Prev
Next

Fair go: a national character we can be proud of

Ged Kearney

by Ged Kearney

24 Jan 05:49am

Must Reads

Eurovision can’t drown out the human rights abuses - this is a caption

Eurovision can’t drown out the human rights abuses

14

Revenge. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than this - this is a caption

Revenge. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than this

50

Friday dilemma: can school bullies grow out of it? - this is a caption

Friday dilemma: can school bullies grow out of it?

122

Filed under: Australia Day, Egalitarian, Employment, Society, The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Unions

82 comments

Notwithstanding the political sensitivities around the day, January 26 should be a time to consider where we’ve come from, what we’ve been through and who we are today.

We might fancy ourselves laid-back but we're made of stronger stuff

So what have we got?

You’ll hear about larrikinism, but no one is 100 per cent sure what it means. And just like mateship, let’s face it: it’s a little blokey.

We consider ourselves laid-back but, as I noted in my last article, no nation in the OECD works longer hours. Australians have fought with amazing bravery in war and endured national hardship stoically. But we are not alone there either. 

Of course no single characteristic is going to set us apart uniquely from the rest of the world. Yet if we’re going to claim a value that defines us as a nation, I want to nominate egalitarianism.

Or, to embrace a worthy cliché (this is an Australia Day piece after all), the “fair go”.

Of course many other nations believe in the equality of human beings. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates it. But nowhere in the world is there a more intuitive belief that no single woman or man is worth inherently more than another.

We don’t need to look to our laws to understand this – Australians feel it in their bones.

The highest quality public health care should be available to all, because every person deserves to be fighting fit if our society has the capacity to keep them that way. Public schools should offer an education every bit as good as the private alternative because children deserve to start from a level playing field.

Minimum wages should be on the same planet as executive pay because no one’s work can be that much more worthy than another’s. These ideas are self-evident in Australia.

The privileged and the powerful can’t simply bandy the word “socialism” around to spook people off. Unions are a manifestation of this “fair go” belief.

They exist to fight for the view that the majority of people should get a decent cut of the good stuff life has to offer. Working for a better life. Leisure time and comfortable wages should not just be for the tip of society’s iceberg.

Old age pensions, forty hour weeks, annual leave, overtime on weekends, parental care leave, safe work places, superannuation, universal health care, free education, affordable higher education - these are all Australian social achievements, led by unions, stemming from a widely held national belief in the “fair go”.

Unlike other conceptions of egalitarianism, the Aussie version doesn’t ask for everyone to be the same. It simply requires that everyone gets a “fair go”.

It’s a national character we have the right to be proud of.

Most commented

429Australia, you have nothing to fear but fear itself
390There's no one Thomson won't burn to save his skin
333Animal experiments won't cure me from cancer
313Thomson didn't answer the question everyone is asking
265Who murdered the Arts degree?
246A big day for Thomson, who thus far is guilty of nothing...
231South Australia. It's the middle bottom bit.
231Craig Thomson speaks. Meanwhile, in Australia...

82 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Drew(Darlinghurst) says:

      07:00am | 24/01/11

      The people United will never be defeated.

      People take for granted what Australian Unions have given so many.

      Great article Ged.

      Reply

    • notsurprised says:

      07:25am | 24/01/11

      It was great to read your point on the emphasis of egalitarianism Australian culture but spare us the Union propaganda posing as a thoughtful Australia day article.

      Reply

    • Jim says:

      07:38am | 24/01/11

      You truly are delusional Ged.

      Is it a “fair go” when the unions have their lists of who does and doesn’t get hired? Preferences of course to 3rd generation union thugs!

      Was it a “fair go” when the unions shut down a majority of our manufacturing industry with exhorbitant and unrealistic demands, all the while holding the threat of downing tools for the most childish of reasons like the wrong flavoured ice cream?

      Is having greedy, power hungry people using the unions simply as a stepping stone into a safe Labor seat having a “fair go”?

      Is enforced union membership a “fair go”?

      Is using membership dues to fund an election a “fair go”?

      Is twisting the governments arm to award contracts at over-inflated prices a “fair go”?

      Is rorting sick leave and overtime systems having a “fair go”?

      Is being a lazy arsed slob, incapable of doing your job correctly, but knowing the union will have your back, giving a “fair go”?

      I could go on, Ged.

      One of the better Aussie traits is honesty. Something which you seem to lack - you still haven’t quantified your claim that Aussies work longer hours…we all know that’s a myth and a play on numbers provided by the unions.

      Reply

    • Chris L says:

      06:11pm | 24/01/11

      Was there really a strike over wrong flavoured ice cream? That would be beyond the pale, unless it was some sort of ice cream van driver’s union… maybe.

      I don’t agree with the assumption that unions are for “lazy arsed slobs, incapable of doing their job correctly”. Maybe there are a few such people, just as there are a few bastard bosses who squeeze the life out of their employees, but I’d like to think both of these types are in the minority.

      Unions do seem to have become a bit too big for their britches in some cases. In the case of others they seem somewhat toothless (which is the reason I cancelled my membership some time ago). However, there is no denying the vast amount of good the unions have contributed to our country since their inception. I think all we need now is a decent balance and I don’t think either of the major parties care to achieve that.

    • Jim says:

      08:58pm | 24/01/11

      There have been many strikes over ice cream Chris. I was at a site once where only 3 flavours instead of four were available in the mess so they went on strike. There’s also been stop work events over a lack of biscuits in a crib room, further aggravated when the superintendent finally found some bikkies at 3am but they were Westons, not Arnotts as stipulated in the agreement. Strikes because fresh milk couldn’t be flown in and the darlings had to use UHT milk, strikes because the social cub ran out of VB, even saw a strike because the aircons in admin failed so they opened the doors, which looked into a workshop so the fitters went out…pick the most obscure reason and there’s probably been a strike over it!

      Unions have done good in the past, yes. But they’ve done untold damage to this country and to manufacturing, textiles and food industries.

    • Macca says:

      08:07am | 24/01/11

      “The highest quality public health care should be available to all, because every person deserves to be fighting fit if our society has the capacity to keep them that way.” I always feel that the health care system is exactly that, care. I think keeping people fit is all about individual choices; eating well, exercise, cleanliness etc.

      “Public schools should offer an education every bit as good as the private alternative because children deserve to start from a level playing field.” Private Schools don’t offer a better education than public schools, they offer opportunities that are not available at a public system. Most schools will have a school band or choir or Dance and most sports and subjects will be available. The advantage of the private school system is that all these opportunities are available to every student. However, if you are sending your child to a Private School so that they get a higher mark in the HSC, well I think your faith (and money) is misplaced.

      “Minimum wages should be on the same planet as executive pay because no one’s work can be that much more worthy than another’s.” Well, that is simply not true. And you know this yourself Ged, as I would say the difference between your pay, and that of the average Industrial Officer or Union Organiser is going to be considerable. Quite simply, the executives of BHP are responsible for far more than the Operator in the factory. As for same planet, no need to reach for the sensational.

      Reply

    • Chris L says:

      06:17pm | 24/01/11

      Macca, I think the point about minimum wage I’d like to make is that the executives of BHP may put in more hours than the factory operators and take a lot more stress, but could it possibly be measures at 100 times?

      Many say the CEO of a corporation has more responsibility (which is true) but the last CEO of the company I work for caused a very big drop in share prices. If one of the front-line workers had stuffed their job up so badly they’d be out on their ear but this guy managed to leave with an eight million dollar bonus.

      One thing I’d like to point out is that if the front-line staff of any large company should stop working the company itself would grind to a halt on the same day. If the upper levels of management dissappeared (and they often do of a Friday) the company would still be able to continue on for weeks, maybe months before anyone noticed.

      Sure the upper levels get to assign themselves greater pay, but let’s keep it within reason.

    • Tom says:

      10:05am | 25/01/11

      @Chris L, to illustrate why a pay differential is present in the real world, I used to play in a garage band. We would sometimes play a gig for four hours and carry our gear home, splitting the proceeds $200 between four of us. Elsewhere, the Beatles were playing that night for $2,000,000.

      The Beatles did not work harder than us that night but took home 100,000 times the money. Brian Epstein, their manager, took out a huge cut for organising the gig. He did not even pick up a guitar that night.

      You have to understand, the shop floor downing tools is not the total picture. If you stop looking at the world in such a simplistic perspective, it should be easier to follow it all.

    • AFR says:

      08:08am | 24/01/11

      Australia Day - meh. At least we get a day off I suppose, and we get Sam Kekovich’s lamb ads.

      Reply

    • oldie says:

      08:13am | 24/01/11

      Don’t know where you’re living Ged, but it sure ain’t in Australia circa 2011!
      Most people work their arses off to make ends meet, are overtaxed, over governed by a bunch of ex Union hacks with no imagination , whose sole interest is their own pay packet and whatever benefits they believe they can get away with.
      Lets look at your list of so called union achievements:

      Old age pensions, if you have to live on this, you are living below the poverty line.
      forty hour weeks, actually 37.5 hr weeks if you are a govt employee, with RDO’s bunged in for good measure. Pity if you work for yourself, can’t afford to hire staff so this could be achieved.
      annual leave, haven’t had any of this for several years, the joys of self employment.
      overtime on weekends, you are kidding right? very few get overtime rates for weekends any more.
      parental care leave, a great incentive for employers to employ people, nothing like extra costs for no return.
      safe work places, tell that to the people injured during the great batts fiasco.
      superannuation, taxed if you dare make a real gain.
      universal health care, that it continually battered by scandal and failure.
      free education, no it isn’t.
      affordable higher education, which accrues a massive debt. Like $7,000 per year for nursing training!
      - these are all Australian social achievements, led by unions, stemming from a widely held national belief in the “fair go”. The only Fair Go I see is the one politicians take for themselves!

      Reply

    • FSB Coral says:

      08:29am | 24/01/11

      ‘Fair go’, like when I was 17 and got heavied as a visitor in a railway goods yard by two card carrying thugs from the TWU who relieved me of my entire meagre pay packet as ‘union fees’? Then there was that other jolly time, we were just home from Vietnam, marching through the streets and glad to be alive when we got spat on and abused, but only by some fun-loving, larrikin unionist ‘mates’. You’ve gotta just love ‘em, don’t ya?

      Reply

    • iansand says:

      08:30am | 24/01/11

      So if the unions were not responsible for achieving old age pensions, forty hour weeks, annual leave, overtime on weekends, parental care leave, safe work places, superannuation, universal health etc, etc, who was?

      Sometimes reflexive anti-unionism makes people look really, really stoopit.

      Reply

    • Labor Ruined NSW says:

      05:26pm | 24/01/11

      I think people are bright enough without union hacks to tell them when to protest their conditions. They are a dinosaur we don’t need any more. Lets face it, all they stand for is mediocrity and they actively encourage it. I just wish they didn’t have their hands on the nations purse strings like they do now with their hand so far up Julia’s back.

    • Cronus says:

      08:35am | 24/01/11

      No nation in the OECD works longer hours? Japan anyone?

      Reply

    • Colette says:

      08:36am | 24/01/11

      Wow, Jim, you’re living in the past.  Closed-shop workplaces are illegal now, as is enforced union membership.  The use of membership dues to fund elections is obviously still around, but not all unions do it - mine gives us the option about whether or not we want to do it (for the record, I ticked “no”).

      Reply

    • AdamC says:

      08:42am | 24/01/11

      There is quite a lot of truth to some of this, especially the stuff about wages. Australia still possesses some of the highest minimum wages in the world, and was established to be essentially a working-man’s paradise. Some of the first acts of the Australian parliament were those that required compulsory arbitration of industrial disputes and the restriction of immigration to prevent cheap labour from undercutting Australian incomes.

      Unions were an important part of this, and remained important institutions up until the eighties, where they (like their anglophone counterparts around the world) refused to adapt to economic reforms. While this is getting a little off-topic, that is why we don’t have a car industry anymore, among other things.

      In any event, Australians still fervently believe in a fair go, but are less likely to be satisfied with mediocrity than they used to be. And, as well as fair, they want Australia to continue to be prosperous and dynamic.

      Reply

    • Dryblower says:

      08:55am | 24/01/11

      iansand
      Predictably jim rises to take the bait and ends up looking stoopit.
      Every shiny ass cliché available. What jim fails to tell us is how many workers have died on his mine sites through shiny pants negligence and cost avoidance.

      Reply

    • Kevin says:

      09:03am | 24/01/11

      January 26 - the anniversary of the arrival of the first boat people.

      Reply

    • Kika says:

      12:11pm | 24/01/11

      Well said. You are correct. HENCE the national ‘karma’ paranoia

    • Tim the Toolman says:

      02:23pm | 24/01/11

      “January 26 - the anniversary of the arrival of the first boat people. “

      Yes, there’s mountains of evidence suggesting aboriginal people didn’t migrate here, but rather evolved from a single celled organism completely seperate from the rest of humanity…*sigh*

    • iansand says:

      03:00pm | 24/01/11

      Too right, Tim.  Send them all back to Africa where they came from.

      I reckon 40,000+ years of squatting might give them a few rights.

    • Greg says:

      11:12pm | 24/01/11

      The difference being that in 1788 the boat people were pioneers, who built a nation where none had previously existed.

      Pioneers who created a civilisation out of a wilderness, which had only been sparsely populated by a disparate bunch of stone-age tribes, who had not even discovered the wheel yet (despite sitting around for 40,000+ years).

      Self reliant and independant pioneers, who were not looking for or expecting to get easy money handouts.

      That’s why we celebrate January 26, and why we don’t celebrate all the contemporary boat people.

    • ZSRenn says:

      02:23am | 25/01/11

      As a decendant of transported convicts that went thru hell in chains, and treated worse than the slaves that were sent to the Americas I find your comments very narrow minded and insulting.

    • Jim says:

      09:41am | 24/01/11

      Ah yes Dryblower (Badger) - the big evil mining magnates in their Crystal Palaces, sneering at their peons as they slave away…get out of the 1800’s dude.

      Do you not find it strange that safety in mining improved out of sight in direct proportion to the decline in union influence??? 20 years in mining and I’ve only found one manager who had a poor grasp on safety. that person is now barred from working in Queensland.

      The only ‘stoopit’ thing is the way you guys try and promote such a corrupt and backwards organisation.

      And Colette…closed shops and enforced membership still happens, it’s just been pushed underground.

      Reply

    • Zaf says:

      09:49am | 24/01/11

      Cultures only make a big deal about things that they have an issue (or a difficulty) with.

      In Australia we make a big deal about: mateship, a fair go and homosexuality.

      ??

      Reply

    • James A says:

      10:00am | 24/01/11

      Unions have done some good but largely they are now just dodgy middle men controlling a labour racket.  They are another layer of bureaucracy and have become so political, so entwined with the ALP any hope of independence is gone forever. 

      Many older Australians particularly WWII veterans have never forgiven the vile strikes, and other rank opportunism by the Unions during wartime where they held the nation to ransom while most of the male population was tied up with fighting or producing for the war effort.  The poor troops had just come back into the docks and the Unions refused to unload for them.  The troops and the farmers federation had to come in and do the work for them while the thugs tried to blackmail the govt for more money - during a War!

      This is the Union movement many of us remember, and have witnessed.

      Reply

    • nosthow says:

      10:26am | 24/01/11

      And a big “thumbs up” Ged to our new VC winner young Ben Roberts-Smith who gave the Hun what for ! Ballsy stuff Ben !

      Reply

    • Grumpy says:

      10:36am | 24/01/11

      The worst thing about being Australian or living in Australia, is constantly hearing about Australia.

      Reply

    • Scarneck says:

      10:39am | 24/01/11

      The Commonwealth of Australia did not exist prior to January 1st, 1901 - can someone please explain then; why the hell do we celebrate Australia day on the 26th January? surely it should be celebrated on the day of our federation and not on a day that is clearly upsetting to many of our residents?

      Reply

    • Kika says:

      12:40pm | 24/01/11

      Agreed. Most of the important things people hang onto to justify their nationalism happened after 1901 anyway. Before then we were still a little colonial outpost.

      Jan 26 is a stupid day to celebrate Australia Day. It should be called First Fleet Day or something. America has a few days to celebrate it’s nationalism. Why can’t we? Seeing we only want to be like them anyway and have a fake 4th of July. . The UK doesn’t have a national day.

    • shawn says:

      06:24pm | 24/01/11

      We can’t have Australia Day on Jan 1. Thats already a public holiday.

    • Bingle says:

      08:35pm | 24/01/11

      @Scarneck the 26th January was the first time the UK mob came out to play Lawn Bowls but the ABC TV 2 wasn’t here to broadcast the games, but the locals were hitting gum nuts with sticks, when asked what they were doing the natives indicated “click” as in sound but the UK mob thought it ment a game and so Clicket was refined into a team game and a flat stick was used to increase the accuracy of the of the direction of the gum nut.
      Why celebrate the gathering of all the politicians on a sheep farm, it was only the grouping together of a heap of blow flies.
      A more appropriate date would be when the miners kicked up about the first mining tax at Eurecka Stockade, they are still complaining so it would be hard to forget the date, with daily reminders.
      Another date to consider would be the opening of the first Chinese Cafe with Sweet and Sour sauce on the menu (TChong can you help with the date and can I have your recipe).

    • ZSRenn says:

      02:29am | 25/01/11

      A descendent of convicts I find January 26th a very apt day to celebrate Australia Day. To remember that Australia was born one the backs of those that died on the journey over and that are the backbone of this country. Who through there work the initial road systems, hospitals, schools etc where built. Why do you want to dismiss the work that these people some of whom gave up their lives to achieve?

    • Seano says:

      10:44am | 24/01/11

      I love the idea of the Australian fair go. In my opinion every Australian should be entitled to free health and dental care and a quality education which includes either a free uni degree or trade or other skills training.

      Unions have their place in any balanced industrial relations system. No group, whether it be unions or employer groups should have all the power in any system otherwise someone gets screwed. Believing that all unions are evil because of the inappropriate actions of a few is as naive as believing (or pretending to believe) that all employers have the best interests of their employees at heart.


      and I hope I our national day is a day of celebration

      Reply

    • greg says:

      11:19pm | 24/01/11

      No you don’t Seano, you love the idea of the free go, and living at somebody else’s expense.

      Your over inflated sense of entitlement doesn’t seem to understand that health and dental cate is never free. Neither is education or skills training. Do you expect doctors or teachers to work for nothing?

      Somebody has to pay for it, and you don’t care as long as it isn’t you.

    • fairsfair says:

      10:45am | 24/01/11

      @James A - agreed. As with Feminism, Unionism has had its day. It has achieved what it set out to do - give the individual their own voice. Now it is hanging around like a bad smell causing only inconvenience. It is simply chest beating and posturing aimed only to remind us all that they are still here hanging out in the background thriving on making an issue where there is none. Just like Gerry Harvey has to realise it is a changing world and you have to get with the times. This means letting go of long held beliefs of what things “are” and how they “should be”.

      A Union is to the Labor party what the Toowoomba Clydesdales are to the Brisbane Broncos. A feeder club. A feeder club that leaches off the very people is claims to represent. The interests of which are dropped the moment an opportunity presents with the first grade side.

      Reply

    • Seano says:

      04:10pm | 24/01/11

      The second unions disappear is the exact time they’ll be needed more than ever as all the benefits won by unions that we currently enjoy begin to be eroded.

      I’m not sure which way you’re trying to argue your analogy either unions or the ALP are bad because they have common interests, (apparently the relationship between the LNP and say the BCA is never seen as sinister) but as a Rugby League fan I had a point out that a feeder club is anything but a leach. If anything it’s a symbiotic relationship where both parties gain, the feeder through financial support and NRL club having a place to nurture and rehabilitate coaching and player talent.

    • fairsfair says:

      04:58pm | 24/01/11

      Not as indepth as that Seano. Nobody wants to go back to the feeder club. When you are at the top of the heap in the feeder club you are all about the community, when you get your position in the run on side you will do anything you can not to go back to the feeder club. You will do everything within your power to hold on to your tenuous grip with the national side even if that is at the expense of feeder club.

      I doubt there are any Todd Carney in Australian politcs. No politician would be prepared to do their stint with the Atherton Roosters to get a gig with the Sydney ones.

      Unions are a breeding ground for Labor polititians and their advisers/spin merchants/assistants. Look at Graham Richardson, Bill Shorten and that young dude who took over from Shorten (I can’t even remember his name). They are so out of touch with “working Australia” it is laughable, but where did they come from? What you can’t miss howver is that now they have broken the ranks of the Unions they are just all for themselves and the image of “the party”.

    • Seano says:

      07:42pm | 24/01/11

      “Nobody wants to go back to the feeder club.”

      Tell that to players coming back from injury or suspension. To players too old to qualify for the Toyota Cup who haven’t made first grade yet.

      “Unions are a breeding ground for Labor polititians and their advisers/spin merchants/assistants. “

      And business groups do much the same for the LNP. As for in touch with the working man, I don’t think you can claim much better with the architects of workchoices still running the LNP.

      PS. The Labor Party and the unions are no more the devil than the LNP and the Business Council.

    • fairsfair says:

      10:10pm | 24/01/11

      I disagree Seano. The Labor Party and the Union movement divide and conquor. I have never been partisan in my life, but in 2011 I feel that the current people standing up and saying “hello we are Labor” are rediculous. They make me sick to the pit of my stomach both at a individual and group level. I voted Labor in 2007.

      At least the people being generated by “Business Council” make no bones about who they are. All of this faked interest in the wellbeing of the working class is the bit that I can’t swallow.

      WorkChoices encouraged people to stand up for their own rights. It didn’t rely on someone who has hardly worked a day in their life swanning in with a hivis jacket and clipboard “negotiating” on a group’s behalf. It taught you that great life lesson that if you want something you have to make it happen for yourself. I voted against WorkChoices because I swallowed the spin on the ads.  Now that I know a bit about the policy and actually looked at it for what it was - I am certain it wasn’t the big life/death decision that others would have had me think. So yeah, the union driven scare campaign that underpinned the Labor stance on that matter - worked. They were frightened they’d be stuck on the bench of the feeder club for another term - open season began and wowsers it worked - let the usual musical chairs begin.

    • Seano says:

      07:34am | 25/01/11

      The idea that business representatives are noble and good and those representing Labour are some home tainted is so naively simplistic that it’s really not worth my time.

      Work”choices” was rejected because it took all the power in the relationship and gave it to one side. What’s wrong with having someone better equipped represent your best interests? Do you sell your own house or do you get and expert? Whatever right wing propaganda you are now swallowing can’t get past the fact that sign or walk deals only create a race to the bottom for the lowest skill workers and is hardly indicative of the Australian fair go attitude. Conservative spin cannot get around the fact that the union ad campaign featured actual workers describing the adversity created by work”choices”. The government, tax payer funded ads featured actors pushing a story.  Sign or walk is not a choice.

    • fairsfair says:

      03:51pm | 25/01/11

      agree 100% Seano - not worth either of our time.

    • mikey says:

      10:48am | 24/01/11

      I’d like to think we are a country of the “fair go” but it seems every blog I read is full of comments by nasty “taxpayers” who don’t want to pay for refugees or the unemployed or for victims of climate change or for any services they don’t explicitly use themselves, in which case they are desperate for tax cuts. (So proud that they pay taxes yet so thorough at minimising them!) The aussie “fair go” is getting wiped out by “what about me”. But enough ranting, I agree with dumping the blokey homo-erotic “mateship” for some empathy, hard work and can-do attitude of the “fair go”. Nice article.

      Reply

    • Greg says:

      11:39pm | 24/01/11

      The blog comments are the only place where taxpayers can get their say, wheras the blogs themselves are full of sanctimonious moral supremacists who promote stupid ideas but always want others to pay for them.

      What exactly is so ethical about taking money from those who earn it and giving it to those who haven’t?

      What is so ethical about periodically inventing some bizzare “end-of-the-world” ideological theory (like acid rain, ozone holes, bird & swine flu, global warming or climate change) to scare the masses into paying the alarmists more money?

      What exactly is so ethical about importing culturally incompatible illegal aliens, who are determined to introduce the customs that resulted in the society that they wanted to leave?

      And if the Aussie “fair go” culture is being replaced by a “what about me” culture, then maybe you should connect the dots between changing demographics and multiculturalism. Didn’t you want cultural diversity?

    • ZSRenn says:

      10:58am | 24/01/11

      Shoudn’t this story come with an “advertising disclaimer’

      I mean how low can the ACTU go to push this dribble off as

      “look at us, the unions, arn’t we just soooooooooooooo Australian.”

      Give me a break!

      Written by the President of the ACTU and all. Sheesh!

      Shame on the Punch editors as well for putting it under the AU flag.

      Reply

    • Rick says:

      11:02am | 24/01/11

      An acknowledgement of the value of Unions and Unionism.  The working conditions we Australians enjoy exist because of the efforts of unions over many years.  Compare the working conditions of those in the United States, where unions have not had nearly the same effect, to ourselves.  The 40 hour week (certainly many of us work longer but we can decide not to), guaranteed 4 weeks paid holiday a year, Long Service Leave (try explaining that one to a Yank!), penalty rates for working hours that take us away from families and generous sick leave entitlements. On top of that we have Medicare (socialised medicine according to some in the US).  We have the freedom in this country to work hard safe in the knowledge that we have guaranteed rights as part of our conditions of employment.  Australia is a unique country.  we should value what we have.

      Reply

    • ZSRenn says:

      11:03am | 24/01/11

      Is it just me or are the reply links not working?

      Reply

    • Bilby says:

      11:32am | 24/01/11

      Scarneck - I think you’ll find that they have been citizens since about 1967. Residents are people who are, specifically, not citizens.

      Reply

    • Colin Van Der Heide says:

      11:53am | 24/01/11

      Mate the bloody Unions, we curse them, we love them.  It’s up to you, we have the buggers who are on the take, then ones looking at a polittical career.  Then the political parties who take the cut of a so called donation.

      Me myself never been in a union, I don’t need to pay some flammin bugger to stand up and talk for me.  That is why I have a mouth for, have seen many come unstuck by these leeches. 

      But at the end of the day, you either like them or loathe them it’s up to you.

      Reply

    • Thommo says:

      11:54am | 24/01/11

      A union should tie it’s remuneration in with it’s performance in a fixed ratio for all employees including bosses. If the comapny makes a loss no one gets paid - share the risk share the reward.

      Reply

    • Robert S McCormick says:

      11:57am | 24/01/11

      This Patriotism & Nationalism sweeping Australia is Great! Now all we need is for our politicians, Federal, State & Territory to join in. Particularly at the Federal level where all sides persist in tugging the forelock, bending the knee & baring their arses so that the the USA, China & in the past to the UK, can right royally screw us!.
      Nor must we forget those “Whingers of Whingers” Australia’s Retailers. They have been screeching about how un-Australian those of us who buy goods through the Internet &, if under $1000, avoid paying Australia’s GST. They whine that working hours will have to be cut & unemployment as a direct result will increase.
      All this bleating is, of course, them pretending to be Patriotic, Good Corporate Citizens, Supporting the Australian Economy & being prepared to pay as much Tax to the Australian Government as it wants! At present it need a lot so dig deep boys & girls.
      Have a look at Retailers Large & Small & the millions of dollars worth of merchandise they have on display urging us to Celebrate & Rejoice (apologies to our Indigeneous Population - Australia day should be on 1st September not 26 January - Invasion Day) Australia Day on Wednesday!
      Just where is ALL this Merchandise made?
      Australia? Not a skerrick!!
      Every single item is MADE in CHINA or some other country.
      How Patriotic is that?
      How is that “Supporting the Australian Economy?
      How much GST did our oh-so-loyal & patriotic retailers pay on all those goods purchased, probably through the Internet?
      How much of it was made up of multiple orders for $999.99 simply to avoid paying the Australian Government GST?
      Just who is supporting “other country’s economies”?
      Just who is ripping Australians off by charging them prices as if those goods were made here in Australia using Australian Labour & paying Australian Rates of Pay?
      Just who is destroying Australian Jobs?
      Although it is already far too late to stop the (now almost complete) wholesale destruction of Manufacturing Industries, clothing, footwear, souvenirs etc. what have the Unions done, or are they doing, to stop this destruction?
      Why are Food Manufacturers, including major Interantional Companies operating here being allowed to import any food whatsoever?
      Why are they allowed to import any frozen vegetables, canned soups & fruits, fresh meat & vegeatbles etc?
      ALL these Foods we are not only capable of manufacturing ourselves but our farmers already grow or breed
      Please don’t give any explanation such as “We have to help developing nations” or somesuch crap. China, one of the largest suppliers of everything in Australia’s shops has, despite producing so much poor quality trash particularly in clothing & footwear where nothing fits, not been a “Developing Nation” for many years.
      I am all for people of every colour, creed, nation, gender & sexuality coming here & the more the merrier!
      BUT I object very strongly to our retailers destroying jobs for those people by, totally unnecessarily, importing every thing they have for sale in their bloody shops & then have the gall to charge us as if they were Made in Australia.

      Reply

    • Truther says:

      02:54pm | 24/01/11

      It’s all for the international communist cause. It’s why we have multiculturalism, the free international market, international banks, international laws and European communist union. It’s just a matter of time we will have an international police force and army.

      Nationalism and christianity has been targeted for extinction.

    • Thommo says:

      12:19pm | 24/01/11

      Why? Because our politicians are Gutless. They all saw what happened to Whitlam when he tried to go against America and now they are scared shitless. We should just scrap Australia Day and celebrate July 4th and Thanksgiving with our American Overlords.

      Reply

    • Thommo says:

      12:19pm | 24/01/11

      Why? Because our politicians are Gutless. They all saw what happened to Whitlam when he tried to go against America and now they are scared shitless. We should just scrap Australia Day and celebrate July 4th and Thanksgiving with our American Overlords.

      Reply

    • Kika says:

      12:27pm | 24/01/11

      Look, I love Australia. After I finished my unversity education I was a real leftie. I thought we were the most ridiculous, deluded country on earth. Until I went to Norway. Then I realised that those guys are even worse than we are. They are just as hard nosed on immigration (if not worse - the police keep a file on immigrants just in case), racist, excessively national etc. And travelling overseas woke my eyes up a lot. We have so much to be thankful of living in this land. Even with the disasters plaguing as at the moment look at the beautiful way we have bonded together in community spirit to help each other in need. Some countries would just sit on their misery and wait for someone to fix it for them, or resort to violence, hate and animosity at each other in desperate times.

      We have done some wrong things in the past. Especially for our Indigenous people. But it’s time to move on from that. We should embrace Indigenous culture as it makes our country unique. For so long we have ignored them. But they have so much value. Look at the way we have tried to predict weather based on 200 years. They have been here for 60,000 if not more. They can tell you that Brisbane once flooded up to 12m, not just 8m in 1899. They know this land but we ignored them and swept them under the carpet assuming their laws, languages and value were worthless.

      I think we have a lot to be proud of. But nobody really knows or cares about the history of Australia Day. For example, do people realise that the traditional celebration on Jan 26 was for the NSW ‘natives’ (i.e. descendants of the original British settlers) to celebrate the colonial expansion of their British ancestors? The celebration of Australia day on Jan 26 is intrinsically linked to the First Fleet. No question. It was never mean everything to all Australians. Not all of us are British colonialists descendants, not all of us were born here, not all of us were happy about the British taking their land without one single attempt at a treaty being made. 

      Australia Day has only been a big deal here since the Australia Day council told us to make a big deal about it. It’s just a fabricated faux national day. Why do we need it? I feel proud everyday. I don’t need a special day to feel proud. Only for the bogans it may serve as an excuse to drink, wear bogan things and carry on like idiots.

      Let’s not forget the Cronulla riots. That was a marvellous point in the Australia Day history.

      My solution - move the day to Jan 1 to commemorate the Australian constitution coming into effect in 1901. That’s the day we stopped being just a colonial outpost and became a federation. Besides, most of our important history has happened since then anyway (the diggers etc). And who cares if it co-incides with New Years Day. Just make it a long weekend. As if the bogans would object to a 4 day weekend.

      Reply

    • Robert S McCormick says:

      04:35pm | 24/01/11

      Kika, you said it! We did not need, nor got, thet politicians to get us to bond over the recent floods in Queensland, NSW,Vic,Tas,WA + fires, & SA.
      I only suggest September 1st as Australia Day because it is symbolic of the First Day of Spring & signifies a new beginning, birth- call it what you will.
      Yep I know some areas don’t have “Spring” as such but everyone understands what Spring signifies. It would be non-political, non-controversial for all of us. January 1st does signify the adoption of the Australian Constitution but that document failed to even acknowledge the presence of the Original Immigrants. Very shortly thereafter the politicians brought into being the disgusting & obscene “White Australia” policy. A policy one major political party actually enshrined in it’s Party Manifesto & when given the chance they extended & enlarged it. Many will remember that Calwell creature & his appalling “Two Wongs DON’T make a White” statement.
      That is, of course, all history now for, though Whitlam officially removed it it took a certain Malcolm Fraser to in fact & for all practical purposes to abolish the White Australia Policy.
      Not that it matters but I am WASNR - White Anglo-Saxon No Religion!

    • Mayday says:

      12:38pm | 24/01/11

      “We don’t need to look to our laws to understand this – Australians feel it in their bones.”  So do millions of others living in western democracies for heavens sake!

      Another plug for the unnecessary unions who by the way still force people to join, this happened to my son recently and the only saving grace is that for the first time in his workplace the Union Official is educated at the same level as the people he is supposed to represent!

      The dictionary meaning of Jingoism - bellicose chauvinism.

      Reply

    • Arbrokmearmdad says:

      12:51pm | 24/01/11

      Perhaps both Gerry Harvey and the Trade Unions need to bring their marketing strategies into the 20th century.

      Other than that - nice price Ged.

      Reply

    • Gee Jay says:

      12:51pm | 24/01/11

      We are a trading nation Robert: that is why we are in good shape! We buy we sell: it cannot be all one or the other…..Being friends with powerful nations is not necessarily forelock tugging,it is good for business,and trade!!              By the way—too much nationalism can be dangerrous—e.g.Nazi Germany..

      Reply

    • Troy says:

      01:36pm | 24/01/11

      “Minimum wages should be on the same planet as executive pay because no one’s work can be that much more worthy than another’s.”

      Oh my god, won’t you people ever understand?  You don’t get paid big money for the value of your “work”.  You get paid big money for the risks you take and the responsibilities you shoulder.  This is the whole problem with the modern day Union movement:  you want to get paid without having to take any of the risks and as little of the responsibility as you can get away with.

      Reply

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      02:34pm | 24/01/11

      Yep, if you make the risky decisions that lead to a bailout of your bank / investment firm, you get paid the big bucks, bear no responsibility and the common man suffers.

      Meh, the usual union bashing responses to this article. As I’ve said before unions have no place in the public sector, but they do form a useful tool for the state to use against big business

    • Mayday says:

      03:43pm | 24/01/11

      Typical us vs them mentality Shane,

      Public servants are well represented by unions and private enterprise/big business offer far more money and opportunity as well as dare I say responsibility to their workers.

      The banks were bailed out by this Labor Government and yes us taxpayers (common man, this term is a dead giveaway, are you a union rep/official?) copped the bill!

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      05:02pm | 24/01/11

      @ Mayday- As someone advocating the primacy of state interests over the secondary interests of big business or the unions, I’m not sure what part of “them” you are referring to. It is in the interest of the state that there are no unions in the public sector, but that they are greatly bolstered in the private sector.

      As regards to executive pay and corporate responsibility, the Chinese have got it right with “economic crimes against the state.”

    • Mayday says:

      06:14pm | 24/01/11

      Shane in NSW there are unions on both levels of Government in NSW!

    • Carl Palmer says:

      01:48pm | 24/01/11

      “…where we’ve come from, what we’ve been through and who we are today
      ”
      We have come from all walks of life and even though there may be some concerns today, we live in peace. It took foreigners and Australian’s alike working shoulder to shoulder to build this country. This land has not shed a drop of blood in conflict compared for example to the streets of Europe but we all know that Australia blood was spilt overseas. 

      We are a small nation that punches above it weight – best Olympic games, sport, the arts, commercial, medical, research, the list goes on. Throw in floods and fire and the only thing missing sometime is the kitchen sink.

      We have forged our own character, home and standards. We do not need to seek approval from someone else.
      And what of Mark Donaldson? Not only did he save his mates, he saved a “non Australian” and that to me my friends is what Australian are all about, helping their mates – whomever they maybe. Don’t forget me cobber.

      Reply

    • James1 says:

      02:36pm | 24/01/11

      I plug this on every such article, but we really need to get rid of Australia Day.  It signifies nothing of real historical significance in terms of Australia the independent nation-state. 

      Our national day should be 7 October.  I say this because our national day should celebrate our true national independence, not the day a British colony was founded, or the day that several thousands Australians were sacrificed at the altar of imperialism (by which I mean Gallipoli).  7 October 1941 was the day that the Australian Parliament passed “an Act to remove doubts as to the validity of certain Commonwealth legislation” - the day that the British could no longer overrule Australian lawmakers.  Now there is a day we can all be proud of, no matter our political colours.

      Reply

    • ZSRenn says:

      02:35am | 25/01/11

      Yeh lets just forget about the thousands of convicts that died. They were the initial builders of Australia. Their lives meant nothing.

      Ignorance is rampant in this forum

    • John Tracey says:

      05:51pm | 24/01/11

      Nobody gets a fair go in Australia.Its a myth.
      If you have no influence,no affluence & ,no effluence ,you are cactus.
      It makes you proud to be Australian.Its the Aussie way.

      Reply

    • Matt says:

      07:35pm | 24/01/11

      In some sense I agree with the whole “fair go” thing, but I’m not so sure overall. After living in Berlin for a year (very multicultural), I now notice subtle to obvious discrimination in Australia based on just about everything, particularly the big three: gender, race and sexuality. The last one is by law, unfortunately, and the other two are signs that we’re always a little behind in the times; perhaps a byproduct of living on an island.

      Reply

    • Andy says:

      08:01pm | 24/01/11

      Didn’t the German chancellor just give a speech about the failure of multicultiralism?,,,,just saying.

    • Gerard says:

      07:59pm | 24/01/11

      Now, a list of things that unions don’t believe in:

      *A working public transport system
      *Affordable electricity
      *Planning decisions made in the interests of the public, not developers
      *A competent and hard-working public service
      *Autonomy of individuals (ie freedom from nanny state laws)
      *Transparent and accountable government

      The evidence that they don’t believe in these things? They’re supporting NSW Labor’s re-election campaign.

      Reply

    • Marilyn Shepherd says:

      08:31pm | 24/01/11

      Why don’t you ask the aborigines, migrants and the 1000 or so refugee kids in jail about the fair go because all this jingoistic claptrap drives me insane.

      As Australian’s come from 199 different nations what the f…........k is an Australian beside the people who live on this island.

      WE are no better than most and far worse than many.

      We ratify conventions on human rights and throw them in the bin.  We ratify and enshrine conventions in law and still throw them in the bin until the High Court is asked to rule and finds we have broken our own laws.

      Enough.  We are not so terrific and we never have been, just a nation of land thieves and criminals.

      Reply

    • Jim says:

      08:51pm | 24/01/11

      Would you like directions to Sydney Airport so you can get on a plane and fly the f___k outta here for good?

    • Stanley says:

      10:01pm | 24/01/11

      Another self-loathing diatribe by the infamous Marilyn Shepherd where would online comments in Australia be without this woman!!!!

      So reading between the lines all Australians are thieves and criminals (presumably you of course being the only exception?) i am surprised you failed to mention the Jews, still you did somehow manage to wangle in refugees who with your borderline passive/aggressive behavior of would no doubt scare even them.

      Have a Happy Australia Day Marilyn i and the other 22 million Aussies will, expect you of course.

    • Mike T says:

      11:10pm | 24/01/11

      Germaine Greer….....is that you???

    • Greg says:

      11:58pm | 24/01/11

      It really is amazing how somebody as enlightened and altruistic as Saint Marilyn can stand to live with the rest of us lessor mortals.

      We are not worthy Marilyn, we do not deserve to be graced by your presence.

      We will never be able to live up to your lofty standards.

      So why don’t you just sod off?

    • The CaveDweller says:

      11:20am | 25/01/11

      Wow. Bitter much?
      Doubt you’ll find a semi big enough to load that chip on your shoulder.
      As Jim said why not f…k off and live somewhere you have one positive feeling for?

    • Mayday says:

      03:56pm | 26/01/11

      Only one nation lived on this island prior to 1901…...the British.

    • Bingle says:

      11:44pm | 24/01/11

      TChong where are you? In Delly, Nyngen or some other out post, cooking good Sweet n Sour Australia’s national dish.
      Your input is required.

      Reply

    • TCB 24 X 7 says:

      11:49pm | 24/01/11

      Everyone have a happy Australia day,
      For it is and always will be the celebration of the arrival of the first fleet at Sydney Cove on the 26th Jan 1788, and the hoisting of the British Flag proclaiming sovereignty over The Great Southern Land.

      Like it or not This is Our Tradition Our Heritage,
      This is what Australia Day is All About.

      Reply

    • Greg says:

      12:41am | 25/01/11

      I have only once been a member of a union, a compulsory student union at university, and nobody could ever answer the question: “If the union is so good, why are we forced to join it”?

      Unions are all about coercion, whether it is inclusive as mentioned above or the exclusive closed shop: “no ticket, no start”.

      While there is no doubt that the Australian national identity has been under attack from multiculturalism in recent decades, not all Australians are culturally schizophrenic.

      We know what a “fair go” really is, and it isn’t egalitarianism. This is the same as comparing equal opportunity with the mandated equal outcomes and quotas of the Affirmative Action laws.

      Human beings are not all equal. It is self evident that people have widely varying abilities, talents and aptitudes, despite the efforts of the socialists to cut down the tall poppies.

      Socialist semantics even hypocritically allows that “treating people equally does not mean treating them the same”. This is the antithesis of the fair go, it is the Orwellian concept that some are “more equal” than others.

      The “fair go” never meant that somebody was entitled to something without earning it, and it was not awarded as a prize for the biggest victimhood claimants.

      The “fair go” was all about allowing people to achieve their full potential without restriction, and not holding some people back out of jealousy or the inability to compete.

      Reply

    • Mayday says:

      04:01pm | 26/01/11

      Excellent points and I am still listening for the roar of disgust at the loss of jobs in retail since the self serve checkouts have hit our supermarkets and variety stores.

      Human beings are not all equal and some people will or cannot aspire to working and climbing the ladder further than a checkout operator, students and school leavers could miss out on vital work experience.

 
Comment

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

Paul Colgan

Colgo 25 May 12 10:37PM

Greece makes the final and Ireland gets in on a golden ticket. How awkward and embarrassing. Love it. #sbseurovision

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 25 May 12 10:00PM

Every single #eurovision band is roxette #sbseurovision

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 25 May 12 09:58PM

The weird thing about #eurovision is you've got this massive collection of dorks in a room and no one is wearing Spock ears #sbseurovision

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 25 May 12 09:52PM

Europe has the large hadron collider which is light years ahead of its time and #eurovision, where the eighties never die

See all tweets

Recent posts

The latest and greatest

Mining money talks the loudest in Australian politics

by Laurie Oakes

0

Mining money talks the loudest in Australian politics

When North Queensland Liberal MP George Christensen got the idea of launching a new political organisation…

Please enter your password

by Lucy Kippist

0

Please enter your password

Help! I’ve succumbed to a crippling modern illness that can strike at any moment. Symptoms include:…

This concern for Thomson won’t change the script

by Mark Kenny

0

This concern for Thomson won’t change the script

Under pressure himself over his crusade against Craig Thomson, Tony Abbott has moved to present a softer…

Nosebleed Section

choice ringside rantings

From: They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

Michael S says:

"A teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall." I can sympathise. My scholastic mentors conveyed to me a causal relationship… [read more]

From: Welfare for breeders is a bonus for everyone

Change Up! says:

I have no problem paying my taxes. As a single, childless person on a very decent income, I can afford it and not have my life severely altered. Plus I understand that my taxes paying for things like schools, childcare and infrastructure is ultimately a good thing. A better community is better for me… [read more]

Light weight

Gentle jabs to the ribs

They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

A private school girl’s family is sueing her elite, extremely expensive private school for not… Read more

243 comments

Newsletter

Read all about it

Sign up to the free daily Punch newsletter

Subscribe to The Punch RSS feed