WorkChoices Solidarity

A parody/critique of a few of the propaganda campaigns about WorkChoices.
The television and print campaign being funded by "Australian businesses" makes some carefully crafted, essentially vague, and arguably misleading claims based on a document prepared by a group of people who go by the name of Econtech - http://www.econtech.com.au/ - on instructions from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. http://www.acci.asn.au/ (nice how the ACCI web site loads like a Vanstone in Firefox, but springs to life in MS Explorer, maybe indicating that the ACCI don't do freeware? - probably consider it anti-commerce. One of the reasons they wouldn't have liked the Iraqi economy that existed before the 2003 invasion.) http://www.iraqcoalition.org/regulations/20040501_CPAORD_83_Amendment_to_the_...
But I depress.
When you go to the body of the Econtech report, you'll find [at page 2] that the report's assumptions have no relevance to the current debate about IR - specifically because the report's dire projections are based on the unrealistic assumption that all of the industrial changes since 1993 are reversed by early 2008. Nobody in this wonderfully pluralistic democracy is proposing anything of the sort.
But, apparently desperate to fulfil their brief and earn their ugly fee, the producers of the ad go on to make claims that distort the conclusions of the somewhat fanciful report. [Fanciful, because they might as well have prepared a report on the economic consequences of the Labor party re-discovering its soul.]
For example, the ad being run by the ACCI and its associates claims that "316,000 jobs will be at risk" - whereas, the Econtech report refers to an increase in unemployment of 199,000 and a shrinkage in the labour force of 117,000 - again, only if all of the industrial changes since 1993 were reversed by early 2008. [Source: Econtech report - page 6]
Not the same thing as "316,000 jobs at risk" - at least not if you care about the meaning normally attributed to words. Because saying a job is "at risk" entails the necessary suggestion that a person who has a job is potentially going to lose it against their will. But a shrinkage in the labour force [the sum total of employed and unemployed people http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/kilm/indicators.htm occurs because people make apparently rational decisions about their future needs and happiness and act accordingly. Not the same thing as something being "at risk". Unless jobs are being anthropromorphised?
But these people (these people who aggregate into freeware hating acronyms) have a lot at stake - and truth is just another disposable commodity.
Read the full Econtech report at
http://www.acci.asn.au/text_files/BCWR/EcontechAugust2007.pdf
and marvel at its impartiality.
Solidarity.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• John
• Howard
• Australia
• WorkChoices
• Solidarity
• IR
• Hendy
• propaganda

[MrSystematica]

ever heard of the GFC?

[MsTsarbomba]

@btbking Sure fuckwitt

[MsTsarbomba]

@wnxsystem The country is now in deep decline and bussiness are shutting what are you laughing about dickface

[wnxsystem]

'gone out of business because of union bosses'

LOL, yeah.... right

[btbking]

And I look back at this now, their statistics and facts were obviously biased.

[dankru]

Nto as funny as others but does make VERY valid points.

Good work.

[torpedodropkick]

The Soviet uNion ran propaganda like this too. 'Fear' works on the masses. Nazis did this this type of stuff too.

[mairmicate]

FACT: Howard is BULLSHITTING us with these ads and making us PAY for them, just to add insult to injury.

[dodgyville]

Wordy, but that Econotech thing was a dodgy thing. All its figures were based on undoing the democrat reforms from the 90s!