- Opposition playing with fire on IR: Rudd
Email Print Normal font Large font February 18, 2008 - 5:20PM


Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has warned the Liberal Party it is playing with the "fire" of a double dissolution election if it continues to block workplace laws in the Senate.

The government's workplace bill is yet to arrive in the Senate but the opposition has already shown it is willing to use the last days of its upper house majority to frustrate Labor ambitions.

On Monday, Mr Rudd delivered his most strongly worded threat yet.

Asked whether the possibility of calling a double dissolution election had entered his mind, the prime minister did not directly address the question but delivered an opaque threat.

"The Liberal party are playing with fire," Mr Rudd told reporters in Canberra.

"They should just reflect on this. What did the Australian people say? The Australian people said 'get rid of Work Choices, get rid of AWAs'.

"How loud do you have to be for the Liberals to sit up and take notice. And I think the Liberal party should reflect on their own future when it comes to this extraordinary act of contempt."

Asked if the Liberals would "get burnt", Mr Rudd said that was "a matter for them".

"The Liberal Party are in grave danger of just losing their way. They are so internally divided on a whole range of policy questions."

A double dissolution election, which includes a full Senate election, can be called after a bill has been rejected twice by the upper house following a three-month break between the two votes.

Mr Rudd and Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard set about symbolically getting rid of Work Choices despite it still remaining law.

They visited a Canberra industrial site where tens of thousands of Work Choices pamphlets were being packed for shipping to a pulping factory.

"Today we are here to see the destruction of the remaining Work Choices propaganda," Ms Gillard said.

The deputy prime minister promised Labor would not copy the multi-million dollar Work Choices advertising campaign once its laws were passed.

"It won't be glossy booklets, it won't be TV advertisements," Ms Gillard said.

She admitted there would be some advertising spending.

"We, of course, will want to inform people about our new system.

"We understand that employer organisations, unions, employers themselves, employees will want something that explains to them what their rights are.

"It will be the kind of communications you genuinely do when you're trying to explain a new system to people."
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Fun times ahead- would the Libs be this stupid..all past indicators say - yes!!

hmmm- what happened to Whitlam again?...turfed I think is what they call it

The opposition has a responsibility to the people of Australia.  Seeing the impact of a Liebor government in power the coalition have to still try to keep Liebor from destroying the country completely no matter what Kevvy thinks.  The opposition are not a rubber stamp for the Liebor Party's jobs-destroying policies.  If they were they wouldn't be an opposition with any compassion for workers.

You will also recall that Liebor opposed the IR policies of the coalition from 1996 until the coalition could pass the excellent policies when they had a majority in the senate in 2005.  Before that Liebor maintained the anti-job, anti-worker policies of Cheating by voting against reform which ensured full time employment was restricted.

Liebor can keep on ruining Australia in lots of other areas until they have the numbers.  They have carte-blanch in signing worthless treaties and mumbling sorry at people.  This will ensure the country is bankrupted soon enough.

Quote:

The opposition has a responsibility to the people of Australia.  Seeing the impact of a Liebor government in power the coalition have to still try to keep Liebor from destroying the country completely no matter what Kevvy thinks.  The opposition are not a rubber stamp for the Liebor Party's jobs-destroying policies.  If they were they wouldn't be an opposition with any compassion for workers.

Oh dear, DT.  It seems the Lieberals themselves don't agree with you, as they decided this morning to support Labor's IR AWA intentions.  Sure, they will attempt an amendment, and they know that will be rolled by Labor's numbers, and then they will support Labor's legislation.

Ho ho ho and a bottle of rum!!!!

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Sort of makes you look pretty bloody stupid, DT

Aussie wrote on Feb 19^th, 2008 at 1:22pm:

Quote: The opposition has a responsibility to the people of Australia.  Seeing the impact of a Liebor government in power the coalition have to still try to keep Liebor from destroying the country completely no matter what Kevvy thinks.  The opposition are not a rubber stamp for the Liebor Party's jobs-destroying policies.  If they were they wouldn't be an opposition with any compassion for workers. Oh dear, DT.  It seems the Lieberals themselves don't agree with you, as they decided this morning to support Labor's IR AWA intentions.  Sure, they will attempt an amendment, and they know that will be rolled by Labor's numbers, and then they will support Labor's legislation. Ho ho ho and a bottle of rum!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Sort of makes you look pretty bloody stupid, DT

good news Aussie..



Lib backbencher calls for endorsement of Labor's IR laws
Posted Wed Nov 28, 2007 0:42am AEDT
Updated Wed Nov 28, 2007 0:51am AEDT

A federal Liberal backbencher has urged his Senate colleagues to let Labor's industrial relations (IR) laws through the Upper House because he says it will expose the harm they will do to the economy.

There is a debate within the Coalition about whether it should use its control of the Senate to block Labor's IR changes.

Some Liberals, including West Australian Wilson Tuckey, are urging the Coalition Senators not to vote for the Labor laws.

Queensland Liberal backbencher Michael Johnson says he believes that Labor has a mandate to have its laws passed immediately, and he predicts that would damage the economy and help the Coalition win back votes at the next election.

"I think that in terms of the country's prosperity, somehow I don't believe that in three years' time our unemployment figures will be at record 33-year lows as they are now," he said.

"The people of Australia will revisit their votes and think 'my goodness, what have we done?'

"My view is that they do have a mandate and I actually think that their policies are counter-productive to the economic prosperity of the country, so for my part I wouldn't be too unhappy if they went through because my view is they'll only damage the economy and cause unemployment figures to worsen."


 
------------------------------------------------------------------>>>>>>

"My god what have we done?..."[says Michael Johnson] well this "regressive leftie" voted for freedom to choose and to reinstate our rights and conditions worked so hard for by our  predecessors over generations . We now have a democratic and compassionate leader . Im not sure what the Liberals can do to discredit the labor Party that will give them any political  traction in the electorate.


I voted Labor !          ;)

Side issues [ Brian Burke] are just that and won't effect Rudd at all..





Aussie says-

Quote:

Sort of makes you look pretty bloody stupid, DT

:D

Aussie wrote on Feb 19^th, 2008 at 1:22pm:

Quote: The opposition has a responsibility to the people of Australia.  Seeing the impact of a Liebor government in power the coalition have to still try to keep Liebor from destroying the country completely no matter what Kevvy thinks.  The opposition are not a rubber stamp for the Liebor Party's jobs-destroying policies.  If they were they wouldn't be an opposition with any compassion for workers. Oh dear, DT.  It seems the Lieberals themselves don't agree with you, as they decided this morning to support Labor's IR AWA intentions.  Sure, they will attempt an amendment, and they know that will be rolled by Labor's numbers, and then they will support Labor's legislation. Ho ho ho and a bottle of rum!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Sort of makes you look pretty bloody stupid, DT

It actually confirms what I said - they know the new draconian IR will ruin the economy.  Trouble is some have decided to support it because once a million people are queued up at Centrelink they will be inclined to return the coalition.  Cheating did that to Australia and Little Kevvy is doing his best to emulate his hero.

And Oceans admits voting for unemployment.

DT says-

Quote:

And Oceans admits voting for unemployment.

Well if what you say is right [and its not] then Im in good company to the tune of around 60 plus percent of the nation..


Im not saying Liberals dont have any good policies , they do..but they go too far.  Most Australians feel comfortable when the status quo is maintained..there are more poor and working class  /middle income in this country than ever will be the high end. Leave them behind and youve signed your death warrant politically and thats what happened this last election. My very simplistic analysis anyway    :P

Quote:

Cheating[ oh you mean Keating??] did that to Australia and Little Kevvy is doing his best to emulate his hero.

I think you'll find Kevin deserves more credit than to be called a gullible follower of Keating-

wrote on Feb 19^th, 2008 at 5:47pm:

Quote: Cheating[ oh you mean Keating??] did that to Australia and Little Kevvy is doing his best to emulate his hero. I think you'll find Kevin deserves more credit than to be called a gullible follower of Keating-

He may not be following Cheating's phenomenal churlishness but he is adopting a similar careless approach to the economy, he has mirrored Cheating's propensity to tell porkies, he enjoys treating Australians like mushrooms as Cheating did, he doesn't care at all about the consequences of his actions which is exactly like Cheating and he detests workers which is so like Cheating.

All in all he's like a pale imitation of a tyrant gone mad.  But I guess he's building up to that.

Quote:

Cheating[ oh you mean Keating??] did that to Australia and Little Kevvy is doing his best to emulate his hero. I think you'll find Kevin deserves more credit than to be called a gullible follower of Keating-

"He may not be following Cheating's phenomenal churlishness but he is adopting a similar careless approach to the economy, he has mirrored Cheating's propensity to tell porkies "

> are you for real DT all pollies tell porkies, they wouldnt get anything done if they didnt..its just the size of the lie and the damage potential  that changes- ie Hopwards porkies [ more like huge legs of smoked ham with the trotters still on these ones] over the AWB and IR

" he enjoys treating Australians like mushrooms as Cheating did"

> You can hardly predict or make these claim at this stage Deepthought ??


" he doesn't care at all about the consequences of his actions which is exactly like Cheating and he detests workers which is so like Cheating."

> sweeping emotional generic statments based  in hysteria..(sounding like a haze of spite almost ;) )


All in all he's like a pale imitation of a tyrant gone mad.  But I guess he's building up to that.

> History will judge him a lot more kindly than your beloved Hopward/Deadwood Deepthought

wrote on Feb 19^th, 2008 at 6:31pm:

Quote: Cheating[ oh you mean Keating??] did that to Australia and Little Kevvy is doing his best to emulate his hero. I think you'll find Kevin deserves more credit than to be called a gullible follower of Keating- "He may not be following Cheating's phenomenal churlishness but he is adopting a similar careless approach to the economy, he has mirrored Cheating's propensity to tell porkies " > are you for real DT all pollies tell porkies, they wouldnt get anything done if they didnt..its just the size of the lie and the damage potential  that changes- ie Hopwards porkies [ more like huge legs of smoked ham with the trotters still on these ones] over the AWB and IR " he enjoys treating Australians like mushrooms as Cheating did" > You can hardly predict or make these claim at this stage Deepthought ?? " he doesn't care at all about the consequences of his actions which is exactly like Cheating and he detests workers which is so like Cheating." > sweeping emotional generic statments based  in hysteria..(sounding like a haze of spite almost ;) ) All in all he's like a pale imitation of a tyrant gone mad.  But I guess he's building up to that. > History will judge him a lot more kindly than your beloved Hopward/Deadwood Deepthought

Pray tell what porkies were told about AWB and IR Oceans?  When it comes to porkies the Liebor Party wins the competition hands down.  Who will ever forget Bob Hawke's tricky lurch into Parliament with the porky that there would be no capital gains tax - within two years we had a capital gains tax.  Or Bob's fib that he would not increase the super lump sum tax.  He did so 3 fold.

Both Bob and Paul Cheating lied they would not increase the Medicare levy.  Both actually increased - Bob in 1986 and Cheating increased it twice - in 1993 and 1995.

Need I go on?  The Liebor Party are known as Liebor for a reason dude.

Quote:

It actually confirms what I said - they know the new draconian IR will ruin the economy.

No, you said the Lieberals, being responsible, not a rubber stamp, and compassionate to Australian workers, would oppose the Legislation.

You buggered up, and be grateful that I have let you off lightly.

8-)

Aussie wrote on Feb 19^th, 2008 at 7:56pm:

Quote: It actually confirms what I said - they know the new draconian IR will ruin the economy. No, you said the Lieberals, being responsible, not a rubber stamp, and compassionate to Australian workers, would oppose the Legislation. You buggered up, and be grateful that I have let you off lightly. 8-)

I said


Quote:

Seeing the impact of a Liebor government in power the coalition have to still try to keep Liebor from destroying the country completely

as well.  

In this instance it appears they have decided to let the majority have what they want as they see it as a shorter route to power.  I guess they can try to remedy the huge dole queues and soul destroying interest rates faster that way.  Not what I would have done and not what Johnny would have done but sadly Dr Nelson is not Johnny.

Long live the King.   :'(

Cry some more DT, and get used to it.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!

Wonder who will lead the Lieberals in 2016 when their first real chance to get back might happen.

Eight years hence, and I'll bet, on current form, that Rudd will be there.

DT, who will be the Lieberal Don Qioxote then.

Not Nelson, not 'Big Jobs,' not even Turnbull.

Who?

Good to see you have given up defending your insipid excuse for a party and resorted to 'hahaha's'

It exposes the shallow end of the gene pool in which the Labor party supporters reside. I say lap it up while you can- history shows your time will be short and I think your excessive protestations coupled to a lack of suitable comeback show your own lack of confidence in your own party...it's very telling to see  ;D

Another couple of years of Labor f@cking the economy (just look at Swans performance- a first year economy student could have done a better job than that little weasel has displayed so far. How the bugger can you put a trillion dollar economy in the hands of those morons I will never know- but birds of a feather...) will see them ousted.

There are tough times ahead - and this is probably the most amateurish start for a govt every displayed- Australia should be embarrassed. I know you're not because Swans performance is on par with yours in this thread...yet you think you have done well.

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH  ::)

Aussie wrote on Feb 19^th, 2008 at 9:49pm:

Cry some more DT, and get used to it. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!! Wonder who will lead the Lieberals in 2016 when their first real chance to get back might happen. Eight years hence, and I'll bet, on current form, that Rudd will be there. DT, who will be the Lieberal Don Qioxote then. Not Nelson, not 'Big Jobs,' not even Turnbull. Who?

If we survive with a Liebor Government until 2016 the world will be a radically different place if history is our guide - and as you have forgotten it you are doomed to repeat it.

We know it's true that fewer young Australians will have gone to university.  We know that because Little Kevvy has already reduced the places for them.  We know that more foreign students will have been educated at our universities - to stay afloat at current levels universities will enrol more foreign students at full fees to replace the money they lose by Little Kevvy's banning of domestic full fee paying students from entering uni.

Countries outside Australia will have better educated kids, we will not.

We know it's true that many technically educated young Australians will have gone overseas.  Kevvy plans to build technical colleges attached to schools - with fewer opportunities to go to uni more kids will stay on and learn a technical skill.  We know that the products we buy all come from overseas utilising the technical skill of cheap foreign workers.  Our technically trained kids will go and teach them because there won't be any work here for them if history is our guide.

In 1996 after 13 years of Liebor over 350,000 people under the age of 25 could not find work.  Cheating had killed this country.  In 1996 Australia had one of the highest rates of teenage suicide in the world - there was little to look forward to.  Cheating had killed the young of this country.

We know that interest rates will be very high - the Reserve Bank has just revealed that it nearly raised it its rate by 50 basis points the other week - a raise of that magnitude has not been seen since the Cheating era.  It has also flagged two other rises before May.  Cheating managed the economically difficult task of having both high interest and high inflation at the same time.  This is unprecedented - the twin horrors do not usually coincide.  We know that the last time that happened the value of houses fell, the cost of the mortgage increased and the homeowner lost their property.  

In 1995 Ann Harding's study revealed that two parent families made up half of all Australians living in poverty despite Bob's absurd claim a few years before that no child would be living in poverty.  

It took John Howard to rectify that horrific situation.

Oh yes Aussie, I hope you do not have any grandchildren - they will face a very tough time ahead if Liebor are still throttling them in 2016.

[code]We know it's true that fewer young Australians will have gone to university.  We know that because Little Kevvy has already reduced the places for them[/code]

Where do you get your misleading information from.  This is happening, but not because of Rudd, who is attempting to do something about it, but because of your beloved Howard:


Quote:

In the past decade, school retention plateaued and the continuation of students from school to university dropped from 40% to 30%. One reason was the buoyant job market, but there are more worrying factors. The private cost of attending university has risen considerably since the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) began at $1500 per full-time student in 1988. HECS charges are now at $4077 to $8499 per year, depending on the course. Although the burden of HECS is softened by the system of repayment through the tax system, students routinely graduate with more than $25,000 in HECS debts. Only 27% of full-time students receive federal living allowances and 70% work during semester, cutting into their study time. The rate of federal funding of local student places has dropped so low that the unit funding for those places (the federal subsidy plus student HECS) is below unit cost. Because they lose money on every local student, universities have tripled the number of full-fee international students since 1995 to fill the funding gap. And they are not exactly clamouring for more local places to broaden student participation. The demand incentives and the supply incentives are out of whack with the education revolution, universities are neglecting their core business of educating local students, and resources for research have been dangerously thinned. The emptying out of public funding has forced universities to shift much of their research effort from fundamental inquiry to commercial products. Australia is strong in fee-based international education but has no research university in the world top 50.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/02/16/1202760669192.html?page=2

Howard ensured that our children were dumbed down by reducing govt funding to universities so drastically that in many cases only the wealthy - locally and abroad can afford a decent education.  Not only was federal funding reduced to our universities, but also our state schools.

I could find no information stating that the Rudd government was reducing places - in fact in some areas they have increased places - especially in areas where it is needed the most.

Everything you blame the Rudd Government for - is  a result of the Howard government's mismanagement and elitism.  Rudd is doing his best to restore some balance to the mess Howard has left behind to clean up - literally.  The liberals even had the disrespect when they left to throw an out of control party - smearing food on the walls and playing cricket inside parliament house, which took 4 days to clean up - just shows their mentality.

Mantra says...


Quote:

Where do you get your misleading information from.  This is happening, but not because of Rudd, who is attempting to do something about it, but because of your beloved Howard:

Its called denial mantra" ..when will they move on???"[ denial is not a river in Egypt IQ  ;)]

Deadwood was a liability to his own party even in the last term ...quite aside from the burden he placed on the pple and the economy.

We have Deadwood to thank for the rises in interest and all the other ills we are stuck with  right now..

They know  , of course they do..but denial is a terribly regressive sentiment and rots the brain  , as we can see    ;D ;D ;D

If they wanted DEADWOOD to stay they should have voted harder and prayed more often [ like Deadwood asked us to do over his mishandling of the Murray Darling Basin.."pray for rain " he said . We all know Deadwood gave us the drought lol   :D :D :]

mantra wrote on Feb 20^th, 2008 at 9:02am:

[code]We know it's true that fewer young Australians will have gone to university.  We know that because Little Kevvy has already reduced the places for them[/code] Where do you get your misleading information from.  This is happening, but not because of Rudd, who is attempting to do something about it, but because of your beloved Howard: Quote: In the past decade, school retention plateaued and the continuation of students from school to university dropped from 40% to 30%. One reason was the buoyant job market, but there are more worrying factors. The private cost of attending university has risen considerably since the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) began at $1500 per full-time student in 1988. HECS charges are now at $4077 to $8499 per year, depending on the course. Although the burden of HECS is softened by the system of repayment through the tax system, students routinely graduate with more than $25,000 in HECS debts. Only 27% of full-time students receive federal living allowances and 70% work during semester, cutting into their study time. The rate of federal funding of local student places has dropped so low that the unit funding for those places (the federal subsidy plus student HECS) is below unit cost. Because they lose money on every local student, universities have tripled the number of full-fee international students since 1995 to fill the funding gap. And they are not exactly clamouring for more local places to broaden student participation. The demand incentives and the supply incentives are out of whack with the education revolution, universities are neglecting their core business of educating local students, and resources for research have been dangerously thinned. The emptying out of public funding has forced universities to shift much of their research effort from fundamental inquiry to commercial products. Australia is strong in fee-based international education but has no research university in the world top 50. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/02/16/1202760669192.html?page=2 Howard ensured that our children were dumbed down by reducing govt funding to universities so drastically that in many cases only the wealthy - locally and abroad can afford a decent education.  Not only was federal funding reduced to our universities, but also our state schools. I could find no information stating that the Rudd government was reducing places - in fact in some areas they have increased places - especially in areas where it is needed the most. Everything you blame the Rudd Government for - is  a result of the Howard government's mismanagement and elitism.  Rudd is doing his best to restore some balance to the mess Howard has left behind to clean up - literally.  The liberals even had the disrespect when they left to throw an out of control party - smearing food on the walls and playing cricket inside parliament house, which took 4 days to clean up - just shows their mentality.

I provided the media article for you last time you denied it was Little Kevvy.  Didn't you read it?


HECS was introduced by Hawke/Cheating (who were in government in 1988), not Johnny.   HECS fees were increased by Hawke/Cheating as well as the interest rate and the rate at which repayments kicked in.

I believe you should check your facts before blaming Johnny who actually increased education funding dramatically.  In fact the previous government increased education funding every single year they were in power.

The responsibility of education is still largely a State Government arena.  All States have Liebor governments.  They have destroyed young people's aspirations.  If you have an issue with the standards talk to your Liebor member - they are doing it.