Thought-Factory.net Philosophical Conversations Public Opinion philosophy.com Junk for code
parliament house.gif
RECENT ENTRIES
SEARCH
ARCHIVES
Commentary
Media
Think Tanks
Oz Blogs
Economic Blogs
Foreign Policy Blogs
International Blogs
Media Blogs
South Australian Weblogs
Economic Resources
Environment Links
Political Resources
Cartoons
South Australian Links
Other
www.thought-factory.net
"...public opinion deserves to be respected as well as despised" G.W.F. Hegel, 'Philosophy of Right'

Workchoices: street advert « Previous | |Next »
September 8, 2007

Well I know where I stand. WorkChoices is a big turn off as it impacts too heavily on the poorly paid and so is unfair and inequitable. It works in favour of the more highly paid and skilled.

WilliamSt.jpg
Gary Sauer-Thompson, William Street, Melbourne, 2007

The big business advert campaign made no difference to where I stand. It reinforced my stand if anything. My mind is made up. Howard has gone too far in the name of flexibility.

That response to the advert indicates the failure of the Government's advertising blitz.

I note that an survey of the Government's and Big Business Work Choices advertising conducted for the ACTU indicates this advertising has been largely ineffectual: Only they had either made no difference to their views(44%) or made them feel less favourable (33%). Only 17% of respondents said the adverts had made them more favourable to the government's industrial relations laws.

That is significant as the use of taxpayer funded advertising by the government has failed to deliver votes –even though that advertising is probably the greatest electoral benefit of incumbency, especially with the current government. They used it to great effect in the last two elections. Today however, the advertising blitz works in Labor's favour as they own the issue. When the PM , Hockey or big business talk about Workchoices, they simply reinforce existing voter views that are detrimental to the Coalitions electoral prospects. That’s been reflected in the polls.

The attempt to demonise trade unions and their leaders falls flat. Union leaders whom Howard likes to characterise always as "bosses" are actually elected by their members and accountable to them, quite unlike the real bosses in the workplace who exercise real power that is sometimes absolute, seldom accountable and never democratic.


| Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at 11:39 AM | | Comments (5)
Comments

Comments

Funny.
Thought you might have proceeded from here to outline the nasty rap on the knuckles the government received from Federal Court Justice Catherine Branson over government coercion instigated within the Public Service, concerning harrassment of workers taking time of to protest against "W.........s" IR.
Significant and a sort of IR version of the Spender,J on Haneef smack, especially if you place this against the tens of $millions of OUR money wasted on the putrid Barbara Bennett adds reassuring us how 'they' protect us from persecution to the exclusion of any thing else. Particularly when Hockey is said to be contemplating an appeal.

Paul,
yes. The ruling by the Federal Court this week that federal departments were wrong to have refused leave to employees wanting to take part in a national day of protest over WorkChoices legislation in 2005 was yest another reminder of the attempts under the Howard Government to thwart public protest and demonstrations.

i think john howard is the best prime minister australia has ever had i trust him more than i do mr.rudd he has my vote.

Paul,
the attempt to demonize the unions falls flat. the Australian public has rushed to disown unions.

Quite the contrary. Many Australians know only too well that all the hard-earned gains of the workforce, dating back to the eight-hour day, paid holiday leave, paid sick leave, minimum wages and even basic safety requirements have never come from some spontaneous generosity of the employer but have been won through often arduous and bloody struggle by unions on behalf of the workers.

Paul,
The ironically named WorkChoices strips away most vestiges of fairness in the workplace, and it puts Howard fair and square in the court of the real bosses, about whom Australians generally have a sneering disregard.