all the other days too.

International: The Weeks of Living Dangerously
The now almost inevitable fall of Indonesia�s President Abdurrahman Wahid could have drastic consequences for the increasingly militant working class movement in that country.

Economics: No More Mr Nice Guy
In his new book, Steven Keen outlines why the public needs to know that economics is intellectually unsound.

Satire: NZ to be Disbanded
Following the successful disbanding of the armed forces the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, has unveiled a new bold plan to total disband the entire nation.

Review: Action in the House
Workers Online�s Big Brother Addict argues the time has come for the contestant�s to take some industrial action.

» Twenty Grand � The Cost of a Life in 2001

» Compo Protest Virtually Ignored

» Workers Tell Jodie: It's a Bit Rich

» Disbelief at Dubai in the Sky

» Wage Rise For Two Million Workers

» Casuals Win Parental Leave Rights

» Egan Budget Welcomed � But Social Audit Still on Agenda

» Bad Rosters �Like Being Drunk�

» Nurses Act on Ward Rage

» Council Workers Brace for Border Skirmish

» Meatworkers Win in Federal Court

» Hotel Bosses Linked to Tobacco Industry

» Workers Demand Treaty With Indigenous Australia

» Activists Notebook

» The Soapbox

» The Locker Room

» Trades Hall

» Tool Shed

» Pop and Politics - Where's Billy??

» Satire is not Serious

» Toasting May Day

» WorkCover - Questions for NRMA

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