“As for Setka’s goose being cooked, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s the last man standing in this, waving goodbye to McManus, Albo and a swag of others. The ALP needs the CFMEU a lot more than the other way around.”
Roger, who gets comment of the week, reckoned:
“Whether from a left or right perspective, Albanese’s intervention was dumb and will feed rather than slay the beast. Firstly, he attacked on the basis that Setka said something but, unlike Setka who produced witnesses to say he didn’t say what was alleged, Albanese produced no witnesses who would face the media.
“Secondly, even if Setka said what Albanese alleged, in the end, it was an opinion which, unpopular as it is, he is entitled to hold.
“Albanese has now had to fudge the issue by broadening his complaint against Setka but this has caused the militant union to circle the wagons and support Setka and in doing so, asserting their right to follow the Sally McManus Marxist doctrine of breaking laws that don’t suit.
“This has left the CFMEU stronger and Albanese looking gutless for still pretending that Setka is the problem when the reality is that it is far wider than that. This serves only to lay bare for all to see, that Albanese will swap principle (decrying thuggish union behaviour) for (CFMEU) money with the irony being that they might deny it to him anyway. So a massive lose, lose. Delicious.”
Mandy mentioned:
“Three years ago John Setka was embroiled in a legal stoush with then PM Abbott, who as Opposition Leader in a speech to a building organisation while visiting Victoria, made reference to ‘home visits’ by union-associated figures, implying the intimidation and extortion of construction executives.
“Setka sued! Saying that Abbott portrayed him as an industrial thug (and) had gravely injured his credit and reputation. Abbott fought Setka’s claim with the truth defence. And won … how’s that for a conservative government being tough on union rogues, hey Richo!”
Steve went sartorial:
“What’s with (Setka’s) same black T-shirt in winter?”
Alan offered:
“Union ‘organisers’ are not paid enough to wear real clothes; and what is the story with the never-missing lanyard? Is this perhaps something akin to Linus’s blanket?”
Allan looked askance:
“Albanese is a warrior? What? Because he has a dig at Tony Abbott while the TV cameras are on him? Verbally jousting with Christopher Pyne on 2GB? You call that being a warrior? Give us a break, Richo!”
Roy reminded:
“Albo is the famous and great Tory fighter, haven’t you heard?”
Colin was cynical:
“Why does it take so long for the ALP and members like Richo to finally come to the same conclusion that the majority of law abiding Australians did a long time ago when it comes to this type of union behaviour? Oh, that’s right, they thought they were going to win!”
Laurie’s take:
“Richo, you can carry on all you like but the simple truth is that Labor has picked the wrong issue to get rid of Setka. The issue relied on, which is in doubt anyway, was a reasonable question raised by Setka and deserving of debate. Labor has many other reasons to act on and has failed to do so.
“Albo is trying to make his mark but has picked the wrong issue to hitch his wagon to. As for Setka’s union position, that will be up to the union members not Labor or even the ACTU.”
Michael’s view:
“ If the ALP want to kick him into touch then it should be the right reasons — thuggery, illegal activity, fines and penalties treated like parking tickets, intimidation, lawlessness, you name it.
“If Albo wants to man up, then boot him for that and the grief its caused them. It’s hard not to be cynical when the ALP have averted their eyes for 20 years with ‘nothing to see here’, then get hysterical over (just) words he may, or may not have said.”
Eagle went in for the kill:
“None of the ‘problems’ with this militant/‘rogue’ union came up pre-election from Richo or Albo or any other Labor o’s. Labor advertised merrily on CFMEU’s money and all was hunky dory. What a difference an election loss makes!”
Plus ca change, said: T:
“Will Albanese force Labor to return $1 million of political donations made to it by the CFMEU? Will he force the disaffiliation of the CFMEU from Labor? Will Sally McManus stand up for women by dumping the CFMEU?
Nope, none of this will ever happen. Labor and the CFMEU are absolute hypocrites who refuse to clean up their own backyard.”
Chris cheered:
“Not a Labor supporter, but I applaud Albo for taking Setka on. Several Labour leaders before him should have sorted out Setka long ago, but they either lacked the courage or were too fond of the $ he gave their campaigns.
“Albo may not be able to get him out of the CFMEU, but … he can expel him from the Labor Party.”
Long may Setka reign, said Michael of Sevilla:
“The last thing the Liberals need is for Setka to be banished. Every time he opens his mouth on TV voters are reminded of the parasitical connection between the unions and Green/Labor.”
Praise from Peter:
“A brilliant, damning indictment and summation of the thuggery and intimidation that rules so many of our unions. Thank you Henry Ergas.
“A point missed by many commentators is how the sisterhood have managed to keep their heads below the parapet in all this. As women make up a great percentage of union members (teachers nurses, etc) their virtual silence in condemning the actions of the likes of the leadership of the CFMEU is deafening and surely sexist.
“We have all known for at least a generation, that many unions rule their members with an ‘iron fist’ … yet we have heard nothing from women Labor MPs to call out this violence, this fear, this thuggery, this intimidation, this violence. Where is condemnation from the likes of Plibersek, Wong, Ali, Kitching, Burney, Butler, Kearney etc?”
The best, said Betty:
“Henry Ergas sets the very top bar for clear, accessible, beautifully-factual, erudite journalism.
Where is his Walkley Award for bloody brilliance on the big issues? Ita, get this guy on board before your empire collapses into political group-think.”
In conclusion, Chris:
“This article should be read into Hansard and the politicians be made to debate its contents. It would be good to see how Labour (and the Greens who get funding from the unions) would try and defend its historical evasiveness over union reform. It is an excellent potted history of modern Australian unionism and its interaction with inept governments from both sides of politics.
“Read in conjunction with Graham Richardson’s article herein it is a total condemnation of the system. It also shows how ineffective are royal commissions.
“I think the only answer is to fashion legislation which puts unions and their officials on the same footing as corporations so they have no excuses for their behaviour and can be properly penalised accordingly.
“This would mean taxing them too. Given the huge wealth they gain from our superannuation funds (and so few contributory actual union members) I think there is a fair case to be made that they are no longer not-for-profit; they certainly don’t seem to fit the profile.”
—
Graham Lloyd ventured into the climate Bonn-fire of the vanities, as the global warming glitterati got together in Germany to scrutinise energy politics. Back at home, on Q&A, professor of astrobiology and geology Martin van Kranendonk warned of the dangers of listening to non-scientists critique science, singling out talkback radio juggernaut Alan Jones.Rebecca’s recipe:
“Every Western country needs to reassess its association with and, certainly, funding of the UN.”
Rick reckoned:
“BP chief economist Bob Dudley says last year’s figures show that globally there was ‘a growing divide between societal demands for an accelerated transition to a low carbon energy system and the actual pace of progress’.
“There is no ‘societal demand’ for expensive unreliable energy. There is only Green activist bullying and deception.”
Cedric was a cynic:
“Photosynthesis. Chlorophyll. Sunlight. Plant millions and millions and millions of trees and shrubs. Nature’s very own way of dealing with carbon dioxide.
“Most surprising that the Greens aren’t on to this, instead of attempting to bankrupt Australia.
And what about nuclear? With obvious alternatives to solving the carbon dioxide problem, why must the world in general, and Australia in particular bankrupt themselves?”
Rort, said Robert:
“It’s the climate change industry stupid. They all have their noses in the trough and wouldn’t have a job if it doesn’t continue.”
Michael was measured:
“Solar is about 95pc predictable — none, ever, at night; and in sunny Australia, mostly good output in the daytime.
“Wind is much more varied. But we do know there are longish periods, from a few days up to a week or so, of pretty low wind output all across south-eastern Australia.
“Covering that as renewables grow is going to be a big challenge. Gas is the obvious complement, but with bans in NSW and Victoria, we’ve got our hands tied behind our backs.”
Brooke burned:
“This is a fact. UK buys pelletised wood from USA, loads it into ships to cross the Atlantic, unloads and reloads onto trains and burns the pellets (burns like flash paper) in their electricity generating plants and call it a ‘renewable’ source of ‘clean’ energy. UK does the same with USA fracked gas.”
Thomas went viral:
“Global warming is a mental disease disguised as salvation. I approach this problem as a very old biologist, who once fluked the discovery of the cures for not one but two totally fatal worldwide brain diseases; a pale reflection of Newton who spent the last half of his life trying to turn lead into gold. The solution will come from a bright and lucky thirty year old, full of up to date knowledge, and blessed with a brain that is still agile.
“When a virus, say HIV, approaches a cell, it is dressed up as a messenger in the immune system, and it has the two passwords required to enter the cell. Once inside it is like a hijacker in an aircraft. All the detailed structure present in a living cell is completely unknown to the virus, just as the detailed systems in a jet are completely unknown to a hijacker.
“Similarly the major intellectual effort required to understand the geology, physics, chemistry, mathematics and biology of Earth’s climate is totally unknown and irrelevant to the lemmings of the ‘climate emergency’. There is an emergency, but it has nothing to do with climate. It is the contagion of dangerous ideas, dressed up as beneficial messages.”
Stan went postal:
“Thomas — you are one of the very few that seems to think they know better than the world’s elite scientists and very reputable scientific institution in the world. Can you perhaps give us a single reputable agency or institution that shares your views and has ever published even a snippet supporting your views. No ‘think tanks’ or ‘tame professors’ mind you — I am talking about reputable institutions.
“Then, if you are so sure that the world has gone crazy, why haven’t you set out and published your rebuttal? Or is it perhaps instead just a mission from God — a fightback against the SSM and naughty priests episodes and science in particular — that do appear to be somehow connected to the archetypal climate denier?”
Thomas hit back:
“As mathematician G H Hardy first said around 1910 great discoveries are unexpected [in medical school I was taught that it was impossible to cure viruses], inevitable [that is repeatable by any competent and similarly equipped laboratory] and economical [mostly done accidentally by independent scientists who got lucky]. The “climate emergency” is not even a discovery [fails the test of surprise], all the models have failed [fails the test of repeatability] and it is funded by enormous dollops of state revenue [fails the test of economy].
“High level explanations of real understanding of planetary climate have been set out by experts such as Professors Lindzen and Happer and I commend them to you.”
Graeme was cool:
“The End Ordovician ice age was one of the coldest times in the last 500 million years and that occurred when the CO2 level was around 3,000 ppm. The Ice Ages at the end of the Carboniferous/start of the Permian occurred when the CO2 level was around 350 ppm.
“The level of CO2 was 350 ppm by 1988, so if it causes runaway warming it must be happening already. Instead the temperature has stopped rising and is falling as the sun becomes less active (as it was in the Little Ice Age).”
My oath, said Iain:
“Climate Hippocratic Oaths for the new millennium. First, do no harm to yourself (don’t cripple your own economy in the hope that others will follow your courageous lead).
“Second, do no harm to others (don’t sacrifice the gift of cheap energy to the desperate poor in the Third World so you can feel self-righteous about a theoretical saving of 0.0001C in 2100).
“Third, don’t walk backwards and tempt harm to befall you (all replacements for whatever you have now must be at least as good).
“Fourth, don’t get a diagnosis from a machine (trust the observations and not the models).
“Fifth, don’t buy medicine from a doctor with shares in the company (activists whose livelihood relies on disaster just around the corner are hardly likely to be objective when it comes to unbiased interpretation of data or optimal recommendations for future action).”
Peter proferred:
“Instead of subsidising wind and solar use the money to perfect molten salt reactors. They were operating at Oak Ridge in the US in the 60s but were shut down because they didn’t produce plutonium for bombs. They cannot melt down as the fuel is in the coolant. They can also run on thorium which is much more plentiful than uranium. Worth a thought.”
Last word from John:
“It is not Australia’s landmass that is contributing CO2 it is what the people of Australia are doing. The illegal clear felling of trees, notably in Queensland, is impoverishing the soil and the consequent deforestation is retarding our ability to sequester CO2. As for claiming how well we manage our oceans, look at the decline in biodiversity and health of the Great Barrier Reef and the plastic and fertilising pollution of our seas.
“Come on — let’s get real and serious before we overstep the tipping point.”
—
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Welcome to the column where you provide the content. Richo and Henry Ergas both waded in to the Setka saga, the former writing that Albo knew he was in for a knock-down stoush when he called on Labor to expel the CFMEU boss; the latter noting that union lawlessness runs deeper than a few bad actors, contrary to the claims of ALP leaders from Bob Hawke on.Jason thought Albo might have bitten off more than he can chew: