It’s the inequality of billionaires in boats that drives unionists to steal money for Botox
Inequality to blame. Labor MP and former economics professor Andrew Leigh’s blog, August 7:
Plenty of ink has been spilt on the topic of inequality, including some from my pen. So, it occurred to me … (to offer) facts you might not know about inequality in Australia … average real wages increased by 7 per cent in 2017 … (for) ASX100 CEOs … (while) Australia has a higher share of the population in jail than at any time since Federation … The incarceration rate has risen despite the fact that many categories of crime have fallen over the past two decades.
A certain professor points out crime rates fall when predators are off the streets. Leigh, The Sydney Morning Herald, November 11, 2016:
Up to a certain point, increased incarceration rates help to cut crime … Dangerous predators should be off the streets …
Short-term tactic leaves predators on streets. Samantha Hutchinson, The Australian, August 9:
Victoria Police have defended not arresting any of the dozens of youths of African appearance who set upon officers last (night), hurled rocks at their cars and (smashed) a windscreen, saying it was a short-term tactical decision.
Short-term tactic or long-term cop-out? Melbourne’s Herald Sun, December 23, 2016:
A tradie who foiled a would-be arsonist (of African appearance) attempting to blow up a service station … (said) he attempted to file a report at three police stations to no avail.
R ates fall when crimes aren’t logged. Noel Towell, The Age, June 14:
(Victoria’s) Crime Statistics Agency says the number of criminal incidents recorded by police … (was) down nearly 9 per cent …
Unions a bulwark against billionaires in boats. Leigh’s blog, August 7:
How much benefit (do) our billionaires get from having a 70-metre boat … Unions — a traditionally powerful bulwark against inequality — have a membership rate that’s now down to just one in seven workers … What could make inequality worse? Reducing the power of unions …
Prison the bulwark against unionist in boat . David Marin-Guzman, Australian Financial Review, March 23:
The former head of the National Union of Workers NSW, Derrick Belan, is behind bars … (for) defrauding his union of more than $650,000 and spending … (it on) Botox injections, weight loss surgery … a tattoo of his parents … P&O cruises, motor vehicles, a Harley Davidson … rent and utility costs for three luxury rental homes … (and) lawyers for his divorce.
Hard for prisoners to get a job. Leigh, private member’s motion, November 21, 2011:
Released prisoners find it hard to get a job and often discover that the only friends who have not deserted them are the ones they made inside.
Hard for unionists to get on the RBA. ACTU Congress July 18:
Congress calls on a future federal Labor government to immediately appoint a representative from a union to the Reserve Bank of Australia …