By Kevin Healy
In the Great Campaign for Wage Justice This Year, the ACTU came up with a magnificent new strategy this week. The new fighting-our-guts-out-for-those-who-pay-our-little-salary-packages tactic is — extraordinarily Machiavellian — not to ask for any pay rise. That way, they'll be able to ask for more when the economy recovers, they explained. Aren't they clever?
And then there's the George Dumbbell argument that workers should not get pay rises because that keeps the unemployed unemployed. It's important to pour profits into the bosses' pockets because then they'll invest it all in job creation.
So we should have a little drink to celebrate that fabulous Festers Brewing Company profit announced this week. Their profit increased just 83% to $230 million or so, which naturally is good for all of us. The company celebrated this great news by giving their workers an 83% wage rise. Well, no, not really. They decided to invest 83% more in job creation. Well, not quite. They celebrated by announcing they would sack 25% of their Melbourne workforce. Those workers will have the satisfaction of knowing they've made a contribution to an even leaner, even meaner — certainly meaner — company.
The Victorian government announced its shopping list for the world's greatest worst ex-treasurer Paul's economic statement. And, would you believe it, it was exactly the same as the list of the Committee for Melbourne, led by such fine community-minded citizens as John Sellingit-Smellingit, John Rough and Little Billy Killthem.
Their great plan is for all these infrastructure developments to create more congestion, more cars on the road, more freight on the road, more urban sprawl. But this time the infrastructure would be owned by the private sector, which is quite happy to help out the government on these matters as long as the government actually pays for it.
That's the sort of community-minded development Melbourne needs, and what a comprehensive consultation process the minister, Jimmy Conthem, and the business leaders have conducted. Yes, they've talked to each other.
Finally, the god-fearing mining companies, annoyed that some pagan rites have ruled over Coronation Hill, are taking the government to the High Court because the government took their land without compensation. I can't remember exactly when they bought Coronation Hill. Perhaps some reader has the answer.