E D I T O R I A L

Home Ground Advantage
American pollster Vic Fingerhut has been in Australia this week with a reassuring message to the labour movement - it's OK to stand up for what you believe in - and it might even win you elections.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Battle Stations
Opposition leader Kim Beazley says he's ready to fight for workers right. But come July 1, he'll have to be fighting by different rules.

Unions: The Workers, United
It was a group of rank and filers who took centre stage when workers rallied in Sydney's Town Hall, writes Jim Marr.

Politics: The Lost Weekend
The ALP had a hot date, they had arranged to meet on the Town Hall steps, and Phil Doyle was there.

Industrial: Truth or Dare
Seventeen ivory towered academics upset those who know what is best for us last week.

History: A Class Act
After reading a new book on class in Australia, Neale Towart is left wondering if it is possible to tie the term down.

Economics: The Numbers Game
Political economist Frank Stilwell offers a beginners guide to understanding budgets

International: Blonde Ambition
Sweden can be an inspiration to labour movements the world over, as it has had community unionism for over 100 years, creating a vibrant caring society, rather than a "productive" lean economy.

Training: The Trade Off
Next time you go looking for a skilled tradesman and can�t find one, blame an economist, writes John Sutton.

Review: Bore of the Worlds
An invincible enemy has people turning against one another as they fight for survival � its not just an eerie view of John Howard�s ideal workplace, writes Nathan Brown.

Poetry: The Beaters Medley
In solidarity with the workers of Australia, Sir Paul McCartney (with inspiration from his old friend John Lennon) has joined the Workers Online resident bard David Peetz to pen some hits about the government's proposed industrial relations revolution.

N E W S

PM Rallies on Spin

Crafty Boss Bytes Staff

Andrews Faces "Thuggery" Challenge

Delta Blues

NRL Plays Man Not Ball

Boeing Hits Turbulence

Whole Truth Eludes Rev Kev

Correct Weight Caulfield

Business Nervous Over IR Changes

Last Weekend Gets a Lift

Free Pass for Death Doctors

Activists Whats On!

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
State of the Union
Unions NSW secretary John Robertson lifts the lid on �The Nine Myths of Modern Unionism�

The Locker Room
Wrist Action
Phil Doyle trawls the murky depths of tawdry sleaze, and discovers Rugby is behind it all.

Culture
To Hew The Coal That Lies Below
Phil Doyle reviews Australia's first coal mining novel, Black Diamonds and Dust.

Parliament
The Westie Wing
Our favourite State MP, Ian West, reports from Macquarie Street that the Premier is all the way with a State Commission.

L E T T E R S

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Water Works

Is the desalination backlash faced by Carr government reflective of the increasing consciousness of the serial rape of our resources. This rapacious behaviour facilitated and favourably accommodated by those whom we with child like naivety put our trust through electing them as stewards to protect and enhance these legacies as were bequeathed to us, and as we did intend to leave to future generations.

Not to acquiesce them to multi-national corporations who act with a self interest which in many cases is the antithesis of our national and in most cases our personal interests, be they financial, moral or social.

There must also be questions asked and answered in relation to not only the licentious acceleration in which this dubious project is being proceeded with , particularly since it has been it has now been classified as critical infrastructure thereby bypassing examination at the local level.

There has been absolutely no accredited support for this project, this palpable deficiency of credible support offering a sharp contrast to the criticism not only of the project but the lack of due process and diligence in the decision making processes.

One need only examine other contracts which have been negotiated on the operation of these plants, and not only the start up costs, the operating costs, but the bottom line, e.g.: the cost of water per cubic metre:-

For this example I will use the contract awarded by the Singapore Government to SingSpring for the supply of desalinated water.

Under this Design-Build-Own-Operate (DBOO) contract, SingSpring, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyflux Ltd, will supply 30 million gallons of desalinated water per day for 20 years from 2005 � 2025.

What has not been clearly disseminated in relation to the Carr Government proposal is that the cost of supply does not remain static throughout the contract period. Starting at $0.78 per cu metre in 2005 as proposed by SingSpring in its bid, it would vary monthly with prevailing fuel price and annually with inflation based on a pre-defined formula. This may seem at a glance unproblematic, if taken in context with a regulated energy, prices, or industry.

But if the parallel endeavours as to ultimate goal of electricity privatisation is achieved, a desire expressed by both the government and the opposition, and this legacy is also sold of for a pittance to another division of the same multi-national, which has previously purchased the monopoly to franchise and or license to vend the very essence of life - water.

Will we be nothing more than marionettes mating our only purpose being - the consumption of product for profit?

These plans have created in me a Deja Vu comparable to:

The water system of Buenos Aires was sold off for a song to a company called Enron. A pipeline was sold off, that runs between Argentina and Chile, was sold off to a company called Enron. Then the globalists blow out Enron after transferring the assets to another dummy corporation. .

They come in, pay off politicians to transfer the water systems, the railways, the telephone companies, the nationalised oil companies, gas stations - the politicians then hand it over to the IMF for nothing. The Globalists pay them off individually, billions a piece in Swiss bank accounts. The plan is total slavery for the entire population. Enron is a dummy corporation for money laundering, drug money, etc.

All your readers should by now be well aware of the ERON Scandal, a company which News Max USA claims - Enron Scandal Linked to Terrorist Threat? Wes Vernon, NewsMax.com.

Tom Collins

NSW

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005