26 November 2008

Simon breaks out the block caps to rail against the ABCC

| johnboy
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At 1:31pm Simon Corbell’s office emailled out a call to arms requesting the faithful citizenry gather at Old Parliament House to protest the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) at midday. (Perhaps using the same technology as Simon’s Time Travelling Busway?)

Apparently the ABCC is in breach of the hallowed ACT bill of rights and Simon wants something done about it.

Nothing to do with keeping the CFMEU sweet?

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Jakez, you’re a friendly, reasonable, likeable member of the Canberra community with a functioning brain and a good sense of what is right and wrong.

Why in all hell are you a member of the Liberal party?

I don’t pretend to know anything about the ABCC but it seems to me that the points that Simon Corbell makes are valid.

This is why I have such a big problem with the IR debate in Australia. You have two sides arguing for the power of Government to give them sway. Workchoices was a regulatory nightmare (not to mention an increase in the scope of Government and a blow to federalism).

Let us recognise property rights, and let us not give special favours to the unions or to business. I think NZ has the right idea, their IR law is I believe 18 pages long.

bigfeet said :

If Simon was emailing this at 1.31pm he well and truly missed the boat.

I was up at Parliament House today and at about 12.30 there was about 300 angry unionists out the front.

But they were all gone by the time I came back out at around 1.20pm.

Well, with the threat of being docked 4 hours pay for being 1 minute late from your lunch break, I believe the CFMEU ran the rally to get builders off site for less than an hour.

Not a bad effort when you’re trying to wrangle 600 builders.

If Simon was emailing this at 1.31pm he well and truly missed the boat.

I was up at Parliament House today and at about 12.30 there was about 300 angry unionists out the front.

But they were all gone by the time I came back out at around 1.20pm.

tom-tom said :

“…polls say about 70% of people against the ABCC.”

My poll says that 70% of people couldn’t tell you what the acronym ABCC even stands for, let alone care. I say that there are more important issues to worry about. You disagree. Frankly Charlotte…

this is not about point scoring. the ABCC has a harmful affect on a significant number of canberras residents safety and working conditions and an elected representative of these people took a step toward highlighting that, this is absolutely the right thing to do. Just because its not an issue for you doesn’t mean it isn’t an issue for others and it doesn’t mean their concerns are less important then yours.

dont presume you speak for the average citizen on this issue; because you dont. polls say about 70% of people against the ABCC. besides sometimes its important for our elected representatives to do the right thing because it is the right thing not just the popular thing.

I’m pretty sure the average citizen elected (reluctantly) this government to run Canberra, not to score points with the CFMEU in some union dispute. Unless you know better tomtom, we’ll have to agree to disagree.

In my view, this little spat is only being dressed up as a ‘human rights’ issue to give this grandstanding some legitimacy. It’s not about human rights, it’s about politics.

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imhotep; i’m pretty sure the fact that the ABCC can intimidate workers (with 22 grand fines) into not attending this rally was a real concern for some of the citizens of this little town.

i’m also pretty sure the ABCC ability to block union safety inspectors from entering worksites is a real concern for some of the citizens of this little town. (especially those on the rudd/marcus clarke street site)

again i’m pretty sure the fact the ABCC can use its powers to intimidate union organisers into disclosing the details of private meetings with their members by using the threat of jail time is a real concern for some of the citizens of this little town.

Good to see that Simon has his finger on the pulse of the real concerns of the citizens of this little town.
(Does sarcasm work on the Internet?)

Good to see that a well organised and ruthless protection racket – AKA the CFMEU – runs this town. What a fascinating if odd coalition of soy chai latte sippers and standover men make up the local ALP.

Well, it does sound like some of those powers are a bit draconian. Is there a good reason as to why the commission would need them? It’s only Building and Construction surely?

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