Victorian Trades Hall Council. The voice of Victorian workers since 1856.Victorian Trades Hall Council. The voice of Victorian workers since 1856.

Another good reason why John Howard has to go

By Brian Boyd, VTHC Secretary 24 April 2007


Howard has a nerve to allege that unions are trying to “turn back the clock” through their opposition to his draconian “WorkChoices” laws.  The ongoing “your rights at work” campaign across the country is obviously getting under his skin.  But who is really trying to go back in time.

Lets look at for example the Prime Minister's denigration of the progressive concept of “Multi-Culturalism”, over the past year or so.  This is akin to turning back the clock to the White Australia Policy of the 1950’s and 1960’s.

What about his support recently for Alan Jones, the Sydney radio announcer!?

Earlier this month the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found Jones guilty of breaking the Radio Code Of Practice for reading out a vitriolic email during the time of the Cronulla riots near Sydney a couple of years ago.

The openly provocative email said in part:
“My suggestion is to invite the biker gangs to be present at Cronulla railway station when these Lebanese thugs arrive – the biker gangs have been much maligned, but they do a lot of good things – it would be worth the price of admission to watch these cowards scurry back on to the train for the return trip to their lairs.

“Australians old and new should not have to put up with this scum.”
The Australian Communications and Media Authority,  the independent media watchdog set up by the Howard government said that “an ordinary reasonable listener would regard the endorsement of the biker gang invitation as likely to encourage violence”, and consequently made a negative ruling.

As expected Alan Jones didn’t like the finding and sooked about it to anyone who would listen.  One who did and jumped on the Jones bandwagon, was John Howard.  

What did our so called ‘forward looking’ Prime Minister have to say about Alan Jones in relation to the adverse ACMA finding:
“I don’t think he’s a person who encourages prejudice in the Australian community, not for one moment, but he is a person who articulates what a lot of people think” (emphasis added).
So if a lot of misguided Australians at a particular time think bad things, have racist thoughts and encourage racist violence for example, then it’s alright for Alan Jones to spread such views?!


Let’s also not forget the nasty aberration of One Nation and Pauline Hanson and how John Howard’s party absorbed this artificial populism back in the 1990’s.


As recent as last week the prestigious and well respected medical journal the UK based LANCET editorialised that John Howard has a “profound intolerance to those less secure than himself”.  The journal was commenting on John Howard’s arch conservative social statements made since the beginning of the year.

The union movement is not turning back the clock.  He is.

As Australians we should always celebrate the diversity of our backgrounds. 

John Howard can’t take that away from us.

He wants an IR system like the 1890’s, where Australians have no self respect and are at the mercy of employers.

He wants a society that is divided and based on one-sided jingoism, not reflective at all of our diversity and breadth of character.

Don’t let John Howard turn back the clock.  We need to work hard and change the government at the next Federal election later this year.

[The above article is based on an extract from an address given at the Union / Community Family Day Protest – against John Howard’s IR laws that was held at the Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne on Sunday 23 April 2007.

The gathering was also addressed by rank and file speakers Julie Smith (CEPU Telecommunications Div) and Bronwyn Jefferson (LHMU) and also by Len Cooper Secretary CEPU-Telecommunications Div, who gave a report on the upcoming May Day 2007 celebrations.]


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