On today's decision by the Australian Fair Pay Commission to freeze minimum wages, Chairman and Professor Emeritus Ian Harper said -

“This is not the time to risk the jobs of low paid Australians by increasing minimum wages.  The social consequences of extended joblessness, especially for families, are considerable and well-known.  The Commission ( Read more... )

Now we’re in trouble - the war without a reason
Flags lay in tatters - the end of huntin’ season
Outside the country is drying up and bleeding
I’m in my bedroom trying to fight the noise in my head

Short term government policy is shooting three "pirates" to save a ship's captain held hostage for $$$.  Long term policy is addressing the rampant poverty ( Read more... )

first they lifted western australia's ban on uranium mining. $$$

then they suggested that the western australian ban on old growth forest logging should be reconsidered. $$$

this morning, the Premier suggested that Western Australia should not commit to any global carbon emissions scheme due to unfair cost. $$$

ladies and gentlemen, i give you the ( Read more... )

"I'll vote for him cos he's black."
"I'll vote for him cos he fought in a war and just knows stuff"
"I'll vote for him cos he'll keep gay marriage out of our lives"
"I'll vote for him so I can deliver my sermons at church without being accused of hate speech." 
So ummmm... to the policies...

I will stop, I will stop at nothing.
Say the right things when ( Read more... )

as evidenced
here
here
and
here.

It is a strange day today.

The sound of helicopters, the movement of police vehicles and faces pushed against office windows.

All because US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is passing along King's Park Road in a government vehicle.

Perth, I can hear duelling banjos playing off in the distance.
 ter

"We have two hundred couches where you can sleep tight"

Tibet.
Olympic torches.
rent a crowd on the high ground.
As long as it's popularist it's ok for celebrities to support.
Anger confusion between government and race.
Find Tibet on a map.
ask a stranger to find Tibet on a map.
ask a protester what Tibet has in the way of economy and resources.
ask them ( Read more... )

... would be an awkward event.

Citizens of Australia! 
Your tax dollars and voting ballots have been working particularly hard (as the following Senate Estimates Committee exchange proves)!

Senator Faulkner-I have seen, I believe, some press speculation about this. I think the Prime Minister, in fact, has commented that the Rudd family has restrained ( Read more... )

Suitcase packed on the side of the road
Rainin’ down from my head to my feet
It seems so strange in the back of my heart
That these sounds were never meant to believe

I’m set free and I’m ready to go
You can’t stop me and you already know
The best days of our lives have yet to come

Two times back again this is really startin’ to grow old
Two times back ( Read more... )