Jacqui Burke Out of Line

@Sepi: “Australia lags behind the rest of the world in maternity leave conditions.”

I’m sure the mother of my children will be green with envy of the maternity leave conditions in Sudan or Romania. Maybe you mean the developed\first world?

how is this for a bit of warm fuzzy logic. If you can’t afford it, Don’t do it? Life is much more pleasant when you live within your means not above. I don’t have an issue with a caretaker parent who goes back to work once a child starts full time schooling, but I believe a child should be raised by at least one of its parents in its formative years. Otherwise as stated it is completely irresponsible.

I’m sorry AD, but in case you hadn’t noticed, most of us have a mortgage and bills coming out of our yaya’s and the only way to manage that is to work and manage child and fmaily responsiblities mutually, back to the cave with you too.

if you have child one parent should be made to stay at home and take responsibility for their actions. However I don’t care which it is. If you have a child then both parents I think that is completely irresponsible and selfish behaviour. If you didn’t want to raise it you shouldn’t of had it in the first place.

If ACT Ministers stayed home permanently the life of the average Territorian would improve 25%

And you are a tool. do you expect that if a woman decides to have kids, then she has no right to work? and that if she chooses to work, then her husband/partner also shares some of the burden of taking care of the family?

Grab your missus by the hair and drag her back to the cave ugggg

Nah,
Jacqui is out of her depth – even in toy town politics that is the Assembly. She probably wouldn’t do much of a better job running a school canteen.

Prior to the assembly, she used to love a Chardy and Cheetah jackets, need I say more!

Everything Katy touches goes arse-up – however, she seems to have the knack of getting out (up the duff?) before some other pidgeon has to clean up the mess . . . eg health (Corbell), education (Barr – yes, one can even feel sorry for him in this context). She’s just incompetent, pure and simple. How does she get voted in again and again?

Well I hear what ant is saying: This woman decided to do a maternal thing and get herself knocked-up. Why should the rest of society pay?

Fair enough. I’ll remember that next time I get a broken leg skiing and wont demand to be evaced to a hospital.

Ant the only way to stop it is to vote against it. Being a member of a working family is hard and assistance is appreciated, but it is a choice.

I hope that old people appreciate that I scrimped and saved to pay extra tax to send my kids to a school that they will get a good education and that I took time to make sure that they are ambitious contributors to society.

Because my kids are going to look after you when you are old and vulerable, unable to work hard and requiring that specialist medical procedure. They are also the ones that will go to university and develop the technologies that will clean up your environmental vandalism.

I hope I do a good job

I think the point was made fairly clear that it’s a *choice*, sepi.

ant young people take lots of hangover related sickies that working women generally don’t. And older workers take more sick leave etc too paid for your taxes.

It’s a time of life thing. And if you are lucky enough never to need any time off then great. You will probably get more promotions out of being there all the time.

Loud and clear, Ant.

And I agree.

So make sure you *really* enjoy your next sickie 🙂

Looks like she IS part time, but drawing full time pay. But she’s a WORKING FAMILIES and so is sacred and special. I am so happy to give them all my taxes.

I love working with WORKING FAMILIES so I can help them achieve work life balance by shouldering their duties on the days they don’t work, and the things that need sorting out when they’re not there. And then they get my taxes too! I wonder what else I can do for WORKING FAMILIES.

Referring back to VicePopes comments re ‘really small’ starts.
I’m very involved with the application of motor vehicle registration regulations as they are applied Australia wide. The Feds sit down with the States and come up with a concensus, but the States (and Territories) then apply this concensus in ways unimaginable.

This of course means that individuals in diferent states have quite diferent hurdles to cross to achieve registration of their projects. As an aside, Queensland live up to their ten years and one hour behind the rest of Australia tag.

Simply a case of state authorities exercising their power to display a ‘holier than thou’ regime to vehicle registration.

Bring on the Republic!

I suspect kate’s council functions actually worked better in her absence. Sometimes the kiddies behind the scenes get things done better witout the the presence of an incompetent.

Presumably the ACT PS has at least 12 weeks paid maternity leave (some of the Fed PS has 14 weeks now).

So Katy must have come to an agreement that she would return early, yet keep her baby with her for some period longer than the 12 weeks she would have got if she stayed home.

60% of women don’t get any maternity leave, and return to work earlier than 12 weeks.

Australia lags behind the rest of the world in maternity leave conditions. I’m still not sure what I think of Katy’s solution. But her boss must feel it is working, or they would not have agreed, as apparently she did this with her last baby also.

I did not think it possible, but I may have to agree with TheTruth that the states are past their use by date. The borders made historical sense a long time ago, but now make none at all. We wind up with eight collections of people who are mostly blathering drones.

I’d be inclined to knock them out. It would be as simple as continuing and increasing the present fiscal imbalance so they have to get out of some activities, which the Commonwealth can take over. Where they won’t vacate a field, create (under whatever constitution ploy seems most likely) a Commonwealth entity to do the function better or more cheaply. Some good starts would be hospitals, schools, universities, law and justice. If one wanted to start really small, registration functions – births, deaths, marriages, vehicles, business approvals.

As its power grows, the Commonwealth could regionalise some functions on rational lines, hand them local government roles and maybe create a mechanism for light political accountability for these neo-states.

On a not-entirely-unrelated issue, does anyone really think the ACT would be at least as well off if our local government was limited to Polly A who opens fetes and makes speeches, Polly B who participates in Commonwealth/State/Territory fora and Polly C who signs contracts with the Commonwealth, state governments and the private sector for police, schools, hospitals and garbage collection etc? They’d need a small secretariat to stop them saying or doing anything too stupid. With a market, we could set the standards that have to be achieved (or we would go elsewhere). We would gain advantages of scale and we could expect to see resources pushed to service delivery, rather than more clerks.

I reckon Jaqui had a point – how can anyone be effective in their job with their 8 week old baby in their lap? It’s bloody madness.
Katy supposedly said that she saw herself as a role model for other women.. God help the women who work for her – are they all now expected to return to work with their 8 week olds? Surely 12 weeks at home with your newborn is the least time that anyone should spend – nobody is so indispensable that they can’t have that much time – or is Katy afraid that her absence would not be noticed? If work is so important to you hold off on the reproduction until you can give the child the attention it deserves.

I am of the opinion that we do away with state government as we know them.

I reckon that we expand the senators from each state to 30 and 15 for the territories. They then become the state government (the 30 / 15) form the government choose the premier become the state ministers.
that would save a bucket load of duplication, brings the states to the table in negotiations re health and result in less politicians.

It means that the senate would become the states house as members would have to justify their actions to their state constituents rather than pure party lines

The more I read and hear about this little storm-in-a-teacup the more I’m convinced that women and babies don’t mix with council duties.

In fact, can women really hack the pace of sitting on the town council?

They’re prone to these little hissy cat fights; they have emotional days periodically; they seem to have a need to battle an inferiority complex by pulling stunts like the ex-skier in Victoria who ‘bravely’ breast-fed in the parliament.

We have enough hacks here with some of the blokes without dragging things down further with sheilas making up the numbers and being ‘bright progressive young things’.

Town councils don’t need this rubbish.

There’s certainly a place, though, in real government (federal), for talented women with life experience.

As long as they have the steel like Dame Maggie Thatcher.

Catey – precisely. Hence my wish for an Old Codgers Party, or whatever. I remain to be convinced that the current system produces a better quality legislature than would a random selection (as for jury duty) or a shpper docket scheme. The local ALP can be characterised mostly as a pathetic bunch of factional hacks. The local Libs are pretty much front people for the real estate community and some of the more aggressive end of the business market. The people who rise to the top are precisely the people one would not want.

I’m not sure of the context of Jacqui Burke’s remarks and the comments to date left me even more confused, but my initial response was outrage. women work so hard to convince workplaces that we are committed to the job but we are also committed to our families and for a certain period that family commitment takes a form where we need to be “on call” during the day. When I first heard Katy Gallagher was able to go back to work by keeping her bub in the office with her, I thought wow, how lucky is she to be a boss in her office and able to do that -there aren’t many who have that luxury to take their baby to work in the early months. when you’re baby is young, they sleep a lot so you can get a lot of work done and then take short breaks to breastfeed. its when they get a bit older that they are more time-intensive and trying to get your work done and be on-call full-time becomes less managable. I’m sure she’ll have to make some changes to her arrangements as bub grows.
now, if what Ms Burke meant was Ms Gallagher’s attitude to her portfolios and her Stanhope-esque approach to taking the glory when things go well and blame-shifting when they don’t, then fine, I agree – what a record Ms Gallagher and pals have had lately. can I just remind everyone about putting in pay parking and then pulling it out again at an overall loss – money that could have been better invested into the health portfolio in the first place?
could we find some pollies that actually know what they’re doing – maybe that could feature in the “Live in Canberra” advertising in future?

I enjoy any discussion that reflects adversely on the quality of the ACT Legislative Assembly. Trying to assemble a dream team is like trying to find the cutest animals in a zoo populated only by cockroaches, blowflies and mosquitoes.

If you owned a business, and were looking for executive talent to pay out of your own pocket, how many of them would you pick up? Of the current lot, possibly Stanhope, Barr and Mulcahy – if there was nothing better from the nearest Job Network provider. Previously, you could have made a case for Kate Carnell, Rosemary Follett and Terry Connolly. Not a good case, though. Kerry Tucker ran a good-enough minor party show and Michael Moore showed that he was capable at both the parish pump stuff and the bigger things. But, while I’d be happy to spend other people’s money on them, I would not part with my own.

On the other hand, there have been so many hopeless duds from the time of the first assembly, even until now (Burke, Porter, Gentleman, Dunne, Pratt, Smyth, Hargreaves, Berry are probably the most outstanding duds at present in a packed field). The major parties continue to select them, and we continue to vote for them or for someone as bad from a minor party (Deb Foskey, come on down!).

Bring on the Grumpy Old Persons party. Anyone who has run a serious Commonwealth or ACT agency or had a proper professional or community sector career and who is prepared to be sceptical and hard nosed.

A very shallow pool.

He is a question:

After about 20 yrs of history nominate a dream team ACT cabinet

Chief Minister
Treasurer
Attorney – General
Planning
Health
Education

Jonathon reynolds is a card caryying Liberal in diguise. He has been asked to stand as a Liberal in Molonglo. Of course he is going to toe the party toe rag line.

Shame on you Jonathon for attacking working mums. I will remind Gungahlin residents about what you support come election time.

Any female Prime Ministeral candidate would have teenage children and no intention of any more, or at least have declared themselves ‘deliberately barren’ (thanks Bill)

Well certainly not Pratt, his name says it all.

I agree Barr seems a good operator who keeps getting thrown to the lions on issues.

Smyth has been around the blcok, but doesn’t command any respoect from his Peers.

Zed, Vicki, Mulcahy all out for themselves.

McDonald, well can’t say anything about nothing can we?

Gentleman again limited in his chances to do anything. Mary Porter same.

Most talented….I’d say Mulcahy for Libs and Barr for ALP.

@thetruth

Your Answer:
Wayne Berry

Jacqui – incompetent out of her depth
Katey – ditto
Bill – ditto (but his)
Stanhope – ditto to Bill but +++++++++++++++
Pratt – Ditto to Bill
Simon – ditto to his conrade (no typo)

The rest are not even worth it.

Who would get the vote as the most talented MLA?

I wonder if Ms Burke was considered a part-time Opposition Spokesperson, earlier this year, for all that time she took off when she, thank god, lost her voice.

I quite like the articles to have a bit of personality/opinion. You can always disagree in the comments.

I’m not liking the Greens whirling ad though.

“….working families…”

This whine sounds like it is read from a krudd script.

Very well and good, but we could at least try and make the report itself even -slightly- objective, and then perhaps leave comment (political or otherwise) in the Comments section, unless we get the pleasure of the Ed giving an Editorial?

Headline is “Minister defends baby on board”, but the quotes printed don’t actually seem to relate to children, motherhood, or anything more than questioning her abilities. Which should always be a valid question of someone claiming responsibility, especially if they seem to have an idea that they have ministerial responsibilty only part of the time.
Possibly KG is just a bit sensitive about the “I’m competent at work and as a mum” issue?

Re: Magoo@1202, you can believe whatever you like, I won’t stop you, but kooks remain kooks. (Technically, we are within a year of the ACT election, falling Saturday 19October in 2008).
Hansard when published will show exactly what was said in its entirety and in original context.

The whole things seems like a non-issue & attempt to win sympathy for Katie Gallagher, Minister for Something Different Today.

PS: Why assume I vote ACT Liberal -or- ACT Labor, given track records?
Assumption will make an ass out of u and mption.

Boomacat, you can’t have policies if you don’t actually know who woudl enact them? I mean who know’s who’ll be on the Liberal front bench weeks from now, its just about time for another spat.

b2 – why not, they seem to have won every other project of late.

question: what if we had a female prime minister and she had a baby mid-term. Would it be acceptable for her to take maternity leave, and on returning to work bring her baby? What if there was some major crisis or something. Is every job mother-child friendly?

sepi, I like your plan. Maybe Village Building should get involved…

Here’s a plan – put the dragway at lawson on the contaminated ground, and build lots of small houses all around it – they’ll be super affordable.

If there was such demand for a dragway surely a private operator would have built one by now?

Perhaps it’s just a small bunch of loud bogans, from whom the Liberals think it will be easy to buy votes.

Maybe if they had any real policies they wouldn’t need to rely on these desperate tactics?

So Thumper next you’ll be telling me Canberra needs a Dragway too.

Thankyou boomacat.

The local Liberals are a farce. Their incompetence managed to deliver the Labor party the first majority government in the history of the Assembly. No one is listening to them. They need to quit with this ridiculous right wing hysterical bolllocks, dump these luney duds and get real if they ever hope to see government again.

I think MrMagoo IS Katy Gallagher!

Skid

Kook or not mate, my opinion is based on what I believed was an outrageous attack on someone for being a mother. it owuld be akin to a parent of a student at my wife’s school accusing my wife of only teaching part time because she is a mother too. Last time I noticed it is a Federal Election year, ACT is next year mate and your mates within the Liberal Party have until then to get their own house in order so that they can put a viable alternative forward.

I am by no means a fan of the current ACT Labor Govt in all the things they do, but please oh please don’t tell me you would rather see Bill Stefaniak represent the interests of this Territory at COAG etc?

LOL at Spitfire, that’s what happens when you let a blind man type.

Mr Evil, Sonic sits in the middle with no protection from either faction and it is only a matter of time before either of the factions has had enough of him. so answer to your question is no, not joking at all.

Why does an election year draw out all the kooks?
Way to force through opinion as an alleged news item, though.
Who is moderating, and are they the same one who lets through the rants about ‘overpriced’ pizzas?

Am I the only one rolling on the floor at MrMagoo’s brilliant new phrase “intestical fortitude”?

I have nothing worthwhile to add that’s actually relevant to the topic at hand, by the way. Sorry.

“I would say that Katy Gallagher’s portfolio moves relate more to a Chief Minister who is threatened by someone who eventually will oust him as Leader. Stanhope moves her around to take the limelight of someone who runs rings around him.”

You’re joking, right?

I would say that Katy Gallagher’s portfolio moves relate more to a Chief Minister who is threatened by someone who eventually will oust him as Leader. Stanhope moves her around to take the limelight of someone who runs rings around him.

Sepi,you are thinking of Jacqui Kelly, former Federal Sports Minister

The question of a minister taking her baby to work while on full pay is an interesting one. I would feel more comfortable with the situation if Katy were paying a nanny to assist and accompany her at work.

Typing with one hand while jiggling the baby may be better than doing nothing, but it is not 100% capacity. Presumably though, this is a short term situation, and the baby will go to daycare once she is a little older.

Liberal Minister Jacqui What’s-er-name (ex-airforce, went on dancing with the stars) had to publically apologise after it came out that she was getting her parliamentary staff to mind her baby at the office a few years ago.

@MrMagoo:

I agree with Jacqui’s comment (when taken in the proper context of which it was made) – Katy Gallagher is effectively a part time minister, not because she is off on maternity leave, but because she only wants to be recognised for the “parts” that she wants, the parts that put her in a favorable light, and never the parts that show her to be an incompetent and ineffectual minister.

The problem is that Katy Gallagher wants to hold the office of Minister, yet never is never responsible nor accountable for anything that occurs in her portfolios.

This is the minister that denied responsibility for what happened to disabled persons under care of her portfolio at the time (Which ultimately resulted in the Vardon report: Review of the Safety of Children in Care in the ACT), this is the same minister who infamously stated that she was only responsible for public schools not private schools when she was the Education minister. The same minister that was well aware of sham consultation on school closures. And this is the same Minister that continues to attempt to put a positive spin on health issues when it is clear that she doesn’t have a clue and nothing is actually being done to address them.

In fact every time something severely negative occurs in a portfolio that Katy is responsible for there just happens to be a change of ministry miraculously in an attempt to keep her image squeaky clean or the Chief Minister intervenes …

To the credit of Jacqui, even when she had her bout of palsy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palsy) that affected her voice she was still there 100% of the time doing her job.

I see in further media reporting today that Mrs Burke is claiming she was misrepresented. Sorry Jacqui, but you accuse someone of being part time and you attack them on their return from Maternity Leave while still caring for a child, how do you think it should be represented? Instead of attacking someone for being a working mother, try offering the Electorate an alternative….oh that’s right, the Liberals in the ACt are too busy stabbing each other in the back as well. One can only be happy she had the intestical fortitude to attack Ms Gallagher to her face, albeit in the chamber under Parliamentary Privilaged

Yep, Katy was useless before she became a Mum too, so using motherhood as a defence is pretty weak.

How many portfolio areas has she stuffed up already while she’s been in office, and now she’s doing such an awesome job in health!

I always got the feeling Jacqui was the ‘Minister irresponsible for’

I wouldn’t have said part-time, just useless.