The Australian Worker Magazine Issue 1 2009

ISSUE 1 2009 $4.50 (INC GST)

ISBN 978-186396379-4

WORKERS AROUND THE WORLD HELP OUR BUSHFIRE VICTIMS

in the line of fi re

Testing times Unions in a changing world

Postcard from Rosebery

Cannibals, convicts and miners

Julia GillardQuestion time for the Deputy

INSIDE THE 2009 AWU NATIONAL CONFERENCE – YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE

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www.awu.net.au theaustralianworker 3

contents Issue 1 – 2009

AWU EDITOR Paul Howes, AWU National SecretaryAWU NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS CO-ORDINATOR Andrew Casey AWU NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICERHenry Armstrong

Address: Level 10, 377-383 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000 e: [email protected] www.awu.net.au Telephone: (02) 8005 3333 Facsimile: (02) 8005 3300

ACP Magazines Ltd Publishing EDITOR Kyle Rankin ART DIRECTOR Wayne Allen DESIGNERHelen MacDougallSUB-EDITOR Kate BarberPRODUCTION SERVICES Kate FoxPREPRESS SUPERVISOR Klaus MullerPUBLISHING DIRECTOR Phil Scott PUBLISHER Gerry ReynoldsPUBLISHING MANAGER Nicola O’Hanlon

Published for The Australian Workers’ Union (ABN 28 853 022 982) by ACP Magazines Ltd (ACN 18 053 273 546), 54-58 Park St, Sydney NSW 2000. © 2009. All rights reserved. Printed by PMP, Clayton, Vic 3168 and cover printed by Energi Print, Murrumbeena, Vic 3163. Distributed by Network Services, 54 Park Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. Articles published in The Australian Worker express the opinion of the authors and not necessarily ACP Magazines Ltd. While all efforts have been made to ensure prices and details are correct at time of printing, these are subject to change.

Features 06 AWU: UNITED WE STAND The terrible sadness and loss caused by the Victorian

bushfi res has devastated many families and entire communities. But if one good thing emerged, it was the unity, strength and compassion of workers around the world.

08 DUSTY TRAIL Asbestos has a dark history, but now there is a glimmer

of hope that the evil dust’s victims have not died in vain.

12 CONVICTS, CANNIBALS & MINERS In the misty rainforest country of northwest Tasmania, the

mining town of Rosebery has a colourful past.

16 MEET THE DEPUTY Julia Gillard has a formidable reputation – especially

among Opposition MPs – but the Deputy PM also has a top sense of humour and a big heart.

20 TESTING TIMES As redundancies spread beyond the fi nance sector, 2009

will be challenging for workers and their unions. But there are glimpses of hope amid the chaos.

25 AWU NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2009 PULLOUT The resolutions, the speeches and all the action – your

complete guide to this important event.

46 OUR VOICE FOR THE FUTURE AWU National Secretary Paul Howes has been elected

Vice-President of the ACTU – Australia’s peak union body.

50 TURNBULL AT A GATE What is it about Malcolm? Bob Ellis has a theory!

52 WHERE THERE’S A WILL, THERE’S A WAY Top shearer, AWU legend and Labor icon Mick Young

passed away too young, but he left a wonderful legacy.

56 SPRAY IT OUT LOUD Political dissidents have always used graffi ti. Now there’s

a new wave of graffi ti in the form of spectacular murals.

60 JUNGLE WARFARE Something is happening to grey, drab urban areas. And it’s

thanks to “faceless” folk with a passion for gardening!

RegularsP04 National Opinion P48 Meet the Delegates/Offi cials P65 Kids’ Page P66 Grumpy Bastard

PRIVACY NOTICE This issue of The Australian Worker may contain offers, competitions, or surveys which require you to provide information about yourself if you choose to enter or take part in them (Reader Offer). If you provide information about yourself to ACP Magazines Ltd (ACP), ACP will use this information to provide you with the products or services you have requested, and may supply your information to contractors that help ACP to do this. ACP will also use your information to inform you of other ACP publications, products, services and events. ACP may also give your information to organisations that are providing special prizes or offers and that are clearly associated with the Reader Offer. Unless you tell us not to, we may give your information to other organisations that may use it to inform you about other products, services or events or to give to other organisations that may use it for this purpose. If you would like to gain access to the information ACP holds about you, please contact ACP’s Privacy Offi cer at ACP Magazines Ltd, 54-58 Park Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000. Cover photo: Fairfax Photos

AWU18_p01_FINAL_Cover.indd 1 19/02/2009 4:22:21 PM

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4 theaustralianworker www.awu.net.au

WU Delegates met at the

2009 National Conference

at a crucial time in the

history of our country and

a turning point of our

planet. The global economy is facing a crisis, the

size and enormity of which has not been seen since

the “Great Depression”. At the same time, new

federal workplace laws are being introduced that

will restore fairness and balance in the workplace.

We are also having to grapple with the science of

climate change and, as a consequence, the policy

changes and decisions that will disproportionately

impact on AWU jobs and industries, when

compared with the rest of union movement.

While the global fi nancial crisis has had an

impact on the whole economy, the pain has been

felt acutely in the mining sector of Queensland,

which has seen many jobs lost. Most workers who

have lost positions are non-permanent contract

staff. Where permanent positions have been lost,

these have been in companies where the workers

are not protected by union collective agreements,

and where companies have done everything in

their power to force workers onto individual

contracts and lock union organisers out. In the

companies where the AWU members are protected

by union agreements and the companies have

taken a less hostile approach, the majority of

members’ jobs have been protected, and

companies have consulted appropriately. To

protect AWU members’ interests, the Union is

also participating in the tripartite Queensland

Mining Industry Working Group.

We are the future

w NATIONAL OPINION

A

“We need to do everything

we can to protect AWU

jobs that will be impacted across

the nation.”

However, we need to have a national approach to this crisis. We need to do

everything to protect AWU jobs that will be impacted across the country, not just

in one state. 2009 will also see the introduction of new workplace laws and the

end of the Howard era in workplaces across the nation. The Fair Work Bill, when

enacted, will provide the AWU with an opportunity to have access to workers and

represent members where the previous anti-worker, WorkChoices laws sought

to remove union involvement. These new laws will ensure that the rights of

Delegates and workers will be protected by law. The new laws, as currently

drafted, will also ensure that employers are required to recognise the will of the

workforce where the majority want a union collective agreement.

We have learnt that while having a Federal Labor Government that is less

hostile towards unions helps make life a little easier, it is up to us to take

responsibility for our own working conditions. The new workplace laws will come

into effect in a gloomy economic environment. These economic circumstances

will have serious implications for many workers and their families.

The 2009 National Conference provided all of us with the forum where we

could discuss and plan for the opportunities the new legislative environment

would provide us with in the future. Growth in membership must always be

a consideration. We must continue to maintain high densities in our existing

workplaces and build our membership in those workplaces in appropriate

industries. Recently in Queensland, we have managed to unionise workplaces

where companies have used methods of intimidation and individual contracts

to create barriers to people joining the Union. The best example of this is

at one workplace in central Queensland where workers are joining the

Union after nearly two decades of that workplace being non-union.

Another issue we need to face is the science of climate change and the

impact the introduction of an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will have on

AWU members. It is essential that we continue to question the policies of

Government to ensure that we do not acquiesce the “knee jerk” strategy being

pushed by different lobby groups nationally and globally. We need to make sure

that AWU members are not disadvantaged by having their jobs moved to other

nations where working conditions are inferior and companies are not required

to comply with the rigorous standards that may be introduced in this country.

I am confi dent that we are in the best position to take on these challenges.

Bill Ludwig National PresidentQueensland Branch Secretary

Richard DownieNewcastle Branch SecretaryAW

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Russ CollisonGreater NSW Branch Secretary

Andy GillespiePort Kembla Branch Secretary

Cesar MelhemVictorian Branch Secretary


he more than 300 delegates

and observers who attended

our National Conference at the

start of the year left knowing

that the Australian Workers’

Union has a plan to survive and grow – despite the

hard economic times we are now going through.

Our fi rst priority is to protect AWU members from

this tsunami of a global fi nancial crisis!

Every Organiser and Delegate who attended the

conference knows that we have a plan and are

committed to working with government, at all levels,

as well as employers to fi nd ways to keep our

people in jobs. Our plan, adopted at the conference,

to lobby the federal government for big spending on

infrastructure has already started to pay off.

We will continue to push for governments and

corporations to ensure that, wherever possible,

Australian content – like our good steel and top

quality aluminium – are used in contracts for new

infrastructure construction.

That’s the way to keep AWU jobs alive.

Within days of the national conference ending,

the Union faced a tragic crisis. The Victorian

bushfi res put more than 2000 members and their

families in the line of fi re. The area that the fi res

covered has a special meaning for the AWU

because this is our heartland; this is the land of our

origins, in this part of Victoria our great union fi rst

started to take form in 1886.

At least 20 AWU members have lost their homes

and personal property. And, as I write this, we

expect to be told about more members who have

faced the brunt of these fi erce fi res in Victoria.

Loyalty, mateship and the AWU

TWe are keen to support these members of the AWU family though this

period. So far, the Union has raised over $150,000 to support fi nancial

members and will hand out at least $5000 to each fi nancial member affected

by the fi res who lost their home.

In workplaces across Australia AWU Organisers and Delegates have passed

the hat around so that we can continue to raise more money for the victims.

The Union believes all of our 135,000 plus are members of one great AWU

family – and the way that many members have put their hands into their own

pockets to help out proves that this is not mere words.

But it is not just money that is needed right now. There is also a need for just

plain old-fashioned mateship through times which will be tough over the next

few months.

And I can promise that our people will be available on the ground to keep

showing the loyal mateship and emotional support for these members of our

AWU family whenever we are needed.

Paul Howes National Secretary

Ian Wakefi eldTasmanian Branch Secretary

Wayne HansonGreater SA Branch Secretary

Graham HallWhyalla Branch Secretary

Stephen PriceWest Australian Branch Secretary

Norman McBrideTobacco Branch Secretary

Post your letters to: The Editor, The Australian Worker, Level 10, 377-383 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Or email them to: [email protected]

“The Union believes all of our 135,000 plus are members of one

great AWU family.”

PHOT

O GE

TTY

IMAG

ES

Above: A Country Fire Authority (CFA) fi re crew douses hotspots in a tree stump on the edge of Healesville, some 65 kilometres north of Melbourne, as fi refi ghters battle to save communities threatened by “an inland tsunami” of wildfi re that has claimed 173 lives.


BUSHFIRE TRAGEDY

It has been called Australia’s worst peace time crisis. The loss of lives, homes and livelihoods was shocking. But, with typical mateship that built the AWU, members came to the fore – along with their friends in the global trade union movement. WRITTEN BY KATE BARBER PHOTOS AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION/GETTY IMAGES

hen February�s tragic bushÞ res swept through Victoria, claiming over 181 lives, destroying 1831 homes � with these numbers expected to rise

� and wiping out entire towns, members of the AWU banded together like a family. Nearly 1000 AWU members were out in force trying to protect Victorian communities in the face of the worst bushÞ res in the history of the state.

�Members working for the Department of Sustainability and the Environment, Parks Victoria, the Department of Primary Industries, and construction crews on the North-South Pipeline put in heroic eff orts Þ ghting the Þ res,� said AWU Victorian Branch Secretary, Cesar

AWU: united

“Our Union traces our proud history

back to this part of Victoria where we formed in 1886.

We will make a special effort to

support Union members through

this crisis.”

Would you like to help your AWU mates?• To register spare accommodation for the bushfi re homeless, call the Victorian Bushfi re Accommodation Donation Line on 1800 006 468.• To donate to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfi re Fund, visit www.redcross.org.au or call 1800 811 700.

IthAu

Melhem. Heeding the call for donations to help the victims who�d lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods, in just a few days the AWU had raised more than $150,000. The donations came from the National Offi ce ($25,000), the Victorian Branch ($25,000), the Queensland Branch ($25,000 plus another $10,000 by passing a hat around the Branch staff ), Greater NSW Branch ($10,000), Port Kembla Branch ($10,000) and Newcastle Branch ($5000 and $1000 from a staff collection), Tasmanian Branch ($5000), Great South Australian Branch ($7500), Whyalla Beach ($2000), West Australian Branch ($10,000) and Tobacco Branch ($5000).

�I have been stunned by the way the members of our 135,000 plus union have gone out and organised support for Victoria,� said Cesar. �Our members are thankful that the AWU

W

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Above: A fi re bucket is all that remains of a home after a bushfi re swept through the town of Mudgeegonga in the Victoria Alps. Right: Firefi ghters of the CFA Strike Teams (Milawa CFA Tanker) rest after fi ghting to save the township of Taggety in Taggety, near Marysville.

Firefi ghters battle to hold the containment lines to prevent a bushfi re in the

Kiewa Valley from reaching the town of Dederang in the Victoria Alps.

A fi refi ghter carries out backburning operations near the town of Dederang.

A woman dresses a young boy with donated clothes after losing all in the

Kinglake fi res near Whittlesea.


we stand

Above: CFA uniforms at the Hurstbridge CFA department in the aftermath of a bushfi re. Left & above right: AWU fi refi ghters worked heroic 30-hour shifts on the ground and in the air to protect families, homes and community assets from the raging fl ames. Despite their efforts, sadly lives were lost and entire towns burned down. Right: Gerry Fernandez, International Affairs Director, of the United Steelworkers (USW) spoke at the recent National Conference. When USW heard about Australia’s fi res it donated $15,000.

mateship tradition is so obviously alive and well.�When the news hit international headlines,

unions across the globe sent Þ nancial support and messages of solidarity to the Victorian AWU members. In fact, the AWU�s sister union in the US and Canada, the United Steelworkers (USW), was so moved by the tragedy that it sent a donation of $15,000. The International Union of Food, Agricultural and Hotel Workers, the International Transport Workers� Federation and the Israeli Union Federation (the Histadrut) all sent concerned inquires and words of solidarity.

The Union family ralliesThe Union will use the donations to give a $5000 handout to Victorian AWU Þ nancial members in need. When we went to print, up to 20 AWU members had lost their home and possessions during the bushÞ res and were receiving support from the Union. However, the Union expects the number needing assistance to rise. �More than 2000 AWU members, and their families, live and work in this region,� said Cesar.

Are you a Victorian AWU member in need?The AWU is giving a $5000 handout to Victorian AWU fi nancial members who are in need because of the fi res. If you need assistance, call 1300 362 298.

�We will distribute this money to our members in need � and any le# over we will give to the Red Cross BushÞ re Appeal,� said Cesar.

The tragedy also aff ected our native animals. On top of the great human toll, there was a shocking loss of animal life as well. Up to a million native animals may have died in the bushÞ res and those that survived have had their homes destroyed. However, the time it will take for their habitats to grow back is much more long-term than it will take to rebuild houses.

It was an especially sad time, according to AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, because the Union�s birthplace is in this region. �The wide swathes of Victoria hit by the bushÞ res� towns like Marysville, Kinglake, Churchill, Healesville, Yarra Glen, Narbethong, Bendigo and Ballarat are the heartland of the AWU,� he said.

�Our Union traces our proud history back to this part of Victoria where we formed in 1886. We will make a special eff ort to support Union members and their families through this crisis.�

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◆

Wildlife Victoria volunteers feed a joey orphaned by the fi res at the rescue station in Whittlesea north of Melbourne.

ASBESTOS

The history of asbestos in Australia has been very dark, with some companies knowingly putting their workers’ health at risk. Now there is a glimmer of hope that the evil dust’s victims have not died in vain.

WRITTEN BY MELISSA SWEET PHOTOS GETTY IMAGES

dusty trail


isitors to Railton in northern Tasmania discover a stunning green display. The �town of topiary�, as it promotes itself, has more than 100 living, growing sculptures � of giraff es, wallabies

and many other beasts. Tourists are also drawn to a large colourful mural recreating the 1958 race of two elephants down the town�s main street.

But Railton is now about to gain national prominence for a landmark industrial health and safety project related to a much darker aspect of its history � the asbestos contamination of a cement plant, which has been a mainstay of local employment since 1923.

Between 1947 and 1986, the Goliath Cement Company, as it was then known, produced a range of asbestos cement products, from rooÞ ng to ß ower pots. Many of the town�s buildings and fences are made from asbestos.

In a national Þ rst, the Australian Workers� Union and Cement Australia are collaborating on a number of initiatives to address historic and ongoing safety concerns surrounding the site.

A number of former employees are known to have developed the asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma, but a new research project will a" empt to systematically establish any health risks associated with employment at the plant.

V

A short history of asbestos...Asbestos is a generic for a range of mineral silicates that crystallise in fi brous form. The best known types are blue asbestos (crocidolite), white (chrysotile) and brown or grey asbestos (amosite). ➜ It is one of the most useful and versatile minerals because of its unique properties, fl exibility, tensile strength, insulation (from heat and electricity) and chemical inertness. It is the only natural mineral that can be spun and woven like cotton or wool into useful fi bres and fabrics.➜ Asbestos has been used for approximately 4500 years. Many centuries before Christ,

Finnish peasants mixed it in pottery and sealed cracks in their log huts with it. The ancient Greeks used it to make wicks for their lamps. The ancient Romans wove asbestos fi bres into fabrics to make towels, nets and even head coverings for women.➜ Asbestos remained little more than a curiosity until the advent of the Industrial Age in the 1800s when industry realised its potential uses. ➜ Deposits of blue asbestos were found in the north of Western Australia at Wittenoom Gorge and some deposits of white asbestos were mined in Barraba and Baryulgil in New South Wales.

➜ More than 3000 asbestos products and their uses have been identifi ed. Most Australian homes contain asbestos products in one form or another. Companies like James Hardie, Colonial Sugar Refi nery Limited (CSR) and Wunderlich, manufactured most of the asbestos products that have been used in thousands of commercial and private buildings in Australia.➜ Other uses of asbestos include fencing, asbestos pipes, thermal insulation, fi re proofi ng, an additive in paints and sealants, in textiles such theatre curtains, in gaskets, and in friction products like brake linings, and clutches.

➜ During the peak building years of the 1950s through to the 1970s, asbestos found its way into most public buildings, while workplaces such as ships’ engine rooms and power stations were heavily insulated with sprayed limpet asbestos.➜ By the early 1900s, European doctors knew that asbestos workers were dying from respiratory ailments. By 1918, overseas insurance companies had already begun to refuse life insurance policies for workers occupationally exposed to asbestos, apparently noting their unusually short life spans. ➜ By the 1930s, a substantial amount of scientifi c knowledge

The company is implementing a prioritised removal asbestos program in collaboration with the Union, and the company has commi" ed more than $5 million to the project.

AWU offi cials hope the program � which represents a break from the historic approach of a risk assessment based policy � will have state-wide and national impact in encouraging other companies and governments to follow suit.

They reject the traditional argument that it is safer to leave asbestos-containing materials undisturbed, and say this approach puts the safety of thousands of Australians at risk.

�At some point in time, some government has got to stand up and say enough is enough � you�ve got to start planning for the total removal of this stuff ,� said Ian WakeÞ eld, AWU Tasmanian Secretary. �To see those people who have contracted disease with minimal exposure sends alarm bells that no asbestos is safe and all asbestos should be removed.�

The AWU has been negotiating with Cement Australia for some years over its concerns about the site, and Ian said the company deserved credit for �biting the bullet�.

�They�ve now removed 90 per cent of the asbestos from the site and hope to Þ nish by mid this year,� he said. �They take the approach that you shouldn�t risk assess this stuff , to say paint

“To see those people who have contracted disease with minimal exposure sends alarm bells that no asbestos is safe and all asbestos should be removed.”

had accumulated about asbestos-related diseases. However, this did not deter industry from mining and manufacturing numerous products for domestic and industrial uses.➜ The numbers of mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancers are on the increase. Owing to the long latency period from the exposure to asbestos fi bres and manifestation of asbestos disease (often up to 30 years or more), the epidemic of asbestos diseases is expected to peak in Australia around 2023. Source: Asbestos Diseases

Society of Australia


ASBESTOS

In 1970, an English science journalist called Gordon Rattray Taylor published The Doomsday Book, which predicted that humans faced ecological disaster. It cited asbestos as one of many examples of harmful pollutants.

Not long afterwards, a copy of this book came into the hands of a young Tasmanian worker, John Dudley, who was used to being covered in clouds of asbestos as he lugged hessian sacks around a cement factory in Railton.

John, now 58, recalls being stunned as he read that asbestos could be harmful.

“I went to work and I discussed this with my

workmates,” he said. “The next thing I know, I’m invited to go and talk to the boss. Word got around very quickly.

“The boss said, ‘son,would you like to keep your job?’”

After that incident, John was moved to work in an enclosed shed with a machine cutting asbestos sheeting strips. Protective gear was not available, despite the blankets of dust.

When John again raised his safety concerns, his boss acknowledged there was something to them. But he again asked the young man if he wanted to keep his job.

“At this point, I said ‘no’,” recalls John. “I handed in my notice and left.”

John says his fellow workers didn’t take the safety

concerns seriously at that time, but that he maintained his interest in the subject over the following decades.

“I have followed the asbestos story with very great attention, and some apprehension,” he said.

A recent check-up found no signs of disease, but John says he lives with the possibility that his past exposure may catch up with him, especially as so many former colleagues have died prematurely.

“I’ve had that sense of possibility of ill health throughout my life,” he says. “It was, if not foremost in my mind, always present, in the same way that if somebody has had a life-threatening event that is unresolved.”

John is angry that many lives could have been saved if

authorities had reacted quicker to the evidence that asbestos exposure could be lethal.

With many hazardous chemicals still in use in workplaces, John encourages others to do their own research using authoritative websites.

“Find out about it, talk, and, if necessary, challenge your bosses in the way that I did,” he says. “It’s very important to take an active role in the safety of your workplace and the things you handle.”

Given John’s early history, it is perhaps no surprise that he spent much of his subsequent career in the horticultural industry doing mining site rehabilitation.

Prioritised removal: how it works• All buildings assessed for materials containing asbestos must have an asbestos designation and an identifi er that is colour coded as red, amber or green, and must be displayed prominently.• A red ticket will require immediate removal and exclusion of people from the red-critical areas.• An amber ticket will require an asbestos critical plan with clear and simple descriptions identifying which asbestos-containing materials will be removed within 3-6 months. The presence of workers in the critical areas should be highly restricted. • A green ticket will mean that asbestos-containing materials are present but are in a relatively reasonable condition. However, the workplace will need to provide an asbestos safety critical plan to the regulator clearly describing a 6-18 month total removal plan.• In all cases, people must be given a letter stating their level and duration of exposure.

over and don�t disturb it because at some point in time, someone will disturb it.�

As part of the Railton initiative, a professional historian will be contracted to investigate the history of working conditions at the plant, and a project offi cer will collect the histories of those who have been exposed to asbestos.

�The more you listen to people and hear what happened in those days, you just became more and more alarmed and concerned for their welfare and wellbeing,� said Ian.

�We were hearing stories of people digging trenches for electric cables and unearthing asbestos. We heard stories of damaged asbestos used for Þ ll for potholes around the plant, of workers taking waste home and using it as Þ ll in their gardens... We hear stories about people with kids playing on asbestos dumps.�

Asbestos around the nationMeanwhile, in Perth, a group of journalists and historians from Murdoch University has also begun collecting the stories of those aff ected by asbestos. An Asbestos Stories website will document the use of asbestos in Australia, the stories of people who have come into contact with it, and its health eff ects.

It is no coincidence the project is based in WA, sometimes referred to as the mesothelioma capital of the world thanks to the tragic legacy of Wi" enoom in the state�s north.

According to the Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia, the CSR mine and mill at Wi" enoom was �the greatest industrial disaster in Australia and is comparable to similar catastrophes such as Bhopal, Seveso and Minamato�.

Thousands of workers and their families, visitors, tourists, consultants and Government offi cials were exposed to lethal levels of blue asbestos a thousand times higher than occupationally regulated at the time.

Australia�s Þ rst known mesothelioma case was diagnosed in 1962 in a worker employed at the mine. But the hazards of asbestos were known for many years before that case (see A Short History Of Asbestos).

Eighteen years have passed since occupational health and safety expert Dr Yossi Berger helped conduct a review of asbestos materials in Victoria. �We found plenty,� says Dr Berger, the National Coordinator of Occupational Health and Safety for the AWU.

�I argued then that it should be removed or a new generation of workers will pay the price.

Living under a cloud

Above: John Dudley’s early workplace exposure to asbestos has haunted him throughout his life.


◆

For more info• Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia www.asbestosdiseases.org.au• Asbestos Diseases Society of South Australia www.adssa-inc.com.au• Asbestos Diseases Society of Victoria www.adsvic.org.au• The Queensland Asbestos Related Disease Support Society www.asbestos-disease.com.au• Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia www.adfa.org.au• Gippsland Asbestos Related Disease Support www.gards.org• Asbestos Victims Association (SA) www.avasa.asn.au• Asbestos Information & Support Service www.aiss.org.au• The Mesothelioma Library www.themesotheliomalibrary.com

Here I am now, and that generation of workers is about to commence work at workplaces riddled with poor quality asbestos-containing materials.�

Dr Berger has been pushing hard in union and policy forums for Australia to take a new approach to asbestos, and to implement a prioritised removal program over the next 20 to 30 years (see Prioritised Removal: How It Works).

�The AWU has lost all conÞ dence in the bullshit eff orts at the quaintly called �risk assessments�,� he says. �These programs essentially mean that when asbestos-containing materials are encountered, either the manager locally or a paid consultant work out how to keep this shit in place, without disturbing it, or � God forbid � removing it, so it can be �exported� to the next generation to deal with usually as building materials in situ.�

Dr Berger says that asbestos is still a threat in many schools, workplaces, and public venues.

�We are exporting disease, tragedy, pain and suff ering to the next generation,� he says. �Industry and governments are not prepared to honestly look at the factories and workplaces and see all the deteriorating corrugated asbestos roofs, all the AC cladding, the asbestos cement pipes and courageously say, �we are the generation that�s going to intelligently remove them, once and for all, to make it a li" le easier for future workers to indulge in a breath of fresh air.��

What the future holdsPrime Minister Kevin Rudd was quick to pay tribute to the legendary asbestos campaigner Bernie Banton when he offi cially opened the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute in Sydney on January 21. The Institute, housed in the Bernie Banton Centre at Concord Hospital, is claimed to be the world�s Þ rst stand-alone research facility dedicated to the prevention and treatment of asbestos-related diseases.

The PM told the launch that the late Mr Banton (who featured in a 2004 article in The Australian Worker) was �an extraordinary bloke�, an �Australian hero� and a �true believer�. �He never gave up in Þ ghting for a fair go for the asbestos workers and their families,� Rudd said.

He also told the launch that by 2020 Australia will have about 13,000 cases of mesothelioma, and a further 40,000 people will have contracted asbestos-related cancer. The PM stayed silent, however, about calls for a national inquiry into asbestos and asbestos-related disease.

Since December 2007, the ACTU has been pushing for an inquiry to identify asbestos products in housing, public buildings, hospitals, schools, libraries, offi ce blocks and factories, and develop a national register of asbestos-contaminated infrastructure including public and privately owned residential housing.

It wants a national program to accelerate and remove asbestos from existing housing, public infrastructure and industry, and a national education and communication campaign designed to increase understanding and awareness of the dangers of asbestos exposure.

The ACTU is also calling for the implementation of national corporate manslaughter and homicide laws for employers engaged in gross negligence leading to the death of an individual through exposure to asbestos, and fast track legal compensation and remedies against employers exposing workers to asbestos.

At a meeting of the main manufacturing unions, convened by the ACTU in January, participants were told that the PM had not responded to the ACTU�s le" er of December 4, 2007 calling for a national inquiry, although the Deputy PM replied to a second le" er sent in May 2008. The Government�s response had been �unsatisfactory� said a brieÞ ng paper.

�The Government�s response appears to indicate that the issue is not high on their agenda and... this is unlikely to change without signiÞ cant public pressure,� the paper said.

No doubt the research and story collection in Railton will add to that pressure.

� The Asbestos Stories project in WA can be contacted at [email protected].� If you suspect asbestos products are present in your home or at work, contact the Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia toll free on 1800 646 690 or (08) 9344 4077.

Above: Dr Yossi Berger, AWU National Coordinator of Occupational Health and Safety, says the Union has lost faith in the asbestos “risk assessments”.

way up in the misty mountains of Tasmania�s rugged northwest an indomitable human spirit still prevails, forged by those who have mined the area�s Pre-Cambrian subglacial granite

for more than a century. It�s the same mystical deep-river, temperate rainforest country made famous by recent Hollywood and television tales of the infamous cannibal convict Alexander Pearce, whose appetite was legendary! Times are still tough here and gett ing tougher with jobs going in Rosebery as the global Þ nancial crisis bites. But things are unlikely to get as desperate as they were for Pearce and his escapee mates.

This west-country miners� spirit, that�s survived all of the booms and busts, was spectacularly revived recently to preserve emergency medical services in the ß agging town with the big employer. �It was one of the best things we ever did,� AWU Rep and long-time Rosebery resident �Lizard� says.

The Union, the company and the local community combined last year to Þ ght off att empts by the state government to downsize medical services. It�s a tricky proposition for governments to service a town that�s ß at-lining with a vanishing population but also houses a large employer of out-of-towners, such as OZ Minerals in Rosebery.

The three parties faced having no emergency medical help on hand, where 300 people could be working at any one time, apart from a business hours general practitioner. Rosebery is regularly

A

www.awu.net.au12 theaustralianworker

Below: Rosebery’s population continues to decline as more and more miners live out of town. Bottom left: Mine workers face their day.

Bottom right: Welcome to the Danger Zone!

Tasmania’s northwest is a romantic setting – misty mountains and deep-river rainforest country. But nestled there, the small mining community of Rosebery has a big heart and a colourful past.

Tasmania’s northwest is a roa romantic setting– misty mountains andand deep-river rainforest country. But nestnestled there, the small mining comg community of Rosebery hasa biga big heart and a colourful past.

convicts

, canniba

ls

& minersPOSTCARD FROM ROSEBERY

WRITTEN BY ANTHONY PAUL PHOTOS MATTHEW NEWTON


A gondola in the airAn aerial gondola was used to carry ore (and sometimes mischievous children) in large buckets across eight kilometres of wire – like a chair lift. It was built in the early 1900s and the wire was suspended by towers, up to four metres off the ground. It was used to carry ore from the now closed Hercules and Tasmanian Metals Extraction Company mines at Williamsford for processing at Rosebery, and onto a rail line out of there. The line, moved by a diesel engine, carried a capacity 3000 tonnes of ore across it at any one time. It operated 24/7, 365 days a year. Lizard and his fl ying squad of mechanical types used to maintain it until the mid-1980s, and swing from it, and walk its wire and hide from it during thunderstorms. Williamsford, like many defunct mining hamlets in Tasmania, is now a virtual ghost town.

Above left: Tania Blake in the milling room at OZ Minerals Rosebery Mine. Above middle: Workers look down on the mine’s milling room. Above: Bogger driver, Les Dunstan, tags on for his shift.

cut off by extreme weather conditions and its cloying cloud can prevent emergency helicopters landing. The nearest major population centre, Burnie, is 110km away.

They were off ered a �GP-assist� emergency telephone line but they won two casualty trained on-call doctors, two specialist emergency nurses and four permanent casualty beds aft er piling into buses and confronting the politicians on the

lawns of state parliament in Hobart. They won a two-year compromise, conditional on a cost-sharing arrangement.

�The biggest problem we�ve got now is that 70 per cent of our guys are �seagulls�, they live up the coast, work and then drive home,� AWU rep and long-time Rosebery resident Malcolm Jago says. �A lot of the community issues don�t worry them anymore. But with the hospital it did.�

Many of the second and third generation Rosebery mining crew remember the days fondly when the area�s spirit ß ourished during the halcyon days of the thriving company towns. They grew up in Rosebery, in the shadow of Mount Black, where it rains 200 days a year, as their families worked the mineral rich rock. New Holdens once lined the main street, they say. The latest music, clothes and appliances could be purchased in the town�s stores. A cinema and three pubs (there�s only one now) buzzed, and numerous sporting teams and social groups gathered. That was before the Þ ve-day roster was replaced in the mid-1980s and the �seagulls�. But there�s no turning back the clock.

�There was no option to travel in and out then,� Lizard says. �We worked eight-hour shift s, Þ ve days a week, and all the overtime was worked on Saturdays and Sundays. The

“The biggest problem we’ve got now is that 70 per cent of our guys are seagulls, they live up the coast, work and then drive home.”

This piece of machinery carried ore from the town of Williamsford until the 1980s.


Malcolm Jago James DayMalcolm, 52, is a Rosebery AWU Rep and a jumbo long-hole driller. He has lived in Rosebery for 31 years and spent 27 of them working at the mine.

His father, Brian, suffered a crush injury working at the Rosebery mine. It forced Malcolm at the age of 15 to leave school and help support his family, which included fi ve sisters and a brother.

“It ruined Dad for the rest of his life,” Malcolm reveals.

Unable to work at the mine, the family turned their hands to crayfi sh fi shing on the west coast to make a living. But disaster struck twice and Brian and one of his daughter’s boyfriends

were lost at sea, in the treacherous waters off Tasmania’s Sandy Cape, when their fi shing boat sank in October 1975. Malcolm returned to work at the Rosebery mine and he and his wife, Lee-anne, raised two sons and a daughter.

Malcolm says his family is his priority. The burley miner also dotes on the family’s three small dogs. He says Rosebery, over the past 16 years, has gone from worst to best in terms of industrial action and accident compensation claims and a constructive spirit of cooperation marks the workplace nowadays.

“We’ve got a good rapport with the company,” he says. “But the town’s shrinking population makes it diffi cult to fi nd workers to step up and

represent as Union Delegates, heaping pressure on those already in roles. I’m on every committee that’s going around,” Malcolm says.

Working underground in the heat and humidity isn’t everybody’s cup of tea and Malcolm, who these days works in some air-conditioned comfort in the cab of his jumbo, says there have been

blokes who’ve packed it in after a few hours.

“Down there, it’s hot,” Malcolm says. “The ambient temperature of the rock is over 50ºC and the humidity is about 100 per cent.”

But, he says, with the average age of a Rosebery miner being 47, there is an enormous amount of experience on hand.

James is the AWU Organiser. He does a lot of kilometres covering the west and northwest of Tasmania for the Union – about 1300km a week, he reckons.

James came to the area, living in Penguin, from Sydney where he worked for six years with the Union, mostly with the gas industry. He’s been in Tasmania for a year and has only 100 more years to go before he’s

Timeline

1893

1899

1900

1923

1927

1930

1935

1936

1940

1951

1953

Alluvial gold discovered with boulders of zinc-lead sulfi de.

Rail line reaches Rosebery.

Lead, silver, copper and gold produced at Rosebery.

Economic downturn virtually stops production.

Construction of the Rosebery mill begins.

Depression halts mill construction – care and maintenance.

Mill construction resumes.

Production starts, capacity 20 tonnes/hour.

Workforce of 482.

Carbide lamps replaced with cap lamps.

Mill capacity increases to 30 tonnes/hour.

“It was once one of more than 40 thriving mining towns, most of

which are now ghost towns, or under hydro-electric water.”

only reason you worked in a bloody mine was so you could work a bit of overtime and make a big quid. So you had to be here seven days a week. The changing of the roster to four days on and four days off was the most amazing change in the whole social structure of this community.

�It was just absolutely incredible,� Lizard recalls. �There used to be Þ ghts over who got overtime. You try to get them to work overtime now � �Bugger you, I�m having me four days off .� They can�t get out of here fast enough, gone, out. Ten-to-seven on that last night, don�t stand in front of them.�

Most people understand the att raction of living an hour or two drive away on Tasmania�s beautiful and bountiful northwest coast. Rosebery is a shadow of its former great self as a result of the changes. It was once one of more

than 40 thriving mining towns, most which are now ghost towns, or under hydro-electric water. It�s population declined by 22 per cent

between 1996 and 2001. The town was once a 70-30 mix of miners to townies but the current population of 1000 is a reverse of that ratio.

At stake, however, is the old Rosebery miners� can-do spirit. The same spirit that built

POSTCARD FROM ROSEBERY

yJJJJJJMeet the locals…

Malcolm Jago, AWU Local Secretary,

Rosbery, Tasmania.


The facts➜ Rosebery: Named after the mine which was named after 5th Earl of Rosebery – Archibald Philip Primrose – British Prime Minister, March 1894 to June 1895.➜ Population: 1032.➜ Location: 315km northwest of Hobart.➜ Postcode: 7470 – the highest numbered Tasmanian postcode.➜ Mining: Drill, stope and bog, to 900 metres vertically underground.➜ Rainfall: 2.50 to 3.50 metres per annum – 200 days of rain per year.➜ Temperatures: Outside: -0.6 to 36ºC. Underground: 34 to 36ºC. Twice-daily hydration testing for miners.➜ Notables: Rhodes Scholar Richard Flanagan, author, historian and fi lm director, spent his childhood in Rosebery.

LizardHis name is Chris, but everybody calls him Lizard – just Lizard. He is another AWU Rep in Rosebery and a mechanical maintenance fi tter. Lizard lives in Rosebery and has worked at the mine for 27 years.

“We put the wheels back on the trucks when they fall off. If it’s broke, we fi x it,” Lizard says of his work role.

In Rosebery, Lizard lives with Possum (Angela), and six little ones. Lizard liked lying around on rocks in rare moments of Rosebery sunshine when he started in 1982. Originally from Strahan logging stock, Lizard’s fascination with rocks drew him away from sawdust. When Pasminco owned the Rosebery mine it funded a fellowship for Lizard and nine other hairy

miners from Rosebery with an interest in rocks to join the corps helping uncover Australian mega fauna fossils at Riversleigh, Queensland.

“Giant kangaroos and emus and wombats and stuff,” Lizard says. He’s been spending a few weeks up there working the world heritage site, 250km north of Mount Isa, every year for the past 12 years – he loves it. It gives him the fossil fi x denied by Rosebery’s much older Pre-Cambrian subglacial granite that predates most life.

Lizard and Possum revel in Rosebery bush and run the local scouts – but they don’t have a hall.

“Baden-Powell never had a hall,” Lizard says. “Rosebery is a place you’ve got to like if you are going to stay, I’ll never leave,” he says. “It’s for

diehards. You either love the place or don’t and you leave.”

Making the most of their environment, Lizard and Possum are keen bushwalkers and are experienced in bushcraft. They maintain old forgotten miners’ and loggers’ huts they fi nd using old maps, and disused rail lines and pack horse tracks carved as part of their area’s century-old

pioneering mining and logging heritage.

“Mining and forestry is what built Tasmania,” Lizard says.

Lizard recalls that 3500 people lived in Rosebery when he started at the mine in the early 1980s – 1200 permanent employees and about 350 contractors.

considered a local. Apart from mining – if that wasn’t enough – James covers industries such as abalone harvesting and processing, milk production, cheese and butter production, commercial salmon and tuna aquaculture, forestry, road construction, road maintenance, and farm hands. He’s getting used to dodging wildlife and the snow.

◆

1963

1967

1974

1980

1992

2001

2004

2008

Murchison Highway completed, connecting Rosebery by road to Burnie.

Use of horses underground stopped.

Effl uent control system commissioned.

Workforce of 1124.

Dore plant completed.

Pasminco into administration.

Transition from Pasminco to Zinifex Ltd.

Zinifex Ltd and Oxiana merged into OZ Minerals. The OZ Minerals Rosebery Mine produces zinc, gold and lead.

Above right: The milling room of the OZ Minerals Rosebery Mine in action. Right: The tiny township of Rosebery in the northwest of Tasmania, with a population of only 1032, is surrounded by beautiful temperate rainforest country.

Meet the locals…

the narrow gauge rail line to the town, and the ore gondola. Before Rosebery was Þ rst connected by road, in 1963, linking Rosebery by road to Burnie, replacing 20km of narrow gauge rail line to the previous road junction everything in and out of Rosebery was carried on the rail line.

�The mine will survive,� says Malcolm. �We�ve got resources here to go past 2030. The biggest problem at the moment is they are a bit cash-strapped. So there might be another name change, about our Þ ft h or sixth, but that�s the way of things � boom and bust.�

“Lizard”, AWU Rep, at his home in Rosebery, Tasmania.

James Day, AWU Organiser, talks to miners.


Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard is best known to us as the Labor Industrial Relations Minister who introduced the Fair Work Bill thereby putting the boot into John Howard’s loathed WorkChoices once and for all. She

consistently knocks the Libs for six at Question Time, but who is this woman, nicknamed “La Gillardine”? Donna Reeves pitched some questions and discovered that Julia Gillard is as down-to-earth as she is bloody bright!

WRITTEN BY DONNA REEVES PHOTOS JULI BALLA-ACPSYNDICATION.COM/NEWSPIX

JULIA GILLARD

MEET THE DEPUTY


C

“I am confi dent that I will live to see the day that no-one bothers to remark anymore whether a politician is a man or a woman.”

Opposite page: Julia is proud of her working-class roots and is thankful for the love and support of her warm and loving family.

an you tell us a bit about your working-class background and how you think it has shaped you as a person?My family are Welsh and we migrated here in 1966. I was four

at the time, so I don�t have any original memories of Wales but I have been back since and met a number of our relatives. I think being migrants resulted in us being a very close family. We didn�t have any extended family in this country so the four of us � my mother, father, sister and I � became a very close-knit unit. I also grew up with a consciousness that my mother and father had chosen to migrate to build a bett er life for us so it drilled into me a responsibility to make the most of what this amazing country has to off er.

My father became a psychiatric nurse and my mother was a cook in an aged care facility. Both of them worked very hard and I think that hard work ethic might have rubbed off on me as well.

Do you think your background gives you a clearer understanding of what the average Australian is going through now?I remember my family�s early years in this country when Mum and Dad were doing it quite tough. But to stay in touch with the experiences of people today I think the best approach is to be accessible and listen. One of the great things about Australian politics is people feel free to approach you when they see you and speak their mind. Listening is always the best way to learn.

Can you describe what a typical day entails?There is no such thing as a �typical� day! Every day is diff erent. I can wake up in Canberra for a full parliamentary day or at my home in Melbourne with a big day in the Melbourne offi ce in front of me or in any part of Australia visiting schools and workplaces to talk to local community members. Every day seems to bring early starts, managing the media and lots of meetings.

You seem passionate about your portfolios. In terms of education, what do you believe your own education has given you?

I went to great State schools and beneÞ tt ed from the Whitlam Government�s free university policy. Education changed my life. It is inconceivable I could be doing what I am doing today without having had a great education. One of the reasons I am so passionate about education is I understand its power to change lives from my own life�s experience.

Can you tell us about your all-time favourite teacher and what they taught you?My favourite teacher was Mr Crowe who taught at my primary school, Mitcham Primary in South Australia. He was a disciplinarian who drummed spelling and grammar into us but at the same time he inspired a love of reading and creative writing. He embodied the best of teaching.

What do you want to achieve in terms of reform in Australian education?I would like to achieve a world class education system which delivers both excellence and equity. Whether we are talking about our smallest Australians in child care doing an early learning program, or a school kid, or an adult at a TAFE or university, I want each and every Australian to be able to access a world-class education. Education is not just the key to our future prosperity, it is the best way to achieving equity so we can genuinely look at each other and say this is the country of the fair go.

Being the Þ rst female Deputy Prime Minister is a major achievement. Do you think we�ll ever see the day where being female and Deputy Prime Minister is not newsworthy in itself?We will see that day and I actually think the longer I am Deputy Prime Minister the less newsworthy simply being a woman doing the job is. That�s important because it means seeing a woman do the job is starting to be viewed as more normal. I am conÞ dent that I will live to see the day that no-one bothers to remark any more whether a politician is a man or a woman because it is just so commonplace to see men and women doing all the jobs in politics.

Do you think female politicians face more personal scrutiny than male colleagues? (I can�t recall


JULIA GILLARD

a male politician ever being criticised for having an empty fruit bowl in their kitchen, or those without children being labelled �deliberately barren�.)I think there has been a greater level of media att ention on women politicians but I also believe the situation is changing tremendously fast. We owe a lot to women like Joan Kirner and Carmen Lawrence who Þ rst forged the way and every year I think it gets that bit easier for women politicians.

What do you think it is about you that makes you so popular with the general public?I will let others speculate about what the general public thinks! But my aim in politics has always been to get on with the job at hand and to be straight-forward with people. I went into Federal Parliament to make a diff erence to this country because I believe we can build a stronger and fairer nation.

Since leaving the opposition ranks and becoming a Government Minister, what challenges have surprised you?Being in Government is a tremendous privilege as well as a challenge. It is what I generally expected it to be. In Opposition we designed some very detailed policies and being in Government has given us the ability to implement them. The fact we did so much policy work then has really helped. Beyond delivering our promises to the Australian people, we have been working hard on dealing with the impact of the global Þ nancial crisis and building the foundations of long-term reform. What is it about Australia that excites you and gives you the stamina and desire to stay in politics?The almost limitless potential of this country to be strong and fair excites me and having the opportunity to build that bett er nation gives me all the energy I need.

The Fair Work Bill has been criticised by both unions and employers while the Government says it�s a balanced piece of legislation. Can you explain the key features of the new Bill, why you believe it�s balanced, and what it does to redress the major issues the general public had with John Howard�s WorkChoices legislation?

Neither employers nor unions have got everything they wanted in the new laws, but I think that means the Government has got the balance right. It is important for the long-term interests of Australia that workplace relations stops being a political football.

We need a fair, balanced system that is secure and stable. Employees need a fair go in the workplace: a decent safety net of employment conditions, the right to be represented at work and protection from unjust treatment. Employers need a fair go too, by having laws that allow them to get on with growing their businesses. The Bill meets all these needs. The Government is responding to its clear electoral mandate for change in workplace relations. The Australian people made it very clear to the last Government that they regard WorkChoices as extreme and unfair. Some of the things I think are the most unfair aspects of WorkChoices included allowing agreements to slash the award safety net, meaning employees could have basic conditions like overtime, public holidays, shift and weekend penalties taken away with no compensation. Employees could be pressured to enter AWAs as a condition of gett ing a job or a promotion. Unfair dismissal rights were taken away from most employees. Employers could simply refuse to deal with their employees� union.

The Government has already removed some of the harshest parts of WorkChoices. The Þ rst law made by the Rudd Labor Government in early 2008 prevented any new AWAs and introduced a proper �no disadvantage test� for making agreements. The Fair Work Bill, when passed by the Parliament this year, will establish a modern framework for workplace relations that allows Australia to become more competitive and prosperous without taking away minimum standards and workplace rights.

The main features of the Fair Work Bill are a fair safety net made up of 10 legislated National Employment Standards (NES) that applies to all employees; and a modern, simple award system that complements the NES and includes conditions covering an additional 10 subject matt ers, providing certainty, ß exibility and stability. An enterprise-level collective bargaining system, with requirements to bargain in good faith, focused on promoting

“We need a fair, balanced system that is secure and stable. Employees

need a fair go in the workplace: a decent safety net

of employment conditions...”


productivity. The right to be represented in the workplace. Unfair dismissal laws which balance the rights of employees to be protected from unfair dismissal with the need for employers, particularly small business, to fairly and effi ciently manage their workforce. Special assistance for low paid employees and their employers to get into the bargaining system for the Þ rst time. And a �one-stop shop�, Fair Work Australia, for advice and support on all workplace relations issues. The Fair Work Bill must now pass the Senate. I will be working in the coming weeks to convince Senators to pass the Bill quickly so Australia can Þ nally put an end to the WorkChoices era.

What changes have you seen in the trade union movement over the past 12 years or so? What do you see as their crucial role in the future?The trade union movement has been changed by the changing nature of our economy. Fewer Australians are now employed in the traditionally unionised sectors and many more are employed in small business and the new knowledge economy. The key challenge for the union movement is and remains reaching out to Australians in all diff erent walks of life and showing them the beneÞ ts of unionism.

Australia has had a lack of skilled labour for some time. In the current economic crisis, is this issue a priority for the Government? If so, what is being done about it?The Rudd Government is investing more than $2 billion in 701,000 new training places in areas where skills are needed most to help keep the economy strong. With a slowing global economy, the Rudd Government is committ ed to supporting and training jobseekers to ensure all those who can beneÞ t from extra help are able to access these places.

Increasing productivity and skills agenda are central to the Government�s economic platform. These new training places will help provide more skilled labour and allow existing workers to update their skills and retrain to respond to a changing labour market.There has been a huge demand for training since the Productivity Places Program began in April, with more than 75,000 jobseekers enrolled and over 25,000 having already completed their training in areas of skill shortage.

What sort of society would you like to see Australia become?I�d like to see Australia as a prosperous country, reconciled with its Indigenous peoples, living sustainably and in which every child, whether from Toorak or Tennant Creek, had a wonderful start in life including the world�s best education.

What are the three main challenges facing Australia over the next few years?Certainly the biggest challenge we face is dealing with the global Þ nancial crisis and keeping Australians in work. The second is tackling climate change. The third challenge is building the long-term reforms that will make us stronger and fairer.

You are known (and oft en feared) for your sharp wit. How did you hone your skills?I�m not really conscious of honing my skills. I just try to have a laugh at life.

Christopher Pyne once described you as �the Kath Day-Knight of Australian politics.� How do you feel about that?Very ß att ered � I just wish I had her dress sense!

Above: “La Gillardine” in action. When Julia has the Opposition on the backfoot, Parliament House during Question Time is quite the place to be!

◆

As redundancies spread beyond the fi nancial sector, 2009 will be challenging for workers and their unions. But while the global economic situation paints a grim picture, there are glimpses of hope amid the chaos.

WRITTEN BY TOM SCAHILL PHOTOS GETTY IMAGES/NEWSPIX

TESTING TIMEShe global Þ nancial crisis and the spectre of recession are being used progressively by employers as a defence for extending job and spending cuts beyond the Þ nancial services sectors.

Already BHP has plans to slash more than 3000 jobs, while the bloodlett ing in the Þ nancial services and property industries is estimated to be well in excess of 17,000 � MLC is the latest to slash and burn 120 positions. It�s also well documented that other Þ rms such as CSR (115 jobs), Goodman (175) and David Jones (150) have also announced job cuts. Adding fuel to the Þ re, a survey from recruiter Hudson suggested more than 17 per cent of Þ rms plan to axe jobs this year.

These disturbing times and the ongoing focus in the popular media on redundancies is generating an extremely demanding environment

for the union movement. AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes says the biggest challenge is job security and maintaining union growth. �The National Conference in February committ ed to a well-planned growth campaign which we will work on with all branches and our members to implement in 2009,� said Paul. �We will also seek to work cooperatively with all levels of government as well as key corporations to keep people in jobs. We�ve got a few ideas about how we best do that and we will be talking about this to the federal government and to our employers.�

It�s also important to cut through the media hype for the good oil from experts. John Edwards, Chief Economist, Australia & New Zealand, HSBC Bank Australia doesn�t expect Australia to head into recession, which is relatively good news for workers, although he does predict unemployment to rise by 175,000 to nearly 700,000. �Among the

T

SPECIAL REPORT


Above left: Paul Howes says the key focus of the AWU is to minimise job cuts. Above: Chief Economist, Australia & New Zealand, HSBC Bank Australia, John Edwards, doesn’t believe we are heading into a recession. Below: ACTU President Sharan Burrow worries employers will use the fi nancial crisis to pressure workers into agreeing to lower pay and conditions.

many risks are that China�s current dislocation could persist longer than we expect, that Australian households are now too pessimistic to respond too sharply to lower interest rates, that home building does not strengthen in the second half of next year, and that business investment fades in the Þ rst half rather than the second half.�

Regional focusShane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy and Chief Economist, AMP Capital Investors, contends that of the industry sectors � manufacturing, mining and rural, which employ large numbers of AWU members � those working on the land have the best job prospects. �There is the ongoing drought and there has been a fall in rural production, however this has been off set by the fall in the Australian Dollar. The rural sector, which represents about 3.5 per cent of GDP, is protected somewhat because people, particularly the Chinese, still need to eat. Perhaps niche products such as macadamia nuts face weaker demand, but staples like wheat and sugar will hold. The fall in oil prices is also helping, so I don�t see signiÞ cant job losses [for the rural sector].�

He says that the mining industry (7 per cent of GDP) will be unable to avoid the fall in demand for commodities and more lay-off s seem unavoidable.

�Likewise manufacturing (10 per cent of GDP) will be hit by a slowdown in demand, but there are some relieving factors such as the slump in the Aussie Dollar, which is helping to make Australian manufacturers more competitive overseas. There�ll be lay-off s, but not as much as the mining sector.�

Shane is forecasting unemployment to peak at 8 or 9 per cent by 2010. �However, one piece of good news is that 92 per cent or so of the labour force will still have a job,� he said. �Guaranteeing pay and conditions (beyond required minimum standards) will be diffi cult in this sort of environment given the downwards pressures on company sales and proÞ ts. It always makes sense for companies to try and do the best by their workers even in tough times because eventually conditions will improve and we will be back to labour shortages again, particularly given that the population is continuing to age.�

Watchful eyeACTU President Sharan Burrow is Þ rm that it is wrong to use the global Þ nancial crisis as an excuse to entrench WorkChoices-style pay and conditions before industrial relations reforms later this year. �The tough times haven�t hit yet and already some unscrupulous employers are pressuring workers to accept inferior wages and conditions and scrimping on pay and entitlements to maintain their

“The AWU National Conference in February committed to a well-planned growth campaign... We will also seek to work cooperatively with all levels of government and key corporations to keep people in jobs.”


SPECIAL REPORT

bott om line.� The recent Olivier Job Index, which showed job ads fell just 1.81 per cent (seasonally adjusted) in December, conÞ rms Sharan�s assessment. Robert Olivier, Director of the Olivier Group said, �This was a welcome stabilisation in demand aft er the dramatic 9.83 per cent decline in job ads in November.� Sharan worries that some employers will use the uncertain jobs market to their advantage: �Unions are concerned that some employers are telling workers they must sign new job contracts that could lock them into lower wages and conditions for years,� she said. �Collective bargaining will help protect workers from pressure to cut wages and conditions.�

Paul Howes says the AWU is party to several thousand enterprise bargaining agreements and in any one year a few hundred of them will need to be renegotiated. �The diversity of our membership means that we cannot have a one-size-Þ ts-all negotiation stance. What we will want to negotiate will depend on the needs of our membership in diff erent industries.�

Paul says the AWU is lobbying governments and employers to minimise job cuts. �We believe now is a big opportunity for corporations to retrain their workforce and retool their workplaces for improved productivity � so that when the inevitable upswing in the economy happens they are ready to

take advantage of the improvements. If members do lose their jobs, the AWU has a role in ensuring that they receive all their entitlements, and we also have a role � in which we have had some success � helping our members Þ nd alternative jobs. �Unions are also urging the Government to increase funding for workplace development programs to give employers alternatives to redundancies. Sharan says, �Instead, businesses should seek to redeploy staff , reduce excessive hours, and invest in retraining and reskilling their workforce.�

The ACTU recently received a report recommending the Automotive Transformation Scheme announced in November 2008 could be useful for other business sectors hurting Þ nancially. For example, the report suggested using funding secured from the Productivity Places Program for companies gripped by a temporary slowdown. In turn, business owners could use these funds for workforce development programs rather than cutt ing jobs, or forcing shorter hours or unpaid leave on workers.

And by 2010, the International Monetary Fund projects global growth to rebound to 3.0 per cent aft er falling to 0.5 per cent this year. But the IMF�s report warned: �The outlook is highly uncertain, and the timing and the pace of the recovery depend critically on strong policy actions.� ◆

“The rural sector, which represents about 3.5 per cent of GDP, is protected somewhat because people, particularly the Chinese, still need to eat.”

Left: Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy and Chief Economist at AMP Capital Investments, believes the rural sector is one of the safest industries to be in.

Climate change & jobsWith company liquidations and falling share prices dominating the news, it’s not surprising the climate change issue and its potential to add to Australian job losses has taken a back seat.

The AWU maintains climate change remains an extremely pressing employment issue. Paul Howes, National Secretary, AWU said, “We have defi nitely advocated to the federal government and federal opposition that we cannot take the climate change debate out of the context of the real world economic situation.

“It is indulgent and counterproductive to expect any government, in any country, but particularly in Australia which is dependent upon energy intensive industries for investment, jobs and exports, to stand by and support policies which will see these activities – which pay our bills – to simply cease or relocate offshore,” he said.

The AWU represents thousands of workers on in cement, aluminium, LNG, mining, oil refi neries, plastics, zinc, manufacturing and agriculture. The AWU has been involved in the climate change debate to ensure that its members were not the fi rst victims of climate change.

As a result, the release of the Rudd Government’s recent White Paper on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme met with AWU approval. “It provides certainty to the workers doing the job on the frontline of this important debate,” said Paul Howes. “The White Paper provides a pathway to ensure Australia will be part of the global greenhouse solution doing our bit for the environment. But there is still more to be considered at this crucial time.”

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TOPICS COVERED• CLIMATE CHANGE • GROWING OUR UNION • HOUSING AFFORDABILITY

• INFRASTRUCTURE • RURAL & REGIONAL TAXATION ZONES • OIL & GAS INDUSTRY LONG SERVICE LEAVE • AVIATION

• CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY • KEYNOTE ADDRESSES

THE 2009 AWU NATIONAL CONFERENCE

2 theaustralianworker

■ CONTENTS: 2009 AWU National Conference

www.awu.net.au for more information and Conference resolutions

contents AWU National Conference – 2009

Resolutions 04 UNION GROWTH A strategic approach.

05 INFRASTRUCTURE The Building Australia Fund.

05 TAXATION ZONES Rural and regional taxation zones.

06 CLIMATE CHANGE A sustainable future for Australian industry.

08 OIL & GAS Portable long service leave.

08 CONSTRUCTION End the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

09 AVIATION Drug and alcohol testing and other issues.

10 WORKING FAMILIES Paid parental leave.

11 HOUSING AFFORDABILITY The great Australian dream.

11 SUPERANNUATION Increasing retirement savings.

Keynote speakersP14 Kevin Rudd P15 Julia Gillard and Kevin Maher P16 Jeff Lawrence P17 Martin Ferguson P18 Paddy Crumlin P19 Cardinal George Pell

Conference action P02-03 Meet the team. P20 Stronger Together – AWU colleagues and friends.

Above: Traditional Aboriginal welcome to the conference.

Far left: Greater NSW Branch Secretary

Russ Collison. Centre left: Port Kembla Branch Secretary

Andy Gillespie. Left: South Australian

Branch Secretary Wayne Hanson.

“The AWU has always been the leading union, from way back in the 1890s when it fought injustice in the shearing sheds.” Bill Ludwig, AWU National President

Above: National Secretary Paul Howes with National President Bill Ludwig. Top right: Tasmanian Branch Secretary Ian Wakefi eld. Above right: Assistant National Secretary Ben Swan.

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www.awu.net.au for more information and Conference resolutions theaustralianworker 3

“As Australia’s oldest and largest blue collar union, we understand

that unity is strength.”Paul Howes, AWU National Secretary

Top: West Australian Branch Secretary Stephen Price. Above: Newcastle Branch Secretary Richard Downie. Centre right: Whyalla-Woomera Branch Secretary Graham Hall. Right: Tobacco Branch Secretary Norman McBride.

Above: Chinese delegation. Left: Victorian Branch Secretary Cesar Melhem. Below: Conference

Delegates participated in lively debate!

Left: The 2009 AWU National Conference brought together Offi cials and Delegates from around Australia, with input from local and international colleagues.


■ RESOLUTION: Union Growth / Infrastructure / Taxation Zones

A STRATEGIC APPROACHince 1886, the AWU has been at the forefront of organising and representing Australian workers. During this period, the Union has witnessed many tumultuous events and periods of relative peace and prosperity. More

recently, the infl iction of John Howard and his radical, ideologically driven anti-union agenda is a notable example of the challenges our union has faced.

Despite the best attempts of our industrial and political foes, the AWU is just as much a voice for working Australians now as it has been in the past. As always, our collective challenge is to represent the interests of our members in securing better terms and conditions of employment, better job security, and a measure of social justice in the workplace. While it is important to refl ect on the many successes the AWU has achieved, it is equally important for the Union to cast an eye forward with a view to where we wish to be in the years to come. In setting future goals and industrial objectives, we must continually strive to renew and grow the union – not only in our areas of traditional coverage and representation, but in new industries that emerge with the changing nature of the Australian and global economy.

The Union’s leadership team has made a concerted effort to address the issue of renewal and growth. What started as a successful campaign by the Queensland Branch in the health industry has developed into a national growth campaign initiative.

Our national growth strategy has already seen the allocation of resources at a national level to the employment of a National Growth Organiser, and under the plan we will see a similar investment of dedicated resources being made by our Branches with the employment of their own Growth Organisers. Our national charter will include building our density in workplaces where the Union already has an established presence, and will facilitate a coordinated approach to industry campaigning throughout the country and between Branches. This initiative will also involve the allocation of resources toward the development and maintenance of an internal growth and organising capacity through our Branch offi cials and workplace delegates.

The Union is dedicating resources to its union growth strategy and its committed to the continued application of appropriate resources to further the industrial interests of AWU members in every State and Territory.

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resolution: union growth

“The national growth plan is focused on securing the future of our current and potential members and the industries they work in. As Australia’s oldest and largest continuously operating blue collar union, we understand that unity is strength, and that we are stronger together.”

“The Union’s leadership team has made a concerted effort to address the issue of renewal and growth.” Paul Howes, AWU National Secretary

Australian Workers’ Union members know the importance of unity – the Union is successful because they stand Stronger Together. Below: The AWU’s banner is as rich and colourful as the Union’s history.



THE BUILDING AUSTRALIA FUND

RURAL & REGIONAL TAXATION ZONES

ast year, the federal government announced the creation of Infrastructure Australia. This body was established to develop a national strategy for repairing and modernising Australia’s transport, water, energy and communications

infrastructure using the “Building Australia Fund”. The AWU has a substantial stake in these infrastructural sectors of the economy,

and a large percentage of the Union’s national membership is engaged in work directly associated with projects in these areas.

It is therefore appropriate that the views of the Union and its membership be taken into consideration when national strategies are being considered by Infrastructure Australia. The AWU, after all, has a wealth of collective knowledge, skills and experience of key relevance which would prove invaluable to the strategic considerations of the body.

The Union commends the federal government’s initiative, in light of the importance of nation-building strategies in creating collective wealth generation in our country. The AWU is also calling upon the federal government to formally engage with the Union, and its members, with the operation of Infrastructure Australia, so that the views of employees who will work on these projects can be appropriately taken into consideration.

ince 1945, special zonal tax concessions have been given to people working and living in rural and regional Australia.

Introduced by the then Labor Government, the concessions remain a signifi cant contributor to the overall level of earnings that workers in remote and regional areas obtain each year.

The expansion of the resources sector over the last decade, coupled with an acute skills shortage in key resources industries, has directly fed into a cycle of escalating costs for workers living in remote and regional Australia, whether those costs are related to housing, fuel, food or transportation. This issue is compounded by declining public services in remote Australia and increased reliance by resource employers on fl y-in/fl y-out operations. Add to this the population drift from regional communities to the coast and it is apparent that these factors have contributed to the housing affordability crisis.

To effectively harness and manage Australia’s natural resource industry, defi nitive steps must be taken to address the economic (and social) costs of regional and remote living for workers. More focus on the needs of rural youth will ensure the ongoing viability of rural communities.

The AWU understands the contribution of workers in rural and remote communities make to Australia’s economic performance and calls upon the federal government to review zonal tax concessions to ensure that the real cost of living in regional and remote communities are taken into account.

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resolution: infrastructure

resolution: taxation zones

Far right: Greater NSW Branch Secretary Russ Collison spoke to Delegates about construction industry issues. Above right: Conference Delegates were impressed by moves to pursue infrastructural advancement for Australia. Right: National Assistant Secretary Ben Swan with South Australian Branch Secretary Wayne Hanson (standing) and Whyalla-Woomera Branch Secretary Graham Hall.

Business Council of Australia President Greig Gailey addressed Delegates on taxation issues.

www.awu.net.au for more information and Conference resolutions6 theaustralianworker

■ RESOLUTION: Climate Change

A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR he AWU has been at the forefront of the debate on the design and implementation of the federal government’s commitment to introduce an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) from mid-2010. The Union’s core interest has

been to ensure that no AWU members in emissions intensive, trade exposed industries (alumina, aluminium, iron and steel, oil and gas, petrochemicals, cement, paper, plastics and glass) will suffer as a consequence of the introduction of the ETS.

In the absence of a “global carbon price and international emissions trading regime”, unregulated jurisdictions will enjoy a competitive advantage over Australian production, where a domestic carbon price will be introduced. Implementing a carbon price scheme in Australia before other countries represents an international competitiveness challenge for emissions intensive trade exposed (EITE) companies. For companies that pass on their costs to customers, the scheme represents less risk but many EITE companies operating in Australia cannot pass on their costs. The Union expects transition policies to assist Australian employers and workers until there is a global ETS arrangement. The AWU believes that goods production should remain in Australia because of our effi ciency and the fact that we operate at best practice. Australia needs to retain its productive capacity in the face of a global economic downturn.

The AWU calls on the federal government to implement an ETS which is measured and balanced and that the transition for EITE industries are generous and fl exible. And that in the absence of a global agreement based on burden sharing, greater support for EITE industries will be offered until an agreement is reached. The AWU would like to see members on the frontline of the ETS have a direct stake in the new system through a carbon insurance scheme which sees allocated permits fl ow to workers in the event of job losses related to the ETS. The AWU also wants the federal government to invest in nation-building projects such as Carbon Capture and Storage and network supply infrastructure, such as geothermal and solar thermal through extending and upgrading the transmission grid. The full impacts of the ETS on regional Australia and the implementation of additional policies aimed at assisting Australian industries, workers and their families should be a federal government priority.

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resolution: climate change

Australia’s biggest carbon emitting employers are based in regional centres in industries including alumina, cement, steel, oil and gas, bauxite and iron ore predominate. These industries are pivotal to the local, regional and national economies and provide thousands of jobs. However, these industries will be the fi rst to bear the brunt of any Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that does not strike the right balance between the environment, the economy and the interests of working people. The AWU is working closely with the federal government on the urgent question of climate change and, with up to 15,000 jobs under threat, we are also working closely with regional communities.

Industry, government and unions need to make our industries sustainable so that we can keep jobs in Australia. The federal government must help these industries clean up their act and bring in new technologies. If this is achieved then jobs will not be driven offshore to countries whose pollution levels are higher than we have here in Australia. Through a combination of ETS transition policies, investment in carbon neutral energy resources , energy effi ciency measures and energy demand management, and tax credits to help stimulate job creation, Australia can generate signifi cant green job opportunities.

The impact on regional Australia

Brett Noonan (front row, in red hard hat) with AWU Victorian Branch Secretary Cesar Melhem (far left) and AWU National Secretary Paul Howes (centre).

An abandoned vintage grader in salt fl at landscape near Port Augusta, South Australia. Power station in distance.

theaustralianworker 7www.awu.net.au for more information and Conference resolutions

AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY

The AWU strongly supports the geothermal energy industry. The fi rst Australian power station to be powered by geothermal energy has been built at the Cooper Basin town of Innamincka in Queensland and will save $15,000 in diesel fuel costs per month. However, the Union recognises that transmission networks are needed to bring the available power to the electricity grid, and the development of a strategic and nationally coordinated transmission network is urgently required. While industry superannuation funds have invested long-term capital in renewable energy, the Union has called on the federal government to match this commitment and build underground high voltage transmission lines to the Cooper Basin.

The Union is a strong supporter of the government’s Global Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Institute and the Clean Coal Fund. CCS is a signifi cant abatement technology to which the world must turn in order to restrain the escalation in emissions from fossil fuel-based energy production.

The AWU supports the deployment of this technology and calls on the federal government to assign, through the Building Australia Fund, signifi cant investment in the existing electricity transmission network and gas pipeline network in order to bring cleaner, cheaper and sustainable energy supplies to our industries and offshore export destinations.

Sustainable energy supplies

Geodynamics’ new $32 million drilling rig near Innamincka where the company is attempting to kick-start an Australian geothermal energy industry.

Clockwise from below far left: Marina Williams (AWU National Vice-President and Queensland Branch Vice-President) addressing Delegates on climate change and the aluminium industry; Steve Bali, AWU NSW Branch President, addressing Delegates on environmental concerns; Delegates appreciated a lively debate; Andy Gillespie addressing Delegates on climate change; Marina Williams with Tom Jeffers, AWU Queensland Southern District Secretary.

www.awu.net.au for more information and Conference resolutions8 theaustralianworker

■ RESOLUTION: Oil & Gas Industry / Construction Industry / Aviation

JUSTICE FOR ALL BUILDINGWORKERS

he Australian Building and Construction Commission is yet another example of the blatantly undemocratic and unconscionable examples of the Howard Government’s stance on industrial relations in Australia. The ABCC was

established following the Cole Royal Commission into the building and construction industry. Contrary to the widespread allegations of corruption, illegal activity and industrial lawlessness on Australian building and construction sites, not one prosecution was ever initiated following the Inquiry. Despite Australia being a signatory to the International Labor Organisation’s Conventions and Treaties regarding the rights of workers to freely organise and to bargain collectively, the laws that breathe life into the ABCC continue to operate against those Conventions. Workers and union offi cials continue to be hauled before the ABCC to answer questions relating to legitimate union business or activities that fall outside of working time and outside of the employer’s business premises. There is no meaningful right to refuse to answer questions, for to do so can result in a prison term of up to six months.

In November 2007, workers took it on faith that when they voted Howard out of offi ce, that it included getting rid of all of the industrial evils his government had implemented. In view of this, the Union calls on the Rudd Government to immediately legislate the complete abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

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resolution: abolish the ABCC

APPROACH TO INDUSTRIAL ISSUES

he AWU is proud to be at the forefront of civil, mechanical and offshore oil and gas construction industries throughout Australia. The construction industry is a multi-billion dollar industry

encompassing major projects across all States and Territories and in specifi c sectors as diverse as road, rail, marine, bridge and wharf construction, mining minerals, oil and gas infrastructure, telecommunications and other such projects.

Given the diversity and scope of construction work undertaken throughout Australia, it is vitally important that the AWU have a clear, defensible and industrially consistent approach to the organisation and representation of construction workers throughout the country.

Among other things, it is essential that collective bargaining outcomes, workers’ compensation arrangements, long service leave provisions and amenity conditions are improved and applied as broadly as possible to AWU members throughout the various sectors of the broader construction industry.

The attainment of this objective will require the active coordination of relevant Branch offi cials and representatives from the construction industry throughout Australia, where the experience of those who have worked and represented members in the industry can be forged into a composite position that the AWU can project forward.

The Union, therefore, will this year convene a conference of the relevant Branch Offi cials to format a comprehensive national approach to the construction industry which will include all civil and mechanical labour hire operations.

Without limiting the issues that may be considered, this process should be directed at undertaking the development of a consistent AWU national position on general matters such as terms and conditions of employment, workers’ compensation, long service leave, superannuation and workplace amenities.

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resolution: construction

National portable long service leave and redundancy schemesThe Australian Workers’ Union’s alliance with the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) in the offshore oil and gas sector is an important industrial initiative. The Alliance promotes and coordinates collective approaches to affect workplace change and bring decency and democracy to workers through communication, education and job representation at industry and political levels.

One of the major initiatives being pursued by the Alliance is the creation of portable long service leave and redundancy schemes for all offshore oil and gas industry workers. These arrangements exist for members in other industries, so it is important that offshore workers’ enjoy the same rights.

The Union therefore recommends that a committee of National and Branch offi cials explore and develop options for the implementation of portable long service leave and redundancy schemes for all oil and gas industry workers.

NATIONAL

An AWU member discusses construction industry issues

with a Delegate and Organisers.

Delegates show their support of the Union’s work in pursuing the abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission.


AVIATION INDUSTRY ALCOHOL & DRUG TESTING

n 2004 the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) publicly released its report on a fatal accident that occurred at Hamilton Island in September 2002, which included a fi nding that the accident was attributable to possible adverse effects on the pilot’s

performance through fatigue, recent cannabis use and post-alcohol impairment.The ATSB made recommendations relating to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA)

and the Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS) jointly examining the benefi ts of the introduction of a drug and alcohol testing program to the Australian aviation industry for safety sensitive personnel. The terms to be considered were:

• The need to defi ne safety-sensitive personnel• Who would administer the testing process• Whether testing should be part of a company’s safety management system• Whether testing should be on a random, or regular basis• Alternative and/or supplementary programs that are used for alcohol and

drug management, for example, mentoring• The costs involved of establishing programs and ongoing testsLast year, random alcohol and drug testing of aviation workers came into effect and new

regulations require companies to put in place detailed testing management plans covering pilots, engineers, cabin crew, fl ight instructors, re-fuelers, dispatchers, load controllers, baggage handlers, air traffi c controllers and CASA staff performing duties airside. The new regulations give aviation organisations six months to put in place detailed dug and alcohol plans covering pre-employment testing, reasonable suspicion testing and post-accident testing as well as education, training and rehabilitation.

In light of this, the AWU calls on the federal government to make it a requirement that industry operators confer with the Union and other aviation unions, about the joint development of appropriate rehabilitation and education provisions in company drug and alcohol policies that will apply to aviation workers in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Aviation Act and Regulations.

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resolution: aviation

Over the next 15 years, Qantas will take delivery of over 100 new Airbus A300, Airbus 380 and Boeing 787 to progressively replace the airline’s 747 and 767 aircraft.

In 2006, Qantas Airways announced a 12-month review regarding whether the company would retain major in-house engineering and maintenance operations for its new aircraft. Currently, there are 16 Airbus A330 and one Airbus A380 which are being maintained in the Philippines on behalf of Qantas by Lufthansa Technik. Since late 2006, the AWU has been negotiating with Qantas to bring this maintenance work onshore into the Brisbane heavy maintenance facility.

Qantas Engineering employs over 5000 highly skilled aircraft maintenance engineers, aircraft mechanics and aircraft workers in 10 sites throughout Australia. Qantas in the world’s 10th largest maintenance repair and overhaul operation (MRO) and one of Australia’s largest private sector employers of apprentices. Qantas Engineering also has a reputation of fi rst class quality and service since its inception, which in many respects can be attributable to the skill, dedication and commitment of AWU members employed in the fi eld. While onshore care and maintenance of our national carrier’s aircraft is of paramount importance, so is the commitment of all major aviation operators with in Australia to the development and retention of Australian-based engineering and maintenance capabilities. Not only to create and support Australian jobs, but to aid in Australia’s overall national security.

The AWU calls on major airline operators in Australia (including Qantas, Virgin Blue, Jetstar, Tiger Airways and OzJet) to develop and retain onshore maintenance and engineering capabilities and support the attraction and retention of Australian jobs. The Union also expects AWU aviation offi cials to continue to engage with airline operators regarding the on-shoring of maintenance and engineering operations within Australia.

In April last year, Ansett administrators Korda Mentha announced the payment of a tenth dividend to former employees. The dividend brought total payments made to Ansett’s 15,000 former staff to $697.8 million and was achieved after signifi cant litigation. A further dividend payment of $9 million was also made to former Ansett employees in December.

There is an expectation that over the next year the total amount of entitlements released to former employees may reach upward of 96 cents in the dollar, representing a total payout of $720 to $730 million towards outstanding employee entitlements.

Eight years after the airline’s collapse, the effect on the lives of thousands of Australian workers is still felt deeply. And it is not the only example of corporate misadventure affecting workers lives and their entitlements. The collapse of

companies such as Pasminco, OneTel, HIH, ION and Ajax have left a trail of personal disaster for many workers.

The AWU believes that appropriate legislative and regulatory mechanisms must be put in place to ensure that accrued employee entitlements are effectively and fairly protect against the maladministration of corporations operating in Australia. To ensure this, the AWU urges the federal government to change the Corporations Act and the GEERS scheme to ensure that accrued employee entitlements are given maximum priority over all debts of an insolvent company.

Engineering & maintenance

Administration payouts“...over the next year the total amount of entitlements released to former

(Ansett) employees may reach upward of 96 cents in the dollar.”

Paul Howes, AWU National Secretary.


■ RESOLUTION: Working Families / Housing Affordability / Superannuation


PAID PARENTAL LEAVEustralia is one of few developing nations that does not offer any form of statutory paid parental leave. Other developed nations have in place leave entitlements including 14 weeks’ continuous leave (at normal rates of pay) in

New Zealand. In Sweden, the entitlement is 18 months’ paid leave to both parents, with costs shared between the employer and the State, while in Canada, 35 weeks’ paid leave is supported through the country’s Employment Insurance System. Meanwhile in the UK all female employees are entitled to 52 weeks’ leave, out of which 39 weeks are paid, with the fi rst six weeks paid at 90 per cent of the employee’s full pay.

Since 1979, Australian women have been entitled to legislated unpaid maternity leave of up to 54 weeks. Over a decade later, this entitlement was extended to fathers for paternity leave. In October last year, the Productivity Commission to released a draft report on a Paid Parental Leave Scheme. Importantly, the Commission highlighted the fact that out of the approximate 285,000 born in Australia in 2007-2008, 175,000 were born to mothers who were in the workforce prior togiving birth, and 80 per cent of these women planned to return to the workforce.

Research has been conducted in the area of early childhood health. The Productivity Commission noted that there was “compelling evidence of child and maternal health

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resolution: working families

“The Union commends the federal government’s commitment to lifting Australia’s paid parental leave up

to international standards and urges it to make the implementation of this policy a priority for the coming fi nancial year.”

benefi ts from a period of postnatal absence from the workforce of the primary care giver of around six months – although 9 to 12 months even better.” The Commission also noted that there were societal benefi ts to a paid parental leave scheme as well, where society would otherwise pay for the health costs of poorer outcomes for children and parents. The Commission recommended 18 weeks’ statutory paid parental leave, to be commenced immediately after any other continuous leave available at the birth of the child and before six months after the birth. The Commission also recommended that in addition to this entitlement, two weeks’ paternity leave (which cannot be accrued) should also be afforded to fathers. Finally, the Productivity Commission recommended that parental leave should be paid at the adult minimum wage rate of $543.74 for each week of the statutory period.

The AWU recognises the pressures that work and child rearing can place on both parents and acknowledges that in the fi rst six months of a newborn’s life the health benefi ts of having at least one parent caring in a full-time capacity is invaluable. In view of this, the Union commends the federal government’s commitment to lifting Australia’s paid parental leave up to international standards and encourages the government to make the implementation of this policy a priority for the coming fi nancial year.

The Union supports lifting Australia’s

paid parental leave to international

standards.

The issue of paid parental leave is of great concern to Delegates and the Union is committed to improving these entitlements for Australian workers.


A ROOM SOMEWHERE

INCREASING RETIREMENT SAVINGS

rivate home ownership is becoming increasingly out of reach for a growing number of hard-working Australians, particularly young people. In our society, home ownership

provides working Australians with a real means of fi nancial security throughout their life.

In the post-war decades, average house prices in capital cities were equivalent to three years’ average earnings. Now, in 2009, the average price of a house is equivalent to seven years’ average earnings. The situation has deteriorated so much that roughly two-thirds of households in the lowest 40 per cent of income distribution are spending more than 30 per cent of their income on housing.

There are many complex factors interacting to cause this situation, but regardless of the causes, the effects on ordinary working families are the same. The AWU is concerned, too, that the effects of housing shortages are most felt by those in our society who are least able to afford it and who are least able to

ast year, the AWU called for the federal government’s proposed $31 billion in income tax cuts to be

paid into the nation’s savings through superannuation contributions.

Australian fi nancial institutions have borrowed extensively in the US to feed the domestic appetite to spend more than is earned, which is something that has become more pronounced in recent years.

Now, Australia has been more exposed to the US fi nancial crisis than fi rst thought, and this will result in slower growth over the year ahead. Taxpayers are saving, rather than spending, the federal government’s recent tax cuts and additional payments from the budget surplus.

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resolution: housing affordability

resolution: superannuation

If a scheme for 3 per cent government super contribution, matched by 3 per cent member contributions, had been implemented by the Howard Government from 1997 to 1999, aggregate superannuation savings would now stand at around $1.5 trillion (not the current $1 trillion). Today, the scale of superannuation contributions gives the Australian government a powerful economic policy lever. And industry super funds, on their own initiative, provide contributing members real investment choice, where members can choose their own investment strategy in a fund of their choice.

The AWU believes now is the time to work at improving superannuation adequacy, and for superannuation funds to increase

The AWU calls on the federal government to give consideration to the range of issues identifi ed by the Senate Select Committee in its report of June 2008 into Australia’s housing affordability crisis. In particular:

• The First Home Owner’s Grant scheme• Stamp duty exemptions for

fi rst home buyers and retirees downsizing their residence• Accessibility to

superannuation funds• Securatised mortgage schemes• Taxation arrangements for

fi rst home buyers• Integrated resource planning

and development• Public transport facilities• Environmental sustainability• Rental assistance programs• Social Housing programs

The aspiration of home ownership should again become a reality for working Australians.

The AWUcall to action

their investment in real assets, and in regional Australia. The Union further believes that a compulsory contribution rate of 15 per cent would do much to rejuvenate Australia as a supplier of investment capital, and would have further acted to cement our position as a well-resourced and skilful fi nancial services hub.

Treasury modeling in the 1990s clearly demonstrated that a superannuation contribution rate of 15 per cent of wages would provide working Australians with a reasonable retirement income. As a minimum, compulsory superannuation contributions must be increased to 15 per cent of wages, which will not only deliver Australian workers and their families greater retirement security, but also

generate a greater domestic capacity to invest in nation-building projects for the benefi t of all Australians.

The AWU calls on the federal government to review the adequacy of current superannuation arrangements in the wake of the fi nancial crisis, with a view to increasing the compulsory minimum contribution rate to 15 per cent of wages. Further, that the federal government be encouraged to create an environment where the superannuation industry can expand its role as a fi nancier to promote nation-building and infrastructure projects for the benefi t of all Australians.

Ian Silk, CEO of Australian Super.

Michael Borowick addresses Delegates.

meet it. In particular, housing shortages affect the standards of living of Indigenous Australians, the elderly, disabled and those who are homeless.

While the federal government’s response to the global economic crisis in tripling the value of the First Home Owner’s grant is understandable and commendable in the short-term, it is but one of a number of equally important measures that must be undertaken to address this complex issue with a view to a long-term solution. The aspiration of home ownership should again become a reality for working Australians. Therefore the AWU calls upon the federal government to undertake all measures to coordinate a national strategy

to address the housing affordability crisis, including involvement from local and state governments, unions, indigenous organisations, rural bodies, and housing and construction industry stakeholders.

The Union is calling on the federal government to coordinate a national strategy to address the housing affordability crisis.


■ KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Bill Ludwig / Paul Howes

www.awu.net.au for full speeches and Conference resolutions

“WE WILL TAKE ON THE CHALLENGES WE FACE”

Bill Ludwig – National President & Queensland Branch Secretary

AWU National President and Queensland Branch Secretary, opened his address by stressing

that the 2009 National Conference was being held at a crucial time in the history of our country and a turning point of our planet. The global economy is facing a crisis, the size and enormity of which has not been seen since the “Great Depression” of the 1930s. At the same time new federal workplace laws were being introduced that will restore fairness and balance in the workplace, we have to meet the challenges of dealing with climate change, and as a consequence, the policy changes and decisions that will disproportionately impact on AWU jobs and industries, when compared with the rest of union movement.

Bill revealed that he believed that the decisions being made, and the directions the Union determines at the conference will shape the AWU’s destiny for decades to come. Future generations of workers will look back to this time in history and, with the benefi t of hindsight, judge what we do.

Bill pointed out that at every point in Australia’s history, the AWU had been the leading Union, whether it was fi ghting injustice where it

occurred in the shearing sheds in the 1890s, or fi ghting for equal pay for women and indigenous people. While the global fi nancial crisis has had an impact on the whole economy, the pain has been felt most acutely in the mining sector. Queensland, being one of the most resources rich states, had seen many jobs lost.

Bill explained that, so far, most job losses had affected non-permanent contract staff. Where permanent positions had been lost, it had been in companies where the workers were not protected by union collective agreements, and where companies had done everything in their power to force workers onto individual contracts and lock the Union out. However, in the companies where the AWU members were protected by Union agreements the companies had taken a less hostile approach and the majority of members’ jobs had been protected, and

companies had consulted appropriately. Bill revealed that to ensure

that AWU members’ interests are being considered, the Union is also participating in the tripartite Queensland Mining Industry Working Group. However, he indicated that it was essential to have a national approach to the crisis. He stressed the need to do everything to protect AWU jobs across the country, not just in one state and that it was up to this National Conference to set that agenda.

Bill believes that the Fair Work Bill, when enacted, will provide the AWU with an opportunity to have access to workers and represent members where the previous anti-worker, WorkChoices laws sought to remove Union involvement. These new laws will ensure that the rights of delegates and workers will be protected by law. The new laws, as currently drafted, will also ensure that employers are required

to recognise the will of the workforce where the majority want a union collective agreement.

However, Bill pointed out that while having a Federal Labor Government that is less hostile towards unions helps make life a little easier, it is up to us as Union members to take responsibility for their working conditions. The new workplace laws will come into effect in a gloomy economic environment. These economic circumstances will have serious implications for many workers and their families.

Bill declared that 2009 National conference would provide a forum of discussion and planning for the opportunities the new legislative environment will provide in the future. Growth in membership must always be a key consideration and because the AWU has always been a strong Union, it has had the power to protect and improve working conditions, even

in the darkest times. The AWU has experienced reasonable growth of recent times and Bill revealed that resolving a national growth strategy at the 2009 conference would ensure that the AWU would maintain power and industry strength into the future.

Another pressing issue for the Union to meet is the science of climate change and the impact the introduction of an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will have on members. Bill stressed that it is essential that we continue to question federal government policies to ensure that

we do not acquiesce to the “knee jerk” strategy being pushed by different lobby groups nationally and globally. Bill stressed that AWU members are not disadvantaged by having their jobs moved to other nations where working conditions are inferior and companies are not required to comply with the rigorous environmental standards that may be introduced in Australia.

Bill gladly told conference Delegates that he was confi dent that the AWU was in the best position to take on and overcome all those challenges we face.

AWU National President Bill Ludwig said that the decisions

Delegates made will shape the Union’s destiny.

National President Bill Ludwig with

National Secretary Paul Howes.

www.awu.net.au for full speeches and Conference resolutions theaustralianworker 13

“WE ARE THE NATION’S MOST EFFECTIVE UNION”

Paul Howes – National Secretary

fter viewing a fi lm about the dark times endured by Australia during the 11 years of the Howard

Government, AWU National Secretary Paul Howes told delegates of the dreadful memories it revived. Memories of big dogs on chains and big men in black balaclavas. Of the threat of being sacked at an hour’s notice. Of kids in razor wire desert prisons and pregnant mothers drowning. Of the curdled vegemite voice of John Howard telling big fi bs every day. Of the gobbledigook of Philip Ruddock, the infantile inanities of Alexander Downer and the hyena smirk of Peter Costello.

Paul reminded Delegates that while this was amazingly only 400 days in the past – we are now in a new world. The newly elected US President Barack Obama had showed us all how fast a world can change. How Obama told the American people – and the world – in his inaugural speech about

A communication lines for all of our regions. And it’s a policy stance he’s proud to take forward so that the AWU vision will continue to infl uence the nation – building enterprise to build up the neighbourhoods where our people live and work. He declared that governments should provide the “magnet” to build new cities and towns outside metropolitan areas, to attract a workforce, and wages, and schools and hospitals and football teams and community spirit in the way they used to.

It is imperative, Paul maintained, that governments, big business, unions and communities sit down and plan together – how to save jobs, how to keep regions alive. We should get together to look at creative ways to keep our mines working, secure jobs and maintain the expensive and complex technology and infrastructure needed for a modern, productive resources industry. And recognise the need to develop a dramatic new cooperative strategy for our all important resources sector, so we ride out this global crisis together.

The AWU wants big companies, as well as all levels of Government to support maintenance, refurbishment, new local infrastructure and upskilling programs which will keep workers in their jobs and families in regional Australia.

He questioned why governments worldwide expended vast sums of money to rescue incompetent CEOs from years and decades of getting it wrong, and fl ying the world in corporate jets to get it wrong some more. We could use a bit of that sort of money, he declared, to build

rail links to regional areas; irrigate with transformed sea water the Birdsville Track, pipe water direct from Papua New Guinea to our dust-blowing north. A $100 billion isn’t all that much to commit. Why do incompetent childcare czars get that sort of money? And the shrivelling towns of the inland beg for crumbs and fragments from a Labor government that a slight adjustment of the GST, or a defl ation of the dollar, would provide?

But with a focus on infrastructure, Paul stressed, we can revisit the AWU’s historical vision of building an Australia with good jobs and a good life for all. For the world is changing. Half the money in it vanished in the last fi ve months.

Paul revealed that the AWU’s Auspoll about the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Australian workers showed that Australians expect our government to be a leading player in defending their jobs. The poll showed that working families – the backbone of support for the election of Labor at the last election – strongly approve of what the Rudd Government has done to date to protect jobs. The poll results also show that unions are getting the thumbs up as being the most likely group in Australian society to act to protect workers.

However, Paul was clear that there is no one broad stroke approach to how we protect jobs. Decisions can only be made on a case-by-case basis – because the diversity of our members’ occupations does not allow for a one-size-fi ts-all policy solution. Governments, at all levels, must play a vital role in the debate – and the solutions. He assured Delegates that the AWU is committed to protecting jobs.

Paul revealed that the Union now talks regularly with steel workers’ unions, mining unions, and other manufacturing unions, from most of the world’s countries to develop a new scale for our infl uence that grows and matches the spread of many of our global employers. He indicated that if we do not grow and ensure that a fair go for working Australians prevails, we will be unable to ensure our existing membership maintain and expand the conditions we currently enjoy. This is why the National Executive embarked on an ambitious reform program to change the way the Union works, to activate representatives, to ensure the AWU remains the nation’s largest, most powerful and effective blue collar union.

Paul told delegates that he was proud to stand with his comrades, brothers and sisters in fulfi lling a mission to create a union that is Stronger Together.

understanding the needs of working people and the pride they have in what they produce. He spoke of wanting America to build good Union jobs. In other words, Paul explained, the US President believes, as much as any of us, in what we here in Australia would call a “fair go”.

The question, Paul believes, is how do we in Australia – and in our Union – build a partnership for hope, for change and local opportunities?

Paul revealed that to fi nd the answer we must look to our proud past. He reminded delegates that “advance Australia” is not a new notion to the Union. He told Delegates that it was not some grand new plan. It’s been something the AWU in its 123-year history has been advocating over that

time. It’s called nation-building – the infrastructure spending which, is a

fundamental value of our labour movement... building up Australia to deliver a fairer, happier life for families across this continent.

Paul emphasised that the AWU has always stood for policies where governments invest in our continent – in roads, bridges,

National Secretary Paul Howes told Delegates that they must look to Union’s the past to forge the future.


■ KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Kevin Rudd / Julia Gillard / Kevin Maher

www.awu.net.au for full speeches and Conference resolutions

rime Minister Kevin Rudd opened his address to Delegates by apologising for not being able to address them in person. However, his

commitments in Canberra, with the fi rst sitting of Parliament for 2009, prevented him from attending.

The PM told Delegates that they have an important task ahead of them over the next few days as the Union forges its way ahead for the coming year. He acknowledged that 2009 will be a diffi cult year as the pressures from the global fi nancial crisis continue to impact on Australia.

He assured Delegates that he fully understands that many Australians are concerned about their jobs, however he said that the federal government has already taken early and decisive action to support growth in the Australian economy and that the Government remains ready to take what better further action is necessary to continue to support economic growth in jobs in response to the global recession.

The PM revealed that the Government has already supported some 75,000 jobs through its $10.4 billion Economic Security Strategy, which stimulated economic activity and gave a helping hand to those vulnerable groups in our society, particularly pensioners, carers, disabled people and low income families. These lump sums supported many families over the Christmas period and injected important cash into the Australian economy. The government has also taken decisive action to fast-track spending on new national infrastructure like roads, broadband, hospitals, education and local government projects. The government’s $4.7 billion Nation Building Package will help create a further 32,000 jobs.

The potential impact of this crisis on important industries such as steel, aluminium, aviation, construction, mining, manufacturing and services, the PM acknowledged, would not be lost on Delegates and AWU members. The viability of these sectors, he said, is crucial to a strong economic future for our country. He advised that governments, unions, workers and employers need to work together – to show restraint and commitment, to support existing jobs and to create new jobs across the economy as well.

The PM stressed that he believed that Australians are defi ned by their resilience. Our national character has equipped us to confront droughts, depressions and world wars and none of them has stopped us from thriving or from building a uniquely Australian way of life. The AWU, he said, has an important role to play in Australia’s efforts to respond strongly and decisively to the global fi nancial crisis.

The AWU has long played an important role in shaping the nation through its members in workplaces across the country, their families, neighbours and their friends. The PM pointed out that the AWU was at the forefront of the campaign to get rid of the former Liberal Government’s unfair WorkChoices legislation and told Delegates that the government is now fi rmly on the path to fi xing the unfairness of WorkChoices as a fi rst order of business. The AWU, he said, also played an important role in the debate about our national response to the great challenge of climate change and that through working together, the government has been able to craft a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme that strikes the balance between supporting the jobs of today and building the low pollution economy of tomorrow and the jobs of tomorrow as well.

The PM told Delegates that the AWU’s National Secretary, Paul Howes, and National President, Bill Ludwig, have been powerful advocates. He also said that in parliament, former AWU National Secretary, Bill Shorten, has made an important contribution.

The PM concluded his address by telling Delegates that together we can build an Australia which is stronger for the future.

“THE AWU HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE”

Prime Minister – Kevin Rudd

P

Due to the fi rst sitting of Parliament for 2009, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, were unable to attend the AWU National Conference. However, they both sent messages via video link to AWU Delegates acknowledging their Union as a major player in putting an end to WorkChoices and thanking them for working with the Australian Labor Party to introduce new industrial relations legislation which provides a fair go for all.

Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd addressing Delegates at the AWU National Conference.


eputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard told Delegates that the AWU’s conference comes at a turning

point for industrial relations in Australia – a time when we grasp the promise of the future without forgetting the values that made us who and what we are. The birth of those values could be traced to over a century ago when Australians decided to reject the social inequalities that characterised places such as the UK and US. This was when the Australian version of fairness began with industrial

“It is imperative that governments, big business, unions and communities sit down and plan together.”Paul Howes, AWU National Secretary

relations and the concept of sticking by your mates at work. And, she pointed out, the emergence of the AWU gave practical embodiment to these ideas.

The Deputy PM thanked the AWU for the role it played in campaigning for the end of WorkChoices and for its contribution to the new industrial relations legislation, the Fair Work Bill. She then described what she believed were the major elements of the Bill. It is based, she explained, on the belief that economic prosperity and a decent standard of living for all can go hand in hand. The Bill will put in place an industrial relations system built on a fair and comprehensive safety net of

Deputy Prime Minister – Julia Gillard

Kevin Maher

“IT’S ALL ABOUT A FAIR GO”

“WE MUST STOP THE VIOLENCE”

D

minimum employment conditions that cannot be stripped away and that workers can rely on in good and in uncertain economic times. The system, she explained, is one that has collective bargaining at its heart in good faith at the enterprise level with no provision for any statutory individual workplace agreement. It also provides protections from unfair dismissal for all employees and it provides protection and hope for a better future for the low paid. She stressed that it gives workers the right to be represented in the workplace. She assured Delegates that these rights are guaranteed and would be overseen by a new umpire, Fair Work Australia.

evin Maher, immediate past-Secretary of the AWU’s Newcastle Branch, addressed Delegates on the White

Ribbon Foundation of Australia and its aims to eliminate violence against women by promoting cultural change around the issue.

He explained that White Ribbon Day was created by a handful of Canadian men in 1991

on the second anniversary of one man’s massacre of 14 women at a university in Montreal. In 1999, the United Nations General Assembly declared November 25 the day and the White Ribbon has become its symbol. On White Ribbon Day in 2008 hundreds of thousands of White Ribbons were worn by men and women across the country. And a growing number of “Ambassadors” are now spreading the word that any form of abuse toward women, whether it is physical or emotional, is unacceptable. Ambassadors include men from all sectors of Australian life,

Kincluding politics, sport and the entertainment industry.

Kevin spoke movingly of his own family’s experience with domestic violence. His mother was physically abused by his father for many years and Kevin’s painful childhood memories of this brutality are what motivated him to do something about this extremely important issue.

He told Delegates that violence against women is a men’s issue. It is men who perpetrate it and it is their wives, mothers, sisters and daughters who suffer from it. He also informed delegates of some chilling statistics. Nearly 40 per cent of Australian women have experienced one incident of physical or sexual violence since the age of 15 and that, in the last 12 months, one in 20 women were the victims of violence. Violence against women is not confi ned to any particular social group – it occurs right across the social spectrum. And, perhaps the most chilling of all, domestic violence is becoming a growing cause of early death and disability of women.

Delegates were so moved by Kevin’s Conference address, he received a standing ovation.

Former Newcastle Branch Secretary

Kevin Maher’s moving address earned

a standing ovation.

16 theaustralianworker www.awu.net.au for full speeches and Conference resolutions

■ KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Jeff Lawerence / Martin Ferguson

n his address to Delegates, ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence congratulated the Union’s leadership

team for their re-election. He testifi ed that the AWU is an important participant in the ACTU and that the election of its National Secretary Paul Howes as ACTU Vice-President confi rms this.

Jeff told Delegates that 2008 presented three priorities – dealing with the economic crisis and jobs, getting the best industrial relations system possible and growing unions. He stated that progress had been made on these vital issues, but much more needed to be done. He pointed out that the current situation saw that even the most positive economic predictions were gloomy. In the US, unemployment is already at 7.2 per cent with 500,000 jobs being lost a month. He announced that the GDP in the United Kingdom had fallen by 1.5 per cent in the last quarter – resulting in the shedding of 100,000 jobs a month. He also revealed that the IMF has cut its forecast for global growth in 2009 from 2.2 per cent to 0.5 per cent – the lowest growth since WWII. Meanwhile, he told Delegates, China was not immune, with over 20 million rural migrant workers having lost their jobs since the crisis began.

Jeff maintained that while the downturn is beginning to bite domestically, the federal government is doing its bit to make sure the Australian

“ENTITLEMENTS’ MUST BE GUARANTEED”

Jeff Lawrence

I economy is not as badly affected as others overseas. Nevertheless, unemployment in Australia is expected to rise to 7 per cent by early 2010 – suggesting around 250,000 workers could lose their jobs.

The ACTU, Jeff asserted, has been at the forefront of the push to protect jobs since the earliest signs that Australia would not be immune from the global fi nancial crisis. It has argued for stimulus measures, proposed innovative ways of preserving jobs while retraining and reskilling the workforce and, most recently, called for a jobs summit, to be attended by unions, governments and business so we can all be on the same page fi nding solutions to the crisis.

He also told Delegates that the ACTU welcomed the announcement of the Rudd Government’s second stimulus package, with short-term support for working families and longer term infrastructure investment. Regardless of this, though, to be in line with a global target, up to 5 per cent of GDP should to be spent on job creating initiatives. Unions have already been successful in infl uencing the shape of the Government’s response to

the GFC but workers want to see these initiatives focus on job retention and creation.

Jeff revealed that the ACTU is strongly advocating for the Government to adopt a further plan to ensure employers retrain, retool, and rethink redundancy. He explained that the ACTU believes that workers’ entitlements must be guaranteed and that a universal scheme managed nationally, or by industry, or a pay-as-you-go are ways that could implement this. At a minimum, the ACTU believes legislation is needed to rank employees’ entitlements above secure creditors, with guaranteed training and assistance to get back into the workforce. The ACTU also wants to see the government invest productivity places in training, backed up with case

management, for those workers without access to

redundancy pay. These places would include

income guarantee for six months at

no less than 80 per cent of their previous income.

Jeff stressed

that

Australia cannot afford to let employers use this crisis to slash wages and conditions. The Government stimulus plan should include a submission to the Australian Fair Pay Commission to maintain minimum wages and that penalising low paid workers would be both morally and fi scally wrong. Further, big infrastructure should be brought forward – infrastructure required for future prosperity – rail, roads, ports, schools and health. The new National Broadband Network is a priority, he stressed, as it is infrastructure that creates and retains jobs, while helping to build new industries and growth opportunities for the future.

Jeff also agreed with AWU National Secretary Paul Howes, that local content in these new infrastructure projects must be maximised.

Another pressing issue, Jeff pointed out, is the reshaping of our economic architecture. This means abandoning the selfi sh pursuit of greed we have seen in recent years. It means dumping the misguided ideology of neo-liberalism we saw under the former Howard-Costello Government, and in the US, and other countries in recent years and replacing it with a more democratic approach. Where the big investment decisions are not left to the boardrooms, but where there is a proper, strong, role for the government that is transparent and accountable. If the global fi nancial crisis has taught us anything, Jeff claimed, it’s that unfettered markets don’t work.

Jeff assured Delegates that the ACTU will listen to the AWU and to what is needed. He asked Delegates for their support in working together and being part of a united union movement that stands up and delivers for all working Australians.

This is a tough time, Jeff affi rmed, but it is not without opportunity.

Right: ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence addressed Delegates and stressed the need for a focus on infrastructure. Above inset: Jeff Lawrence with AWU National Secretary Paul Howes.


n his role as Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson explained that the AWU was at the

very centre of wealth generation for the nation, in metallurgical mining, power stations, aluminium, iron and steel, cement, LNG, oil and gas, petroleum refi ning and plastics. Industry sectors that are “the lifeblood of regional Australia”.

Martin revealed that he believed that the current global fi nancial crisis presented unions with a challenging period ahead. However, he reminded Delegates that regardless of economic circumstances, the AWU’s job is the same as it has always been – to act in the best interests of its members, although he acknowledged that there would be tough decisions to make.

He stressed that regardless of the current global fi nancial crisis, a robust economic growth would return and it would be expected that the AWU to actively involved in the debate about economic recovery, working with Union members, employers and governments at every level.

Martin pointed out that while developing economies pursue modernisation and improve their economic infrastructure, they are providing a platform to lift millions of people out of poverty. But, in terms of the economic circumstances in more traditional OECD markets – Japan, the US and the EU – it is expected that as stability returns, with a healthier approach to risk, reward, real productivity and value creation, it will mean that when it comes to investment in resources and energy development, Australia must not stand still. By continuing to improve productivity and investing in export supply changes, the workforce through skills and training will help to ensure that Australia is ready for future markets. Particularly the energy demands of developing countires on our doorstep in the Asia-Pacifi c and the Indian Rim.

Martin refl ected on the Rudd Labor Government’s fi rst year in offi ce and the important and constructive role that the AWU has played in defending the jobs

“THE AWU IS NO STRANGER TO CONTROVERSIAL DEBATES”

Martin Ferguson

of its members as well as the industries they work in – industries that are vital to wealth creation in Australia.

He acknowledged that the Union’s contribution to the development of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, while standing up for its members and the industries they work in, had been a diffi cult task requiring balance. But he also stressed that the AWU has a responsibility to help ensure that those industries are internationally competitive, safe, and environmentally sustainable to make the most of Australia’s competitive advantages and natural assets.

Martin revealed that he was aware that the AWU is no stranger to controversial public policy debates and that he had particularly appreciated National President Bill Ludwig’s support over the years in achieving a pragmatic Labor platform on uranium mining at the ALP National Conference in 2007 after almost 30 years of very diffi cult and emotional debate for many in the Party. But, as Martin said, that’s what leadership is about – facing tough debates.

He also admitted that he was happy to see that the AWU’s National Secretary Paul Howes was continuing that tradition in the AWU, not only by engaging with the Government on the CPRS, but also through his decision to engage with the Opposition on emissions trading.

Martin pointed out that a sensible bipartisan policy on this important issue is in the best interests of Australian workers, Australian industry and Australian households.

Relevancy is a big challenge for the modern labour movement, Martin asserted. But this is not the time to return to protectionism or abandon the pursuit of productivity and international competitiveness.

The public policy role the AWU is playing today in defence of Australia’s most competitive, wealth-creating workers and industries, will outlive the current global fi nancial crisis and provide a genuine foundation for the long-term role of unions in the lives of working Australians in the 21st century.

Unfortunately, due to parliamentary commitments, the Minister for Resources and Energy, and Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson, was unable to attend the AWU National Conference, however, he sent a message to AWU Delegates acknowledging their Union as a major player in representing the interests of Australian workers.

“With a focus on infrastructure, we can revisit the AWU’s historical

vision for building a good life for all.” Paul Howes, AWU National Secretary

I

The Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, says that the AWU is at the very centre of wealth generation for the nation.


■ KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Paddy Crumlin / Cardinal George Pell

“CHALLENGES CREATE OPPORTUNITIES”

Paddy Crumlin

P addy Crumlin, National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), commenced his address

to Delegates by pointing out the key areas where the AWU and the MUA share common interests and industrial objectives. Mining, processing, manufacturing and shipping – manufacturing and export supply chains – are Australia’s economic heartland and the unions’ joint frames of reference.

Paddy said that building union growth through the AWU-MUA Alliance was a key to strengthening union infl uence both nationally and internationally in these key industries, thereby protecting and improving working conditions and entitlements for all workers.

The international dimension to strength building, Paddy said, was fundamentally important. The industries covered by the AWU-MUA Alliance – aluminium, cement, agriculture, steel, hydrocarbons and marine tourism, as examples – are globalised. They are depending on foreign capital investment, global technology transfer and on import/export fl ows. In this environment, it is necessary to constructively engage with it to effectively represent members’ interests. There is much to be gained in forging international fraternal links with other unions across these industries. Sharing resources such as research plays an integral part in keeping abreast of global corporations

and their spheres of interest. Alliances, such as the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF) and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and general Workers’ Unions (ICEM) are pivotal in coordinating global projects and campaigns and unifying common interests. Paddy gave examples of the MUA’s involvement with the ITF’s Offshore Task Force bringing together transport unions in the offshore oil and gas sector and the formation of bilateral and regional alliances, for example, an agreement with the Seafarers International Union of the US and the formation of the Trans-Tasman Transport Unions Federation, among others. Forming and strengthening these alliances leverage power when seeking to negotiate International Framework Agreements (IFAs) with key multinational corporations.

Domestically, Paddy explained the formal alliances his union had forged with the AWU. These included the AWU-MUA Hydrocarbons Alliance, which maintains a strong union presence in a national strategic industry. The Alliance also synergises agreement making, wages and working conditions, skills and career paths, safety, security, superannuation and job security. Meanwhile, the AWU-MUA Dive

Tourism Alliance synergises the two unions’ joint objective to organise unorganised workers in the industry and to provide effective representation for an exploited workforce in precarious work.

While union alliances are packed with real and potential benefi ts, Paddy was quick to point out that there is no wisdom in forging an alliance that is all about reputation rather than real power. And real power, Paddy explained, lay in the effective joint lobbying of government and industry on big issues such as climate change and the development of the Emissions Trading Scheme, industry policies strengthening safety regulators and working together (with the ACTU) to formulate clear and meaningful public policy positions.

Challenges create opportunities, Paddy said. And while the global fi nancial crisis has caused shock waves, that was not an excuse for organisations such as unions

to retreat. Unions, he said, must lead in the defence of job and income security. He also asserted that the current climate provides an opportunity for the union movement to infl uence government policy on stimulus packages and infrastructural spending priorities, as well as social support measures (including tax policies), immigration policies and on workforce planning and skills and training.

Paddy concluded his address by assuring Delegates that the MUA is committed to further building its formal and informal alliances with the AWU. He said that both unions have built a solid foundation through trust and mutual respect. The application of this alliance has been used in practical ways, based on a scientifi c organising approach in various sectors. The next phase, he said, is to work on successful regional and international alliances and joint initiatives.

“The Union talks regularly to other unions around the world to develop a new scale of infl uence.” Paul Howes, AWU National Secretary

Paddy Crumlin and Paul Howes.

MUA Secretary Paddy Crumlin is proud of the AWU-MUA Alliance.


“UNIONS ARE GOOD AND NECESSARY”

Cardinal George Pell

C this way, but they were only a small part of the story regarding the current fi nancial and economic catastrophe.

On a positive note, Cardinal Pell revealed that the AWU are making the basic claim that successful societies need not only fi nancial capital and education, but decent, hard-working and honest men and women; what we are calling social capital.

He pointed out that having confi dence in government or in the judgement of others is acceptable; to be apathetic about how they perform or about the standards they are willing to tolerate, is not. Apathy on the part of those charged with protecting the public interest should equally be unacceptable.

Some things foster social capital and others run it down, Cardinal Pell stressed. Having a job is critically important. Unemployment hits people hard; fi nancially, fi rst and foremost of course, but it also affects personal resilience, reduces participation, and increases isolation in the community. He asserted that unions have a signifi cant role to play, both in defending and creating jobs, and in keeping workers who have lost their jobs connected to an invaluable network of support and resources. He commended the AWU for making jobs a focus of this year’s national conference.

ardinal George Pell, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, declared that he was proud to address the AWU National

Conference and told Delegates that he has always believed that unions are good and necessary for Australian life. He also revealed that his faith’s social teaching also supports unions and that way back in 1891 Pope Leo XIII set the agenda by formally endorsing the rights of workers to organise in unions to better their conditions and obtain a living wage.

Cardinal Pell refl ected that society is enriched by human capital constitutedby education, experience, personal skills; by fi nancial capital of income and assets and by social capital. He also pointed out that social capital is not by defi nition hostile to the free market.

He reminded Delegates that we are all presently embroiled in the most extreme set of economic problems in his lifetime, indeed since the Great Depression. He pointed out that greed and irresponsibility were major contributing causes, but so were old-fashioned lies and dishonesty. And, he explained, the result was worsened by the erosion and poisoning of social capital. He gave the example of Enron, the seventh largest company in the US, before its spectacular collapse.

Dishonesty about profi ts and about off-the-books energy deals aided by erroneous fi scal accounting caused the implosion. Enron was only one of many companies to collapse in

Left His Eminence Cardinal George Pell addresses the AWU Conference. From below left: Cardinal George Pell chats with Cesar Melhem, AWU Victorian Branch Secretary; Cardinal Pell and AWU National Secretary Paul Howes in their AWU caps; Cardinal Pell (centre) observing the proceedings.


■ STRONGER TOGETHER: Delegates and friends of the AWU

“This Conference will shape the AWU’s destiny for decades to come.” Bill Ludwig, AWU National President

des to come. AWU sident

or the Þ rst time in nearly a quarter of a century the Australian Workers� Union has been elected to a leadership position on the executive of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). During

the ACTU Executive meeting in December 2008, AWU National Secretary, Paul Howes, was elected to the position of ACTU Vice-President.

�As the leader of Australia�s biggest blue collar union it is indeed an honour to be elected to this post working closely with the ACTU�s President, Sharan Burrow and Secretary, Jeff Lawrence,� Paul said.

Paul joins Australian Services Union�s Assistant National Secretary, Linda White; Australian Education Union Federal Secretary, Susan Hopgood; CFMEU National Secretary, John Su" on; and Health Services Union National Secretary, Kathy Jackson as ACTU Vice-Presidents. Joe de Bruyn, National Secretary of the SDA, is the ACTU�s Senior Vice-President.

Struggles and victoriesThe ACTU represents two million Australian workers and their families. Since its creation in 1927, this supreme union body has spearheaded some of the most fundamental workplace struggles in Australia�s history. The industrial gains are many: decades of wage increases through the award system and campaigns in the Þ eld, safer workplaces, greater equality for women, improvements in working hours, entitlements to paid holidays and be" er employment conditions, and the establishment of a universal superannuation system.

The ACTU played an instrumental role in bringing down WorkChoices with the �Your

F

AWU AT THE ACTU


AWU’s National Secretary Paul Howes was recently elected to be a Vice-President of the ACTU – and our Union couldn’t be prouder.

WRITTEN BY KATE BARBER PHOTOS FAIRFAX

Our voice for the future


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“The ACTU has not just fought for workers’ rights, it has also played a role in social justice issues in the community as well.”

Spotlight ACTU1927: The ACTU was formed in a period of intense industrial turmoil when a conservative anti-union government was in power.

1930s: During the Depression there was a cut to award rates. When the recovery began in 1933, the ACTU fought for workers’ right to share in the regrowth by having the award wages restored.

1940s: Embraced the ALP’s “populate or perish” policy which encouraged immigration.

1941: Won the right to one week’s annual leave for workers and sick leave. Throughout the years, annual leave was increased to four weeks (1970), the right to maternity leave – unpaid – was won (1971) and long-service leave rights were gained (1953).

1946-1948: The ACTU campaigned for and won the case for a 40-hour week for workers.

1974: Equal pay for equal work was won for women workers.

1980s: The 38-hour week was included in many awards.

1984: ACTU test case established a standard of eight weeks’ redundancy pay as an award right for sacked workers.

1986: ACTU won 3 per cent universal superannuation for all award workers.

1995: Hazardous chemicals campaign.

1996: Dangerous machinery and equipment campaign.

1997: Stress at work campaign.

1998: Work overload campaign.

1999: Dangerous hours campaign.

2000: Bullying at work campaign.

2002: Endorsed Australia’s fi rst 10-year national Occupational Health and Safety strategy.

Rights at Work� campaign which began in 2005. Along with a range of unions, including the AWU, it united the hard-working people of Australia against laws that were going to turn back the clock on the decent system of workplace laws fought for by unions for over a 100 years � fair take home pay, job security, and conditions like leave and penalty rates. This campaign helped vote out the Howard Liberal Government in 2007. Other recent campaigns include: securing a deal with James Hardie to compensate asbestos victims and working to secure reasonable working hours for workers.

Working for today and tomorrowThe ACTU is currently campaigning for: collective bargaining to be restored in the new industrial relations laws; paid maternity leave

of at least 14 weeks to be a new national employment standard; equal rights for construction workers; a be" er deal for Telstra workers who have been pushed into individual agreements; a national system of Occupational Health and Safety laws; wage increases for workers on a minimum wage; and �green collar� jobs that take into account climate change.

The ACTU has not just fought for workers� rights, it has also played a role in social justice issues in the community as well. It contributed to Australia�s post-war development and immigration program, our social security system, Medicare and education, to name a few areas.

The ACTU also has international links and through them campaigns for global rights including the co-ordinated pursuit of employment and international labour standards such as the end of child labour.


remember being elected Delegate at

my fi rst job in a Townsville engineering

shop. I was 18 at the time, and there

were quite a few other young blokes

in the shop too. I defi nitely thought

it was time for a generational change, so they all

said “yeah, take it on.”

My family were conservative voters –

they were Liberal/National Party supporters

– so it went down real well around the dinner

table when I said I’d just become the shop steward!

It wasn’t long after that that I joined Young Labor

as well.

There were probably 90 to 100 men there,

and a lot of the older blokes were metal tradesmen,

ex-wharfi es or shearers – they had a strong union

culture. I think that’s something that’s missing

today. Blokes then would buy their union ticket

before buying their groceries.

You knew what the Union was about because

the older blokes you worked with were always

quick to remind you.

The younger workers coming on to a job

today with all the benefi ts that they enjoy – like

annual leave, sick leave, RDOs, WorkCover,

superannuation, penalties and overtime – they

seem to think all this happened 100 years ago.

But I can tell you it’s within my working lifetime,

from the early ‘70s onwards.

If anything, the union movement has done

too good of a job gaining these benefi ts.

Young blokes today think that the boss gives

them the things that union members have

fought long and hard for, and they can just

stick their hand out without contributing

to the cost by dodging their union ticket.

Australian workers got a taste of what

life would be like without a strong union

wMEET THE OFFICIALS

Imovement under the Howard Government’s WorkChoices legislation

and unless the message gets through to the younger workers

that without the Union they are going to have all these hard won

conditions taken away from them.

I grew up in a suburb in Townsville which had a very high Aboriginal

population so spent a lot of my early years working with Aboriginal

mates and playing football and cricket and all the stuff that you do.

In the last 15 or 16 years I’ve spent a fair amount of my time working

with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members.

The tyranny of distance in my organising area is a problem.

The most remote AWU member in Australia works on Saibai Island,

which is within walking distance of the New Guinea shoreline at

low tide. But over the years I’ve managed to set up a good network

of reps. I have some really excellent reps in the Torres Strait and

Cape York area who are obviously invaluable to us.

I spend a lot of my organising time out on the road in the

bush, either driving or on a ferry or walking around communities.

I enjoy it, I think it’s a great area because I get to meet some

really interesting people. The AWU is the only union that’s ever

serviced the bush in Queensland – that’s where we started and

we still have a strong membership in the remote Local

Government authorities throughout North Queensland. It’s

a fascinating area.

One of the recent highlights that really makes the job worthwhile

was establishing a career path for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Health Workers, which now allows them to obtain qualifi cations and

advance through higher pay levels.

Another one recently has been achieving a union collective

agreement for the new Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council,

which is fi nally ensuring that all those workers are getting at least

the Award wage or better, after 20-odd years of being underpaid.

I’ve never viewed people as either being black or white. When

I have a meeting of workers I don’t see black people or white

people, I just see workers.

Last year when I was having a meeting with some Torres Strait

Island members at a health centre, one of them said to me, “Brother,

we don’t think of you as our Organiser, we think of you as family.”

I don’t think I’ll ever get a better compliment than that.

Darryl Noack

Name DarrylNoack

Job AWU Queensland Far Northern District Secretary

And… A veteran construction industry Organiser who currently represents all industry sectors across Australia’s remotest regions, including hundreds of Aboriginal and Islander workers in Cape York and Torres Strait.

“Brother, we don’t think of you as

our Organiser, we think of

you as family.”


“It’s like an argument of one versus 100 or 1000 – 1000 voices is going

to be heard louder than

one.”

joined the Union when I started

working there on the very fi rst day.

Being a passionate team man, joining

the Union was an obvious choice.

When I was training, I found out that

the AWU started off as a shearers’ union. Both my

grandpas were farmers – out on the Mallee. In my

holidays and when I left school I used to rouseabout

and stuff like that around the shearing shed.

So it’s quite funny – I didn’t have any infl uence

from anybody about unions at that time. But then

when I found the Union, I found the one that was

quite applicable to me back in my younger days.

I wanted to be in a strong group, which we are,

and which we proved when we (the former

company) were in administration (in 2004-05).

We all got on buses, went into Parliament House

and made sure that our rights were ahead of

(other) stakeholders.

In the end, we all kept our jobs and Harley-

Davidson – with the support of the (SA Rann

Labor) Government – actually bought the company.

It was the fi rst subsidiary group they’d bought

in 50-odd years.

They (Harley-Davidson) looked around the world

(for an alternative supplier), but no-one could beat

our effi ciency rates, and that comes down

to our members being good at their jobs. So all

of us kept our jobs, which was a big win – it was

massive. (That depended on us) sticking together,

being strong together.

We all stand up for the rights of the workers, but

ultimately it comes back to the workers sometimes.

Nine times out of 10, it’s the worker’s responsibility

for what he or she does. At New Castalloy we are a

little bit lucky that we’re pretty much 90 to 95 per

cent unionized over the whole plant.

So us sticking together was the biggest thing.

IIt’s like an argument of one versus 100 or 1000 – 1000 voices is going

to be louder than one. At that time, WorkChoices was looming and the

ideal of the employer power. That didn’t happen.

Also, I think the leadership of the Union – especially by (site Convener)

Peter Lamps – is a key part of being such a strong Union at New Castalloy.

As an arm of leadership for the Union in the workplace, I would go and

try to talk amicably to company leadership when policies and procedures

are changing. I attend to member issues and respond to problems that

occur when things are not in line with company policy.

I will try to talk with employees and employers in such a way that they

can understand the point I’m trying to put across, where the information

is in front of them so they can either take it, or leave it.

So we’ll go through it all and try to get them to budge on certain things

that they want to put through. So it comes down to the leadership and the

way you deal with your policies as well. If you’ve got strong policies for

the worker, it’s obviously going to help the worker in times of need.

Seventy-fi ve per cent of our product goes to America, so we are

susceptible to the American market, which makes the workers a little bit

wary about their jobs. But being in a union, being nearly a fully unionised

place, they feel a bit more comfortable being in the Union for security.

The reason why I joined the Union, the reason why I became a Delegate,

the reason why I became a Branch Executive (Member) is to help the

working-class person and to be an advocate for fairness.

Matthew Eckert

wMEET THE DELEGATES

Name Matthew Eckert

Job AWU Delegate and OH&S Rep at Harley-Davidson’s New Castalloy wheel plant in Adelaide where he works as an Audit Inspector.

And… He is also a member of the AWU SA Branch Executive. He became involved in the Union on his very fi rst day in a machine shop 12 years ago.

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BOB ELLIS


Malcolm Turnbull elbowed his way to

the top job in the Liberal Party. But is he of the huge ego

and pretentious bluster deserving

of this lofty place?

WRITTEN BY BOB ELLIS ILLUSTRATION MYLES

Turnbull at a gate

urious how quickly Malcolm dwindled, and seems now, lately, the size of a garden gnome. When he wasn�t yet Leader he seemed (like that other Malcolm) to tower

over the embatt led midget who was. Once he was in the saddle he dug in the spurs and

Cgalloped mightily over a cliff yelling war cries. And he�s still falling, I think.

Or that�s how it seems to me, but I�m biased probably. I Þ rst met him when he was 18, an apprentice playwright, and he seems the same cocksure adolescent campus dum-bum now as he did then, targeting high-ß iers, shouldering aside the meek and able rivals, throwing his dick


◆

“It’s why we aren’t a Republic now. It had to be all Malcolm’s way, or the highway. He had to be the great cause’s principal navigator, or we could all go to buggery...”

around, ß att ering Jack Lang, referring to himself in the third person in the travel pieces he wrote for Sydney University�s student publication, honi soit, declaring he�d be Prime Minister someday, someday prett y soon, not caring which party he�d honour with his leadership, kicking down doors for various reasons. If asked then to sum him up in an adjective I�d have said �impatient�. And he�s still that way. Turnbull-at-a-gate, Turnbull-in-a-china-shop. If you hear he�s coming, lock up your fragile crockery.

This quality showed when, a few days aft er his belated coronation, the economy melted down. He could have done what any sensible politician in that situation would have done. He could have said, �This is the economic equivalent of war, and we must rally together against a common foe. The Prime Minister therefore has my full support. If he needs any detailed advice on how merchant banks can fall into error and plunge into disaster I will be glad to off er it. If he doesn�t I will support him anyway, as any decent Australian would, in these diffi cult, dangerous, unpredictable times of world crisis, and I and my Party will expedite whatever legislation he and his Treasurer propose.�

Top-shelf whineBut he didn�t. He carped and squawked and cavilled, aft er saying he wouldn�t. He complained he wasn�t being consulted. He said he wanted to be part of a �War Cabinet�. Like a high-paid lawyer, he was forever on his feet and shouting �Objection, Your Honour.� He didn�t see how foolish this looked. It was his mob aft er all � merchant bankers � who had got us into all this trouble in the Þ rst place. And it was his old Þ rm, Goldman Sachs � which had paid him $50 million (or such was the rumoured sum) to go away � that had massively contributed to the economic avalanche currently swamping the world.

Any competent party leader so placed would mind his manners. But not Malcolm. Itchy for notoriety, he had to keep sticking his bib in. In the Batt le of Britain he would have been on his feet all the time in the House of Commons wondering if the SpitÞ re was a good enough

weapon and scornfully mocking Winston Churchill�s lisp and deriding his bow ties.

Why is he like this? He suff ers, I think, from OCSCS, the Only Child School Captain Syndrome, the need to be always the centre of att ention, always commanding the spotlight and yelling war cries.

It�s why we aren�t a Republic now. It had to be all Malcolm�s way, or the highway. He had to be the great cause�s principal navigator, or we could all go to buggery, he wasn�t playing, he was taking his bat and ball and going home. Turnbull at a gate. Turnbull in a china shop.

Back to schoolIt�s a theory well worth considering, I think, that most of the Liberals are still, emotionally, in short pants. Abbott and Costello like jeering schoolyard bullies. Wilson Tuckey lurking in the alley like Tiger Kelly, waiting to bash you up on your way home. John Howard, the class sneak. Alexander Downer the teacher�s pet. None of them emotionally more than nine years old. All of them frozen at the age they were when they Þ rst went to boarding school or their beloved pet dog Towser died.

It�s why they locked up Afghans in barbed-wire cages. And told the Aboriginal stolen children how lucky they were. And came aft er wharÞ es with big black dogs on chains. They have the simplistic, two-Þ sted responses of children. Get him. Grab him. Shove his head in the toilet. That will show him.

Why they prove to be like this goes back to infancy, I think. They were bott le-fed. Or raised by nannies. Or their fathers were too busy to play them much heed. Or, as in Malcolm�s case, their mother scarpered when they were nine.

What a volcanic, spitt ing misery that must have left Malcolm in. How much he must feel it still today. How much he must feel he missed out on as a boy. How might this be taken out on the nation, if he ever gets his hands round its throat?

Most Liberal leaders are like this, I think. They principally want revenge. They want to stick it to their childhood persecutors. Debnam, Kennett , Greiner, Costello, Howard, Downer, Ruddock, Bronwyn Bishop all had this bott led fury and showed it.

A HELPING HAND


Below: Before politics beckoned, Mick Young started

working life as a shearer. Right: Mick was convinced

that it was lack of money that stopped people

accessing education.

It’s not academic ability that keeps people from challenging backgrounds out of further education. Before he passed away, Mick Young – former shearer, AWU great and Labor legend – recognised this and decided to do something about it.WRITTEN BY JULIA RICHARDSON PHOTOS GETTY IMAGES/SUPPLIED

where there’s a will,there’s a way

ack in the early �80s when he was the local member for Port Adelaide � before his days as one of the brightest stars in the dynamic Hawke cabinet � Mick Young established a scholarship

fund. Mick was absolutely convinced that there were people in Port Adelaide who wanted to help themselves out of welfare dependency by gett ing an education. And he was just as sure that the one thing stopping them making it to the end of school and into college was money. Not thousands of dollars. Perhaps not even hundreds of dollars. Oft en it was just a matt er of the few bucks needed for a train fare or a set of exercise books.

Mick died in 1996 at the age of just 59. Aft er his death, his wife Mary and his daughter Janine with the support of many of Mick�s friends and colleagues decided to turn the Port Adelaide scholarship into a national program of Þ nancial assistance. Since it was established in 1997 the Mick Young Scholarship Trust (MYST) has helped thousands of would-be students across Australia, paying for textbooks, child care, transport and safety gear � the small things that can become insurmountable obstacles to anyone on a limited budget.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan was a trustee from the time the Trust started until the Rudd Labor Government took offi ce last year.

B�The Trust does a fantastic job supporting

a cross section of students who just need that litt le bit of extra Þ nancial help to get through their studies,� says the honourable member. �To some of us the money might not seem like a lot but for many of these recipients it can make all the diff erence in helping them complete their studies.�

It�s just a few dollars, but it�s changed lives.

The Mick Young Scholarship Trust has helped thousands of would-be students across Australia, paying for textbooks,

child care, transport and safety gear – the small things that can become insurmountable

obstacles to anyone on a limited budget.


In 1980, Rob Churches was a 17-year-old school kid living around Ferryden Park and Angle Park in Adelaide. It was harsh. It was rough. Rob was the sixth of seven kids. His dad had two jobs. His mum worked at the school canteen. Keeping the family going, day to day, was a genuine struggle.

Rob’s older brothers and sisters had all left school before their fi nal year, either to get work or to take up apprenticeships. His mates, too, had left at the end of Year 10 for the same reason. But Rob had stayed on to fi nish Year 12 at the Parks Community School.

“I was pretty lucky. I had some really good mates. And we weren’t silly. There’s no way known we were stupid. But most of them left to get apprenticeships because that was the one way to get a job down there,” says Rob. “I don’t know. Maybe I was a bit scared to go out there and try to get a job. But I’ve never been all that great with my hands and so that’s what I did.”

By the end of the year, Rob got the news that he’d been accepted into Teachers College for the following year.

“I was happy,” he says in a measured sort of way, “but deep down I didn’t think I’d go through with it.”

Going to Teachers College meant buying books. It meant spending money on fees. It meant fi nding a few more dollars here and there in a family that simply didn’t have the dollars to

spare. About halfway through the fi rst term, Rob injured himself playing footy and missed a few days of College. Then he missed a few more. Then he knew that he wasn’t going back.

“When you live in that sort of area, if you’re given an excuse to chuck it in, you chuck it in,” he says. “If, deep inside yourself, you know that it’s not right for you to be successful and then society

gives you the opportunity to fail then you say: ‘Well, I knew that was going to happen anyway…’”

And that’s when Rob got lucky. His old school principal was also a member of the local footy team and when he heard that Rob was letting things slide he stepped in.

“He said: ‘Well, that’s not the right thing to do,’” recalls Rob fondly. “He saw potential in me.”

In a short time, Rob’s old school principal had found him a stop-gap job as a pool attendant and helped him to write an application for a new scholarship recently set up by local member Mick Young at the Port Adelaide branch of the ALP. Back then it was known as the Port Adelaide ALP Scholarship and Rob became the inaugural scholarship recipient.

At Mick’s wake in 1996, a group of family and friends including his wife Mary, his daughter Janine and a number of ALP party luminaries promised to make a mighty legacy out of the scholarship. Since 1997, it’s been known as the Mick Young Scholarship, in honour of the man who started it all.

Rob’s storyMick himself was one of a small panel of people who

interviewed the teenager from the Parks. Needless to say, Rob was overwhelmed by that meeting – and by the news that the scholarship was his and that he’d be heading back to College.

“I remember thinking: now I’ve really got to do it!”And do it, he did. With the scholarship covering his union fees

and book expenses, Rob made it all the way through to the end of his teaching degree. The money made a difference, of course, but Rob believes quite passionately that the effect the scholarship ultimately had on his life had to do with much more than dollars and cents. It had to do with the feeling that there were people who believed in him, honourable people who had a stake in his future.

“In days gone by, when things got tough, I would have just chucked the towel in,” he says now. “I couldn’t do that once I had the scholarship.”

Rob remembers that Mick’s involvement didn’t begin and end with a cheque in the mail at the start of each year. Mick would call now and again to see how the young student was going and perhaps give him a little bit of a push along. And now and again he’d call Rob’s mum and dad, too.

“My mum and dad were great. They worked bloody hard to give all of us a chance but they just weren’t able to do everything,” says Rob, who has two kids of his own now. “I think when I gave college away they probably despaired a bit. In our area there were drugs and all that sort of thing and if I’d spent another year out, who knows what would have happened. I think they probably feared for that. So when the scholarship came along – when Mick Young came along – they were over the moon.”

So motivated was he to do the right thing by Mick and his wife Mary, by his own mum and dad, by his old principal and everyone who’d shown an interest in him, Rob found himself achieving things he never before thought were in his reach.

“It showed me that I could do things. Because of the faith that was put in to me, I was able to do things that in the past, no way known I would have been able to do.”

These days Rob is the senior IT specialist teacher at Immanuel College, a prestigious private secondary school in Adelaide.

“It’s still hard for me to believe that I’ve been a teacher for more than 20 years let alone being a teacher at a school like Immanuel College. Me, a lad from the Parks,” he laughs.

But a career path isn’t the only thing he gained by being a scholarship recipient. Rob is fond of saying, for example, that the scholarship introduced him to his future wife, Bette, who was also studying at Teachers College. He also knows that it brought enormous joy to his parents.

“They’re no longer with us, but my mum and dad, particularly my mum, would pray for Mick even after he died because he was very, very important to the scholarship and very important to me.”

And it had an infl uence over the people around him. “I think if you’re in a hard area and people can see you get out

of it then it’s kind of like osmosis – other people get out as well.”Over the years, Rob has often spoken at fundraising events for

the Mick Young Scholarship Trust, standing up and telling his story of faith, hope and achievement to audiences of well-heeled businessman and hugely-infl uential politicians.

“I’m a very nervous person,” he says, “and I’m horrendously horrifi ed when I have to do it. But, truly, there’s nothing I couldn’t or wouldn’t do to help because Janine, Mick and Mary have done so much for me. They’re a part of my family.”

“In days gone by, when things got tough, I would have just chucked the towel in. I couldn’t do that once I had the scholarship.”

Above: Rob Churches (far right) with his family. He was the fi rst recipient of what was to become the Mick Young Scholarship.

A HELPING HAND


◆

By the time she was a teenager, Ngaire Patiole had been in and out of 16 different schools. Her stepfather worked in saw mills and moved the family from town to town as jobs came and went. When she arrived at her fi rst high school her teachers told her something she knew too well already: she couldn’t read.

“I told them: ‘I’m about to leave school at 15, but if you put me in a special class to help me, I’ll stay,’” says Ngaire, looking back on what she calls the “pretty poor schooling” of her childhood.

The school tested both Ngaire and her sister. Ngaire’s sister was sent to a special class for help with her basic literacy skills, but the test had indicated that Ngaire didn’t need extra help and she was sent back to the classroom, where she fl oundered.

“I was always in the middle. I wasn’t really bad but I wasn’t good either. I was always in the middle. Even later when I went to fi nd a job: they sent me back to the dole offi ce and sent my sister off for training. I was always left in the middle. So I ended up struggling to do anything.”

And so she drifted on. She lived on the streets. She endured abuse. In time, she had children and then those children had children of their own. And still she struggled to read or write.

Then, a few short years ago, Ngaire looked around at her adult kids and saw that they were starting to drift, too. That’s when she decided that she had to do something bold. She enrolled to do some basic literacy and numeracy courses at Mount Druitt TAFE in Sydney.

“I just felt that I had to get up and do something to encourage the kids. Me sitting around is not showing the kids a good example,” says Ngaire. “And they were so proud. My son was on the phone telling his girlfriend: ‘Guess what my mum’s doing!’”

Ngaire did so well with her basic skills that the teachers at TAFE suggested she come back to do a Year 10 equivalent. She was sceptical but she gave it a go and found that she was getting through the work quite easily. Then a bad back forced her husband out of work. Without his income, Ngaire found it diffi cult to scrape together the bus fare to and from TAFE let alone the bigger bucks she needed for books and stationery. And she was conscious of the fact that her clothes were looking shabby. After a while she confi ded to friends and teachers that she was going to have to give it away.

“It was really bad for me,” she says, remembering the desolation of that decision. “Giving up is just not me. I just have to complete something. I can’t not fi nish something.”

Luckily, one of the TAFE teachers told her about the Mick Young Scholarship Trust. Ngaire was embarrassed, ashamed even, but her teacher insisted that she had to apply for a scholarship.

“Getting the money was a big thing,” she says, sounding relieved even now. “And the people from the Trust – they boost you up. They really make you feel good.”

The fi nancial support she got from the Trust saw her through her Year 10 equivalent. Then she went on to do her Year 12 equivalent. Last year she completed an Aged Care certifi cate.

Ngaire has done what she set out to do: she has proven to her family just what they’re capable of achieving.

“My son didn’t have a job when I started,” she says. “Then he said: ‘If Mum can do that, I can do that.’ Last year he got the job he wanted. It’s just showing the kids: don’t give up.”

Ngaire also managed to persuade her youngest daughter to come along to TAFE with her when she was doing her Year 12

ContactsFrom each according to their ability...The Mick Young Scholarship Trust is a tax deductible charity. If you’re interested in making a donation, large or small, email Greg Bates at [email protected]

...to each according to their need.If you’re a student and you’re interested in applying to the Mick Young Scholarship Trust for some fi nancial assistance, email Greg Bates at [email protected]

Ngaire’s storyequivalent. She did – and this year starts a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Western Sydney.

And there have been unexpected benefi ts, too. For the best part of two decades Ngaire had been searching for a copy of A Lonesome Road, a book written by her uncle, Marshall Hall. Hall was an early advocate for the treatment of alcoholics in Australia and the book chronicles Hall’s own fi ght back from the depths of addiction.

“I’d been looking for it for 17 years and when I was at TAFE they showed me some tricks I could use to fi nd it. And I found it this year. I found a few copies and I sent them to my uncles and aunties. They’re 70 and 80 now and they’re never going to see it if they don’t see it now. It was so good. It was so exciting to fi nd that book and read it.”

Just a few years ago, Ngaire would leaf through the pages of a newspaper and simply wonder what it all meant. These days she’s reading through the employment pages keeping an eye out for a job in aged care. She’s also started writing poetry.

“I can do things now that I thought I’d never be able to do,” she says with enormous pride. “I’ve changed a tremendous lot.”

“My son didn’t have a job when I started studying at TAFE. Then he said: ‘If Mum can do that, I can do that.’ Last year he got the job he wanted. It’s

just showing the kids: don’t give up.”

Below: Ngaire Patoile used the scholarship to help her through TAFE. After years of not being able to read, she has now completed an Aged Care certifi cate.


URBAN ART ATTACK

Political dissidents have always used graffi ti. Then, suddenly, graffi ti became the meaningless squiggles of anonymous “taggers”. Now, a new wave of graffi ti is hitting our walls in the form of spectacular murals created by talented artists.WRITTEN BY AIDAN ORMOND PHOTOS AIDAN ORMOND/BANKSY

out loud!spray it

theaustralianworker 57

raffi ti is an ugly stain on our landscape. Squiggly symbols known as �tags� are increasingly visible on train lines, hoardings, school walls, under bridges and, frustratingly, on private

property such as shopfronts and people�s homes. It seems so pointless.

What�s more, you rarely catch the aerosol can vandal in the act as they are o" en scrawling while we�re sleeping. But when an aerosol can is in the hands of artisans like Jack and Pedro of [email protected] it takes on a whole new meaning.

These Sydney-based graffi ti artists produce dazzling murals for a growing client base in and around street-art hotspot, Newtown. Self taught, they are part of

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www.awu.net.au

Left: Sydney-based mural artists Jack (left) and Pedro. Above: Commissioned by residents in the inner-Sydney suburb of Newtown, this Dreamtime-inspired mural, celebrating Reconciliation, was created by Jack and Pedro. Top: A striking yet-to-be-completed project Jack and Pedro are working on.


URBAN ART ATTACK

a global culture proving that aerosol cans and public spaces can go hand-in-hand.

Take this home in Sydney (pictured previous page). Commissioned by the owner, the vibrant Dreamtime scene (a celebration of Reconciliation) has given the area a new lease of life for a wall

regularly tagged. Jack and Pedro�s creative process began with preliminary sketches on the wall rather than on paper, thereby allowing for changes on the ß y as the creative juices ß owed.

�We bounced ideas around, ruminating on it, adding, changing, Þ lling in spaces, outlining that, buffi ng this,� says Jack. Over three magical weeks, the pair toiled full-time to transform the side of the house.

�The wall was quite dark so we got light, desert-like creams and browns of exterior buff paint acrylic. Then we laid down a lot of the light desert tones,� he explains.

And the duo�s philosophy could be spreading. The nearby Marrickville Youth Resource Centre recently held a two-day aerosol art workshop

where youngsters learnt techniques such as drop shadows, shading and highlighting.

The end result was an impressive anti-war mural which, when you look back in history, is a good example of graffi ti as a tool for freedom of speech. Take Northern Ireland, for example.

Belfast�s Shankill and Falls Roads were strongholds of support on both sides of the bloody 20-year Northern Ireland conß ict.

Politically charged murals depicting messages of support and images of heroes from both sides were regularly produced on homes

just like Jack and Pedro�s Dreamtime wall.There are many other examples. In Poland,

when Lech Walesa�s Solidarity movement was banned and martial law was imposed in the 1980s, protesters used graffi ti on walls to publicly express their feelings (something the Poles also did during WWII when underground Þ ghters would scrawl anti-Nazi graffi ti on walls and change German signs back into Polish).

It�s a diff erent type of war, but Jack and Pedro�s crew (Mark and Seb round it out)

Picasso of aerosolBanksy is the Picasso of street art. A politically aware, humorous, shadowy fi gure (few have actually seen him), the Englishman’s thought-provoking work has lead to worldwide acclaim and fans such as Christina Aguilera, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

This counter-culture star has produced many photo-realistic artworks in England, the West Bank, and the US. He has even fooled major museums by sneaking in and installing his own work (the British Museum later added his piece to their permanent collection).

Comically, council cleaners almost scrubbed off his entire piece of work when Banksy produced a mural in Sydney’s Newtown around fi ve years ago.

Banksy has also visited Melbourne, and gives it his royal seal of approval saying in a UK newspaper, “Witty, playful, often angry, the free rein taken by Melbourne’s street artists became about much more than just daubing a wall.

“It has drawn in generations of artists, thinkers and tourists to explore and experiment in the city.”

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Top: A Banksy postcard. Above: Dorothy and Toto from The Wizard of Oz being searched by a soldier.

Clockwise from left: Both freehand spraying and stencil art are techniques used by muralists; even street art isn’t safe from “taggers”; a tiger roars in a back lane in Sydney’s Newtown; a mural inspired by movie posters; a growing number of small businesses display their trade with murals, such as this Indian grocery shop; and angry octopuses add comic relief to a dull, grey streetscape.

Did you know?Australian political graffi ti history can be traced back to

Melbourne in 1955. “Keon Traitor to ALP” was scrawled on a Richmond factory wall (referring to an MP who joined the

Democratic Labor Party). Some 40 years later, this graffi ti was considered for classifi cation by the National Trust.


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Melbourne’s mural cultureWhile Newtown may be Sydney’s street art hotspot, Melbourne’s city laneways are Victoria’s equivalent.

What’s more, the authorities in Victoria have embraced their “alley galleries”. Laneways such as Hosier Lane are listed on the offi cial Victorian tourism website and you can even take organised walking tours of the area.

And Heritage Victoria has supported a move to protect the area – which features eye-catching murals from street artist stars such as “Meggs” and “Fafi ” – despite opposition from some councils.

“In Melbourne, you can always fi nd places to paint,” notes Jack. “And the authorities are a bit more lenient.”

feel aerosol art has been unfairly tagged � no pun intended � by unskilled school kids that have no knowledge or interest in the history and culture of graffi ti.

�Now it�s more accessible, anyone can get a graff mag or go online and copy what we do,� Pedro explains. �When we were growing up, the politics and history of graffi ti was a lot more instilled into us. We weren�t allowed to tag everywhere. You had to have some skill.�

What�s more, Jack adds that a mural for a home or business (some councils may require permission, so check Þ rst before unleashing your artistic vision), can be more cost-eff ective than constantly painting over the tagging.

�It�s our problem if someone tags over our name and our work� he says. �Graffi ti-proof coating isn�t the end of it � you must pay for a graffi ti remover spray too. But the owner doesn�t have to worry. We�ve got the same paints in a stash... we can touch up damages the next day.�

With that as a neat selling point, Pedro�s smiling girlfriend arrives with news that a local cafe is interested in a mural for an outside wall and the pair�s creative cogs start spinning. Another artistic aerosol adventure is surely just around the corner.

Above left: Melbourne street art in Union Lane. Below left & below: Colour and creativity in Hosier Lane, Melbourne.

“When we were growing up, the politics and history of graffi ti was a lot more instilled into us. We weren’t allowed to tag everywhere. You had to have some skill.”


GUERILLA GARDENERS

Something is happening to grey, drab urban areas. Little pockets of green are popping up in cities around the world and it’s thanks to posses of “faceless” folk who are now known as “guerilla gardeners”.

Watch out – they’re planning and planting plots in a place near you!WRITTEN BY AIDAN ORMOND PHOTOS GETTY IMAGES/SUPPLIED

jungle

theaustralianworker 61

ounds like a magical dream. Drift off to sleep and next morning gaze across the street at that hitherto bare, neglected land to see it�s been magically transformed. Soil cultivated, weeds uprooted,

ß owers planted and vegie seeds sown. And weeks later, it�s become a picture of vitality and colour that�s the pride of your street.

But it�s not a dream. These kindly acts of environmental charity are undertaken by so-called guerilla gardeners. With initiative wrapped in a gardening glove, they swoop in groups on unused, fallow land, beautifying and reinvigorating for the community to enjoy.

These modern-day green thumb superheroes organise themselves through local nurseries, community groups or on the internet to plot their horticultural makeovers � sometimes under the cover of dark (we�ll get to that shortly). This global movement, with volunteers from all walks of life, sees land usage � particularly in inner-city areas � as key in the sustainability debate.

Susannah is a Sydney-based guerilla gardener. She became interested aft er att ending a �Students for Sustainability� conference at Newcastle University. As a result of this, the students heard of a local community centre that had been waiting for council permission to start its own community garden in a park. So Susannah and some mates decided to muck in.

S�We got about 20 people together to just

go and blitz it one day. And now it�s going really well. The community centre is watering it and looking aft er it.� Herbs, salad greens, native bush food trees, banana trees and Warrigal greens are all now happily ensconced, providing the community with delicious, healthy and free food.

Susannah likes the fact that it�s a community-based initiative. �And it�s a strong statement about the public reclaiming public land.�

Food for allIn Melbourne, Martin has been working on a community garden near a railway station where an apple tree, lett uce, beans and herbs have given life to an ignored patch of grass.

This volunteer campaign coordinator for the Real Food Group says projects like this can provide fresh, seasonal chemical-free food on land in Melbourne for homeless people, local residents or just passers-by.

�It�s a small demonstration about what�s possible,� he enthuses.

Another successful project can be seen in the Sydney�s inner-city. The good people of Chippendale banded together to give two nature strips a market-garden ß ourish. With compost and hard yakka, a boulevard of limes, mints, raspberries and other grown goodies have sprung up (see www.foodforthefuturefair.org).

Left to right: Guerilla gardeners get to work; a sign tells locals to help themselves to food from the community garden; locals volunteer their time.

www.awu.net.au


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Sounds great so far, doesn�t it? But it�s also illegal (well, technically anyway).

A spokesperson for one Sydney council tells us they are supportive of community gardens as long as they work in with council to ensure that �any proposal meets public safety requirements�.

It�s a dilemma, isn�t it? You�re not harming anyone, you�re doing the environment a favour and boosting local food production... but by law you must go through the proper channels.

That�s why many guerilla gardeners undertake their missions at night, away from potentially prying council employees. And even though community gardening is usually less clandestine, the fact is, the land on which you�re planning your next project could be owned by a council or other bodies.

And with a new Channel 10 TV show called Guerrilla Gardeners airing this year, councils may be on red (or should that be green) alert. Scott , who appears on the show, says such a guerilla assignment may take as litt le as two hours if

planned well. �Sometimes councils approach us and we just have to convince them we�re doing something good while Þ nishing the job.�

Other guerilla gardeners point to the �institutional inertia� of gaining permission, particularly for what they see as such a small matt er of community and environmental service. �Try calling the City of Sydney

Council and you�ll see how prolonged and frustrating it is,� explains Jess, a keen guerilla gardener.

That said, a number of councils may turn a blind eye. �If we waited for council we�d be two years behind. That�s part of the joy of guerilla gardening � you

just get out and do it,� adds Martin. Susannah raises an interesting point,

too. When councils refer to public land she argues, �We are the public!�

Bureaucracy aside, though, she off ers a simple point. �It�s a beautiful and fun thing to do for the community. And it makes a diff erence to the world.�

“If we waited for council we’d be

two years behind. That’s part of the

joy of guerilla gardening – you

just get out and do it.” Cultivating community

In a food security context, community gardens are important for a number of reasons, argue their supporters.

“We strongly support the re-localisation of food production,” says Friends of the Earth Australia spokesperson Cameron Walker. “The imperatives of rising oil prices, water stress and the impacts of climate change will drive us in this direction in future.” And that’s where local gardens come in.

“A big part of this process will involve greatly increasing the amount of food that is grown in urban areas,” says Cameron.

But the process also brings communities together, particularly in the inner-city. “Modern life is complex,” notes community gardener Ruby. “It helps reconnect people who’ve become disconnected in communities.”

And perhaps we can learn something, too? “We are the stewards of the planet and gardens are wonderful teachers,” she says. “You plant something in the soil, water it and soon you’re eating it. It’s a miracle, don’t you think?”

Below: These green thumb superheroes instigate one of their garden plots. While

they’re doing the environment a favour and boosting local

food production, what they do is, strictly speaking, illegal as

they work on public land without council permission.

GUERILLA GARDENERS

Low feesAt Sunsuper, it’s super simple. Low fees. No commissions. Our profi ts go back to our members. Phone 13 11 84 or visit www.sunsuper.com.au

Products issued by Sunsuper Pty Ltd ABN 88 010 720 840 AFSL No. 228975 RSE Lic No. L0000291 RSE Reg No. R1000337. You should read the Product Disclosure Statement before making any investment decisions. For a copy call 13 11 84.bcm:sun 0257


MOTORCYCLE SERIES BORN TO BE WILD

indi & Ringer want you to play a game. They have a list of some of the countries they have discovered in an atlas and they

want you to Þ nd them in the wordsearch grid. The countries names run both across, down and diagonally � in either direction. Some le! ers are used more than once. As you Þ nd the name of a country on the list, draw a line through it in the grid. You�ll Þ nd, however, that one of the countries will be le" over because it doesn�t appear in the grid � and it�s your job to discover which one it is! Li! le kids may want to ask their mum or dad to help them play this game.

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KIDS’ PAGE

F I J I R A N A O M A S

N C T S W W I G A D I L

A H U A A T O U N L S E

T I N E L T G A A L S A

S N I R E Y L N A Z U R

I A S O S G N T E R R S

N A I K N I V H A I T I

A D A E A I E L I H C J

H N E P A L L U R E P A

G A S I R E L A N D A P

F G R E E C E M A L T A

A U S T R A L I A N D N

■■ AFGHANISTAN■■ AUSTRALIA■■ CHILE■■ CHINA■■ ENGLAND

■■ FIJI■■ GREECE■■ GUAM■■ HAITI■■ IRAN

■■ IRELAND■■ ISRAEL■■ ITALY■■ JAPAN■■ KOREA

■■ LATVIA■■ MALTA■■ NEPAL■■ PERU■■ RUSSIA

■■ SAMOA■■ SPAIN■■ SWITZERLAND■■ TOGO■■ TUNISIA

■■ UGANDA■■ WALES

Answer: Switzerland

The three lucky winners of our colouring in competition in Issue 4 2008 are:Harvey Hayes (age 6), Harry LeLievre (age 10) and Haidee Yeomans (age 7).

They have each won a copy of the book From Li! le Things Big Things Grow.

GEOGRAPHY LESSON


GRUMPY BASTARD

With his inbox fi lling up with rubbish, Kevin Airs asks the people who forward crappy emails (you know who you are) to think twice. While ranting on the subject, he also wonders why the internet has become the

source of the world’s greatest lies. WRITTEN BY KEVIN AIRS PHOTOS GETTY IMAGES

OD love �em, but my parents drive me mental. They always did... but since they�ve discovered the internet, it�s just as well guns are banned in this country.

If it�s not my mother sending me the �just adorable� pic of a golden retriever with three

tennis balls in his mouth then it�s my father sending me the latest �urgent urgent urgent� virus warning.

The dog pic was cute when I Þ rst saw it online 14 years ago. But you know what? That dog�s dead now � and so�s my interest. It�s been seen a million times now.

Not one of my dad�s security warnings has been anything but a hoax. Ever. Please, Dad � and all you other Good Samaritans out there � if something asks you to sendit on �to everyone in your address book�, that�s a BIG clue that you shouldn�t. Do the world and the �Net a favour and DON�T.

Microsoft do not give virus warnings. They have never said something is the biggest danger ever in the history of the world. Neither do CNN. It�s a hoax. Really. Just Google it � you�ll see.

It�s a hoax about the weirdest stuff , too � I just got one today about a new type of speed camera on the M5 and M7, allegedly from the �ministry of transport�. I checked with a mate at the RTA � and it was a lie too.

Why do people make this stuff up? How empty must your life be to want to write a fake press release from a government department about a speed camera that doesn�t exist?

The sad thing is it undermines everything on the internet. There is a layer of oddball freaks who just go about making stuff up and trying to pretend it�s true by putt ing it in an email and sending it round the world, or adding an entry to Wikipedia or even sett ing up an entire fake website.

I can understand advertisers doing it but punters with nothing to gain and not even their name at the bott om to take the credit for it? It�s just plain weird. And truly annoying.

A website called snopes.com has been trying to get to the bott om of what�s fact or Þ ction on the web for more

than a decade and it�s Þ lled to the brim with bizarre att empts to hoodwink the public. Most of them are just exaggeration, some are just made up stories to suit unusual pics, and many are just outright lies.

The problem though is that so much on the internet is false, you can�t trust ANY of it anymore so you have to check all of it now. And, of course, the easiest way to check if something is true or false is to look it up on the internet... but, um � aaararrrrrrgghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

PS � By the way, did you see that pic of the koala cooling off in the basin during the heatwave some time back? Wasn�t it just too �cute� for words? Well, did you know � by some freak coincidence � that was the same koala that was pictured with burnt paws in the bushÞ res the following week? It�s true. I saw it on the internet. The poor thing... Tell all your friends in your address book NOW.

STOP!do not press SEND!

G

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The Australian Worker Magazine Issue 1 2009