We'll do it the union way, behind closed doors.

That was AWU Secretary Bill Shorten talking about the undesirability of discussing union shortcomings in public.

Better to do it the union way.   Behind closed doors.   Certainly closed to members and electors anyway.

When you think about it, he nailed it in that sentence.

I can't think of a better way to describe Labor's response to the Craig Thomson saga, The AWU Scandal, Eddie Obeid, Michael Williamson, Julia Gillard, Bruce Wilson et al.  

"We'll do it the union way, behind closed doors."

The story below was published in The Age on 18 July, 1998 - 3 days after Bill did a GBO and withdrew his candidature to represent the people of the state seat of Melton.

Try to read Bill's last comment in the story as an elector from Melton.

"I reckon that when you're young you can do a lot more for working people as a trade union official than as a politician."

How lucky was Melton!

Union black sheep returns to the fold Author: EWIN HANNAN Date: 18/07/1998 Words: 681           Publication: The Age Section: News Page: 14

Australia's oldest union is coming in from the cold. After five years outside the mainstream of the Victorian labor movement, the Australian Workers Union says it is time to reinvent itself.

This week, the new leadership announced the union would rejoin Trades Hall Council, publicly declaring a desire to end the infighting and division that have long tarnished the union's reputation.

The catalyst for the detente has been the replacement of the state secretary, Mr Bob Smith, with a young organiser, Mr Bill Shorten. Mr Shorten, 31, has turned his back on a safe Labor seat in State Parliament to take over the troubled branch.

Bill Shorten was preselected for the safe Victorian state parliamentary seat of Melton in 1998 as the AWU Scandal was winding its way to nowhere in the IR courts.

I've no doubt Bill Shorten convinced the party members in the various branches within the electorate that he was committed to Melton, his heart was entirely in the job and that if they put their faith in him by pre-selecting him, he would repay their confidence.  Unless he got a better offer.

Melton was the same seat that Bob Kernohan was offered if he toed the line.

Stick with the program and a parliamentary seat will eventuate.

Speak up for the members, for justice and common decency like Bob Kernohan did - and the result was bullets in the mail, threats, bashing, no super, no career - and a 9 year wait for basic accrued entitlements to be authorised for payment by AWU Secretary Bill Shorten.

Here's a link to the Bill Shorten biography.

http://web.archive.org/web/20030511071417/http://www.awu.net.au/national/students/personality_shorten.html

This story from The Age describes the Shorten speedy response when he GBO'ed (Got a Better Offer).   The author writes very much from the Shorten perspective - Shorten had a safe seat, Shorten turned his back on the job, Shorten will head up the AWU.

What about the people of the electorate, or the members of the union?

Here's Bob Kernohan in happier days when he too contemplated a parliamentary career in a Labor Party that then still included men like Tom Uren and Mick Young.  Bob tells me the electorate was named Doutta Galla prior to a redistribution that created the seat of Melton covering substantially the same area.

Here are a few newspaper articles from August, 1986 describing Bruce Wilson's illegal occupation of the Woodside North Rankin gas platform.

Monday 18 August, 1986

(below article -  Sydney Morning Herald 19 August 1986)

(Sydney Morning Herald 20 August 1986)

(Bob Kernohan with a bit of advice for a fair-weather friend)

The Australian newspaper has a story about Bob's travels on Page 3 today.  

This report was submitted as a blog comment - it is not an official statement, no one has publicly put their name to it and it contains no verifying details.   It may be entirely groundless, it may be completely true.   You may know something about it and if you do perhaps you might drop us a line.

Headsup said:

Please give me a ring on 131873 if you can help with

• best spots to catch tadpoles in Sydney
• do blokes still get excited about a piece of steel "that would make a great barbie plate"?
• what is the all singing all dancing best  marinade for steak or chops
• what essential ingredients set your rissoles apart?

It is against the law to take tadpoles from the wild in NSW.

Cloud cuckoo land.

Here is the link http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/wildlifelicences/FrogKeepersLicence.htm

Balmy.  Crazy.   And this law will make criminals of decent people who love their children.

People like this.

World Vision's goal is admirable - to help little girls avoid the horror of rape.

This ad was in today's The Australian online (I've cut the donate bit off the bottom because while I agree with World Vision's aims, I don't support their methods).

One effective way to achieve World Vision's goal is to help the Muslim world extract itself from its dark ages and its belief that what its prophet Mohammed said is right.

Mohammed was wrong when he said it was OK to rape 9 year olds, he was criminally wrong when he raped Aisha and it is wrong now to act out his criminal way of life.

Rather than spending money on it, I think that more and more light bulbs need to go on in people's heads.   You can help.   Start by telling your leaders that you expect them to stand up to Mohammed's followers by telling them it's wrong to follow his way.

Why don't unions pay tax?   Why do unions have monopoly rights to provide services that members are forced to pay for?   Why do unions get government grants?   Why do union officials enjoy protections that company directors don't? 

And when will the Federal Government do something about the rorts?

You might find Grace Collier's column in The Australian newspaper today interesting.   I did.

No unions pay tax. None whatsoever, and never have. All unions receive significant government grants to carry out their work. They all live in a tax-free, loosely regulated bubble. The rest of us can only dream of such a blessed existence.

There are a few key differences between the employee unions and the employer unions.

The employee unions are much more effective. Their people are more cunning, tougher, braver, stronger and far better organised. When employee union people tire of the game, they have their own political party, the ALP, as well as an entire industry superannuation sector, in which to seek a job.

If they can't get a safe seat or a job on a super fund, they know the ALP will look after them with some other appointment somewhere. This means they don't have daily work worries over silly things like always obeying the law and being nice to the employers they deal with. They know as long as they are a faithful union warrior, they will always be looked after.

The people in the employer unions, when they tire of the game, don't have any guaranteed future career. They hope to be "looked after" by the Coalition, but know they are unlikely to be. The Coalition doesn't look after its friends very well at all, which is - I suppose - why it has far fewer friends than the ALP does. This means employer union people have to safeguard their future by doing a lot of sucking up to the people in the ALP and employee unions at the same time they are supposed to be opposing them. This makes them rubbish at their job.

When you work for an employer union, you can't run around kicking unions out of workplaces or winning against them or anything crazy like that. It doesn't matter if your member (business client) is virtually bankrupt and needs you to, if you do things like that, your career is over.

So what employer union people have to do is justify their hopeless performance by convincing their members that the legislation is so slanted against them that giving in to the unions is the only lawful option.

Employee unions pay their leaders much less than the employer unions do. The community is horrified if a union leader earns $500,000 but wouldn't blink to hear that an employer union leader earns the same or much more.

Despite this, employee unions never complain about employer unions. Employee union people think of employer union people the way you and I think of pets. Employer union people think of employee union people the way you and I think of a gang of muggers.

Employee union people always make sure they appoint employer union people to the boards of their superannuation funds. This throws them a bone and guarantees that when the Liberals get in, they are less motivated to properly reform the sector.

The AI Group holds a privileged position in our country. Its financials for the year ending June 30, 2012, show tax exempt revenue of $78,182,988. Employee costs of $58,727,554 for an estimated 350 staff show an average spend of $167,793 a person. The AI Group has net assets of $59,564,648.

An employee union in the manufacturing sector, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, also has a healthy set of books. Its report for the year ending September 30, 2012, shows tax-exempt income of $54,350,676, including $11,844,175 of income from other ventures. The AMWU has net assets of $102,500,297.

Read more at The Australian.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/ai-group-has-its-role-in-manufacturing-the-decline/story-e6frg6zo-1226794410750