The people united... [National Community Day of Protest against IR Changes - In Canberra]

The problems with many Aussies and Kiwis is that we want everything for nothing. Lower taxation plus free education, free health, free this and free that. What a nation(s) of whingers we are! How quickly we forget the Hawke/Keating years.

Well I have a lot of family and friends in NZ, and I can tell you THERE are a lot of people who are not happy with what’s going on over there. A trip to the shops will show you how much of the average wage is being spent on groceries each week: people ARE earning less and paying more. Electricity and rent (both dearer than here) are another couple of things that are hitting people in the pocket hard too. Most of the IR changes were introduced by the National party and haven’t been revoked by Labour, which just goes to prove how much in common those bastards have! Yep, you can say all you like about the NZ economy, but most people in NZ aren’t enjoying a real improvement in standard of living. Most profit from previously State owned enterprises goes overseas now, while service provided has dropped considerably (just ask anyone about power shortages in Winter). And now Air NZ has announced that it will be shedding over 600 engineering jobs.

Mael, the Aussie dollar has been hovering around NZ$1.05-1.09 for years now, so that isn’t a new thing; and I can’t see it going dollar for dollar in the near future.

Bobby Brown got a cheer from the masses eh? Well fark me – I’ve just lost all respect for all the kiddies who attended

made it along this morning (earlier than I usually get to work) seemed a good crowd for the site- remember that Melbourne enjoys an actual public transport system, and most of the town doesnt work for the Federal Govt, who seemed less than keen to encourage people attending. and the winners were: Bob Brown, big cheer, wozername (Dems) bit of a cheer while folks tried to remember what the Democrats are about, and if wozername is their leader this week)
and John Clarke and Brian Dawe who masterfully gutted Howard et al, pulling their guts out through the gaping hole of their credibility

Don’t need friends to say NZ is strong economically, just check out what your dollar will get in NZ on the news every night.

Its getting closer and closer to dollar for dollar every night.

Mmmmm, Mr Evil…I thought Kiwiland had a Labour Government? Say’s a lot doesn’t it. I also heard last week that NZ now had the lowest unemployment rate since records started. Mt friends (ALP members) just come back from a 4 week holiday there and said the country was strong economically and that the people they met were happy with their lot. Double Mmmmmm!

Now the police estimate of the Melbourne crowd has been revised from the early estimate (9.00am) of 60,000 to 150,000. ACTU reckons 200,000. That’s a fair crowd. Makes Canberra’s 3000 seem miniscule

I wish there were more employers like you around, Cameron.

On what Thump was saying, if you had the chance, but didn’t go today yet reckon you’re ‘dead set’ against the reforms then you’re the equivalent of a champagne socialist. Do something, otherwise they’re just words. Unless I’m missing something. Which is often the case.

I wanna change the channel – but no so bad that I’ll get out of my seat to do it. That’s the way I see it.

I think that the unions are at their best when they are most needed – and I guess that time is now.

There’s always behind the scenes day to day stuff going on – how many people have benefitted from collective agreements nutted out over a year or more by their related union – I know I have and I sure as hell know that that level of negotiation wouldn’t be going on in an AWA negotiation.

Truth be told (and particularly if you take much of the Latham book to heart), there has been a cancerous complacency in the movement for many years now with the vacuum of any real struggle being filled in by personal and factional positioning in moves for power. This is a big problem and has done the Labor party no favours at all and it’s easy to see how many people have come to see them as less relevant (either of the two)

While the IR changes aren’t going to impact on everyone immediately, they will at some point in the next 3-5 years. If you decide to change your job or when your current award or enterprise bargaining agreement or whatever expires, that’s when you’ll really tell the difference.

The fact that a union can be fined $33,000 for asking (on your behalf) to be involved in your AWA negotiations sends a pretty clear message that the Howard government is afraid of them helping you in a negotiation and thus, however decrepit they may appear, still have power.

Mr Evil, unfortunately you’re right about trusting employers, which is why I’m a fan of a watchdog such as the AIRC.

I myself am an employer and have created an environment where my employees are happy with their wages, conditions and the workplace. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my staff because I know how hard they work and they are rewarded for it.

Unfortunately there are plenty of employers (read: big corporations and some greedy small business owners) out there who are only worried about their profits and couldn’t care less what happens to their employees, and there does need to be some protection from them.

homebrewed – tampa was a border control issue, one would hope people weren’t playing the ‘racist’ card…

It’s all really quite a simple application of a set of prescriptive political tactics.

Howard will crush the Rebellion and then we’ll all go back to work and get on with the business of racking up personal debt by using our personal lines of credit irresponsibly, get RSI from playing PS2 with the kids and sink a few beers (when the new IR reforms allow for it) in a small portion of alloted personal time off work!

Kimba, have a little read about what’s happened in NZ with the introduction of very similar IR laws, and then you might not be so cocky. Profits for many big NZ companies have grown, while many employees aren’t doing quite as well! Before 1990, NZ was mostly a middle-class society, but now the middle-class has been pretty much bled dry, and a new poor has been created.

I don’t have a lot of time for some of the unions either, but by the same token I wouldn’t put my trust in many employers either.

The scaremongering makes me sick actually. I myself am for change to the IR system, but feel there may be better ways to go about it than the WorkChoices legislation.

For example, bring on the NATIONAL system. But why remove the AIRC from power? It’s a lot better to have an indepent body there… balance of power all that sort of thing.

I could go on, but I won’t. 🙂

I just love all the scaremongering…the doomsday merchants pushing the union line. The trade union movement in this country are dinosaurs just like the ALP will be if they don’t pull their finger out.

The main reason, I didn’t go to the protests is that after reading the parts that affect me and my industry, very little changes other than me having to produce dr’s cert’s for sick leave, but i sign my own sick leave, so you all suck!

As for how effective the protests will be, our current PM has been a political mainstay for a fucking long time now. Through that he has perfected his one minded beligerence and these reforms will gothrough will the populace wants themor not. He does and that is all that matters. I love our Decockracy

Bloody Cheryl was too busy keeping Gareth’s dick wet while Stupid-Despoja was out busily buying Doc Martens.

Jesus, we’ve had some dickheads in Parliament!

Hey Thumper – didn’t intend to come off all “not at the protest, part of the problem” – obviously this isn’t how I see things.

Just talking the issues out with friends, family, co-workers, people in the pub is just as important and is certainly being part of the solution.

I think the strength of all public protest (whether it’s 5 people outside the Chinese embassy or 100,000 marching down a city street) is that it sends a clear message that something’s not right and that a number of people are prepared to get out and say so – which hopefully tells the people sitting at home listening to Ray and reading the Daily Tele that they’re not alone in thinking so.

Yeah, this isn’t going to stop the laws going through today or whenever but continuously stating a position of opposition helps put this in people’s minds – in the same way that spending scores of millions of dollars on tv ads does.

It may have taken a while, but regular public protest against some of the gov’t’s harsher immigration policy (amongst other things) have seen some progress made (not a lot, granted, but some)

One of the things I like best about rallies and marches is the sense of community you get, it really can get you energised

People will care when they are put on an AWA working for 25% less wages and a longer working week. How will they afford their 3 children, HECS, $350k mortgage and survival?

I didn’t attend the protest, having much the same feelings as Thumper, but what I see here may not firectly effect you, but it will effect your children who are too inexperienced or intimidated to stand up when its time to sign their employment contract. It will effect those in small/medium enterprises when the boom is over, and the profits of these companies slip.

If only the ALP were not a bunch of useless factional hacks, and instead provided opposition, alternate ideas and intelligent progressive policy.

I blame Cheryl Kernot and Natasha Stott-Despoja – they failed to keep all the bastards honest….

are these people caught up in their own self importance the same “people” who are “racist” for voting for howard in 2001 after tampa?

Kimba, when you’re earning $7/hr and working a 60 hour week with only 5 days sick leave and 2-3 weeks leave annually, will you still give a rat’s arse???

Have a think about it: how much power do you think you’ll really have when it comes to sitting down with your employer to decide how much you are worth.

Such protests leave me wondering who is representing the silent majority…now if there was some real social uprising we’d all be ‘fascinated’.

However, I’ll risk making a broad sweeping statement – people are just too wound up in their own self-importance to be overly concerned with IR reforms. Howard probably realises this, the left/unions will never understand…and unfortunately fall into the vacuum of irrelevance across the entire electorate.

Too nice a day for golf to attend rallies in Canberra

SMH/Age reckon 175,000 attended in Melbourne.
Australian reckons 60,000. Assume the truth lies somewhere in between.

wtf were the rebs doing there? surely Johhnie’s IR changes aren’t going to effect the eckie distribution industry around the club scene?

I’m deadset against new IR laws. For one I can’t see any reason that we need new laws if the economy is going as well as we keep getting told it is.

Yup, thats what I’ve been saying all along as well. To the wall, but saying nonetheless.

Wow so a few thousand attended the Canberra rally…and 90,000 didn’t. Because most people don’t give a rat’s arse!