Struggle Street News Listen closely --------- --------- » 2004 Editions --------- » About us --------- » 2003 Editions --------- » 2002 Editions --------- --------- Struggle Street News for 20 September 2003 Produced by: Jolyon Sykes and Susan Wood Tax cuts make no sense The Australian Council of Social Service has rejected the suggestion made by Access Economics for further tax cuts of three billion dollars. ACOSS President Andrew McCallum says it makes no sense to cut taxes while there are big gaps in the public health, education and welfare systems. In addition, both plans announced are unfair, delivering little or no benefit to the majority of workers on low wages. Andrew McCallum quotes recent opinion polls that show most people would prefer increased spending on public services rather than cutting tax. "Might" makes it wrong Some of the contents of the secret volume of the Cole Commission report into the construction industry were leaked to a major newspaper last week. The Australian Financial Review quoted the report as saying that most of the matters investigated by the commission "might constitute a breach of civil or criminal law". The National Secretary of the CFMEU says that the word "might" raises serious questions about the need for tough legislation for the industry, recently announced by the Minister, Tony Abbott. John Sutton called on the Federal Government to withdraw the legislation immediately and to work with the industry and unions, addressing the real issues of safety, tax evasion and protection of worker entitlements. Doubts about jobs growth The Leading Indicator of jobs growth published by the Commonwealth Department of Workplace Relations weakened slightly this month. The indicator is composed of new vehicle sales, dwelling approvals, the Gross Domestic Product, and three job vacancy surveys. It is used to predict changes in the rate of jobs growth approximately eight months before they occur. The downturn comes after five successive months of increases, just short of the six months needed to confidently predict a sustained increase in employment. The Department says that it is still expecting jobs growth for the rest of this year, despite this minor setback. Learning is in demand Knowledge is becoming more important to the Australian economy, according to the Bureau of Statistics. The proportion of the population with bachelor degrees or higher almost doubled in the ten years ending in 2002, from nine and a half per cent to nearly eighteen per cent. The number of people employed in knowledge industries also increased, as did the number of secondary and tertiary students. Two graduating students in every three are now able to find jobs, an increase of about five per cent. On the other hand, there are now nearly eighty thousand people in the workforce who have tried to enter a course of study and were unable to do so. UN defensive after bombing The New York Times reports that major changes to the constitution of the United Nations are likely, following the bombing of the UN mission in Baghdad. The paper says that the Secretary General, Kofi Annan is now more nervous about putting his people in danger, particularly when the UN's mandate is ambiguous. A survivor of the Baghdad mission, Salim Lone says that many ordinary Iraqis are unable to distinguish the UN operation from the overall US presence in the country. The UN must steer a course between operating as an agent of the US and not co-operating to the point where the US ignores it. Anti-discrimination is complaint-driven And finally, the Acting Disability Discrimination Commissioner says that the carers of disabled people should complain more. Sev Ozdowski said there were concerns that carers are unaware of the protection offered by the Disability Discrimination Act in advancing human rights for people with disabilities. For example, it would be unlawful if a parent is refused a job because the employer assumes he or she will need time off work to look after a child with a disability. He says the complaint process is the main driver of change towards a more accessible and equal Australia and people with disabilities can use it effectively to pursue their own aspirations. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ For further information Contact : Jolyon Sykes Phone : (02) 4268 1434 Fax : (02) 4268 1435 Email : jolyonsykes@bigpond.com --------- --------- © 2002 Struggle Street News For more info, contact Jolyon Sykes