This week's stories: Free Choice Is Fine But People Aren't Choosing What The Government Wants...US Government Favours Nuclear War...And Decides They Own the Moon...Kerry Packer Stole My Water...Papua New Guinea Still A Colony.
The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Tony Abbott, is taking what the Canberra Times called "new steps to crush unionism in the Australian Public Service". A confidential Cabinet submission obtained by The Canberra Times reveals Mr Abbott is planning to force public servants to sign non-union, individual Australian Workplace Agreements (AWA's). He also wants to ban union-based certified agreements. The government's rhetoric on industrial relations is based around free choice. AWA's and non-union agreements have been available since 1996. However most people, when given a choice, have chosen collective agreements negotiated by unions. Only 5 percent of the public service have taken up AWA's. Below senior executive level the figure is less than 1 percent. Non-union agreements have fallen to only 35 percent. Even staff in Mr Abbott's own Department have chosen a union-based agreement. Individual agreements are said to give more power to management and so lead to lower pay and worse conditions. Mr Abbott recommended that: Individual AWAs be compulsory for all new public servants. All jobs be advertised on the basis that the successful applicant be offered an AWA. All promotions and transfers resulting from advertised vacancies be contingent on AWAs. Agency heads must offer AWAs to all employees. All certified agreements must be negotiated directly with employees under the non-union Section 170LK of the Workplace Relations Act. The Community and Public Sector Union said that some of the recommendations might contravene the Government's own financial management legislation and would also be an attack on the merit principle. (Canberra Times, December 17). US government policy now favours pre-emptive nuclear strikes - that is, launching nuclear weapons against countries that have not attacked the US. The policy favours strikes against countries whether or not they have nuclear weapons themselves. (Washington Post, December 11). The US government has given a private company the OK to start commercialising the moon. The TransOribal Corporation of California is expecting to start making money within two years. No other country has agreed that the US has any rights to the moon. (WSM, December 3). The world's poorest nations, where 800 million are hungry and 40 million are infected with HIV, could solve their basic problems of food, clean water and health care with only 4% of the combined wealth of the 225 richest people on the planet. (Mainstream Media Project, Bread for the World Institute, and the 2001 United Nations Development Report, reported by WSM, December 3). The Australian government secretly agreed with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, that they would withhold aid from Papua New Guinea, unless they adopted spending cuts and other 'free market' policies. The Australian government provided money to PNG's previous government, which allowed them to spend large amounts of money before the election. The Australian government has a history of interfering with Papua New Guinea, which used to be under its control. The World Bank has a history of interfering with poor countries in general, enforcing 'structural adjustment' programs by threatening to withhold aid. The poor countries are dependent on aid largely because of unpayable debts. Worldwide, almost ten million people have been displaced by World Bank financed 'development' projects. In PNG generous figures show the adult illiteracy rate as 35% (much higher for females), and life expectancy is only 59 years. Most World Bank loans aim at strengthening industry and government rather than health or education. In fact it has forced the government to introduce higher fees for public education and health, abolished controls on basic foodstuffs, repealed the minimal wages act (1992), and demanded the privatisation of State-owned enterprises. In 1990 the 'Land Mobilisation Act' called for the privatisation of communally owned tribal land. Australia provides about $20 million per year in military funding to PNG. Money from AusAID, the official Australian aid agency, has been spent training 'mobile squads' who defend mining operations in PNG, which are largely run by Australian-based multinationals. According the ABC reports the squads are also trained in burning villages. One mobile squad was used to shoot protestors after the police refused, killing two people and injuring another 17. Mobile squads are considered more 'reliable' than either the police or the army, whose members largely supported the protets. Dan Weise, former World Bank representative in Port Moresby, says that specific instructions from Canberra were given to only report favourably on the government despite suspicions of corruption, and the killing of protestors. When Weise stood up against the corruption of the Morauta government he was removed from the country. Australian military aid helped make the PNG government's unsuccesful war in Bougainville longer and more damaging. It peaked at $50 million Australia per year during this war. During the war over 2000 personnel, almost half of the entire PNG military, were trained in Australia. The Australian government also provided Iroquois helicopters - which were equipped with mounted machine guns and used as gunships - and Australian pilots. (Sydney Morning Herald, November 17, and information from PNGSA). anarchist news service write to James, PO Box 503, Newtown NSW 2042 or email [EMAIL PROTECTED] contact us to get ATNTF emailed directly to you. 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