Sunday, November 06, 2011

Qantas again

The UK Telegraph says:

"The clock is ticking for Qantas. Its fate lies with Labor's Fair Work Australia, a body loaded with ex-union bosses. Fair Work Australia has been examining allegations made about former Health Services Union boss and Labor MP Craig Thomson for three years (he denies any wrongdoing).

It is meant to sort out the Qantas crisis in the next two weeks or submit the parties to binding arbitration.

The process is flawed, the premise of the Fair Work legislation is wrong.

Labor's walking dead are oblivious to their fate".

IMO: The Gillard Govt has done what they can in many ways. For example, the carbon tax, disliked by so many, should be a very forward looking idea. But as a left oriented Govt in a country run by hicks all round, it does some very hamfisted things, whether deliberately or a a clumsy attempt to compromise. Also Joyce, in trying to economise, may not have taken Australia's global concerns accurately enough. I think it was ABC radio who recently pointed out that East Asians simply consider Australia as a quarry, run by simple-minded hicks. This implies a certain unwarranted contempt for all things Australian. So they naturally threaten Australian businesses whilst at the same time, cadging corrupt favours. The idea that Harold Holt did not drown, but escaped with secrets to China on a submarine, is probably not true but is an urban legend of merit.  On the other hand, by and large Australia has benefitted a lot financially from the many Indian students (about 100,000 at the moment) who study there, and both countries have contributed greatly to each others cultural heritage. Just one case about Qantas and Asia: I was on a Qantas flight from the UK through China to Australia a few years ago. Part of the way I had to change carrier from Qantas to its subsidiary Jetstar. I was not warned in advance and my luggage quota was reduced at considerable cost to myself. In fact the extra I had to pay on the spot, overrode the advantage of using Qantas. I blame Joyce AND the unions for mismanagement throughout. I think Joyce was right in causing the lockout and from press readings, it looks like Joyce told the truth about giving lockout warnings and Gillard lied. Labor have got it wrong, Gillard is as naive as 'pig iron Bob' Menzies was in 1938, and Qantas looks like it is heading right down the pan at the moment. Australia needs clear, rational Govt.

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