Kim found, racing to the bottom
 | Posted by The Editor on Friday 15 September 2006, 7:53 am Categories: Politics Tags: Tags: AmandaVanstone, Australia, immigration, IR, JohnHoward, KimBeazley, Labor, Liberal, MiddleAustralia, racism, values, WorkChoices, xenophobia |
After being reported missing yesterday Kim Beazley has been sighted on the opinion pages of The Age. Accusing Amanda Vanstone of distracting attention from work visa issues by calling him a racist, Kim does the same, distracting attention from his being called a racist by focusing on work visa issues. Apparently it’s a race to the bottom in the brave new world of WorkChoices — and I can’t much argue with that.
So some ticks for Kim’s efforts to turn the debate around and have it on his terms, but some crosses for his continued oversimplification of the IR debate with lines such as this:
And in the end, this is not about xenophobia or rogue bosses — this is all about the Prime Minister’s wages race to the bottom. Labor will halt the race to the bottom by ripping up the mechanism that allows it — Australian Workplace Agreements.
And Kim even found the space in his article for an opportunistic plug for his pathetic and xenophobic values pledge policy:
But I am strongly of the view that workers who come to Australia should understand the Aussie work ethic, and a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.
It’s one of the reasons I want these workers to sign up to these values when they come to Australia.
But most offensive is Kim’s ongoing pursuit of mediocrity, with his continued pitching of all policy to “middle Australia.” The article was bookended with claims that John Howard and WorkChoices are “delivering a one-two punch to middle Australia.” Can’t really argue with that, but I’d like to think that a Labor government would govern for all Australians, not just the middle, with a vision for greatness, not ordinariness.
GrodsThink Ep.29 (26/8/08)
Friday 15 September 2006, 11:32 am #billybob
I’m sorry, but I really need to say something and I think this blog is the perfect audience to state some Beazley like sweeping generalisations.
Firstly can someone please explain what the Aussie work ethic is? My believe is that this statement is based on the 1950s immigrants from the Med, who to quote Starship, ‘built this city’. It is not based on the current 25-40 year olds that I come across, who all seem to be in Marketing and work a 25-hour week. Added to this, the ‘true’ hard workers of this tax paying generation all seem to be ‘new’ immigrants, (last 15 years or so). Regardless of whether they have ticked a declaration to work hard, speak English and pour beer onto their onions on the BBQ, these are now the people many Australians rely on to get through their daily life. I for one require my local 7-11 to be open when I fall out of my taxi at three in the morning after falling in love with the barmaid.
Secondly, are there any stats on the pension issue that is set to cripple Australia in about 40 years time? That is, what happens when the declining birth rate become tax payers and can’t support the healthy, non-smoking retired Marketing Execs? God knows they ‘have a lot of stress’ what with trying to fit in a workout and spa between dinner and a movie. Lucky they have those four weeks of annual leave so that they can jet off and get some me time away from their $1.25 million house.
Where is middle Australia? I know who they are in theory, but I look through the real estate prices and think is middle Australia really where people think it is. Look at the number of restaurants and bars there are. They all seem to be full, even on a Tuesday night… Booking is not an option.
Last point is that I think, possibly because I read things sporadically, that people are confused between two issues; Immigration and Terrorism. Can I please stress that they are unrelated. Now, a bigger discussion, (for another time), is on ID cards and a central or linked system of databases. I have a strong suspicion that my views differ from The Ed’s on this, but that might be something we can mytube another time?
Thursday 21 September 2006, 12:10 pm #Peter
It’s easy to work out the “Aussie Work Ethic” and “Aussie Values” -It’s all those things that are “Australian” as opposed to “Un-Australian”.
Now if only I could work out what that means…
Friday 22 September 2006, 11:23 am #billybob
Some people seem to be breaking it down to ‘Muslim’ or ‘Other’, a bit like supporting ‘Melbourne Victory’ or ‘Other’