Tony Abbott And The Unemployed Or Should We Congratulate Drug Dealers For Their Entrepreneurial Spirit? - » The Australian Independent Media Network
Earlier this week, I was reminded of this conversation when I read a tweet from the Honorable Tony Abbott which said:
“People on unemployment benefits are supposed to be looking for work. Applying for one job a day is hardly unreasonable. These proposed changes show Labor is now the welfare class party not the working class one.”
Of course, this is one of those things- like harsher punishments for drug dealers – that sounds reasonable, untill you think about it. People are meant to be looking for work and so applying for one job a day that’s a good thing, right?
Now let’s move it from the general to the particular. At various times over the past few years, I’ve been looking for work as a teacher. When I looked at the jobs available, there were sometimes jobs that I’m qualified for, but sometimes there weren’t. Using Abbott logic, should I apply for the Physics teacher job just so I’m applying for one job a day? Or should I just wait until there’s a suitable job?
I wonder if we all sent our resumes to Abbott’s office, asking whether he had any jobs available, whether he’d be so sure that one application a day was such a good idea.
The politics of media power
Media is a profit centre and access is PR currency for politicians and the corporate world at the expense of truth. The proof is before our eyes if the level of trust is compared between News Corp the ABC and SBS. However, it seems trust runs second to the power of profit when it can't be united by individuals to the extent it can by the IPA delivered by Murdoch for some politicians. Despite the fact that Murdoch's influence hasn't always been delivered as promised it hasn't always succeeded only continued. (ODT)Murdoch wields his influence through hiring and firing, through appointing like-minded people in key positions, through promotions within the ranks, the occasional nod and a wink. But above all, he exerts influence through the expectations of those that allow themselves to be influenced.
Kevin Rudd may well lament Murdoch's power and how he doesn't “own Australia”, but in his memoir, Making Headlines, former editor of The Australian, Chris Mitchell, reveals in much detail their close, but at times fractious, relationship. Mitchell tells of a clandestine dinner-for-two in the sauna of a five-star hotel with Rudd dishing dirt on Wayne Swan in September 2010, after Rudd's ousting by Gillard. It shows how Rudd was happy to use Murdoch's power when it suited him. No doubt like every prime minister has before and after.
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