OK MotoPram, I guess that it is often about perceptions and our individual reading of the same things in different ways, but thanks for your positive comment on the need for good debate. Sadly so much of this on these threads comes down to shallow abuse. I guess I was warped in the 60s in the UK seeing what the inability of the unions to accommodate change did to British industry while the rest of the world was passing us by. Look at the union dominated services in some of the states and you get an idea of where Australia as a whole could be heading back to. This for me is the major issue in this election. Tony Blair had the sense and strength to face down his left wing and hang on to the reforms that Margaret Thatcher had introduced into Britian and that country is the better for it. Kevin Rudd is no Tony Blair, either in charisma or in strength of character and I can't see him standing up against the huge union presence in his party, particularly with Julia Gillard white-anting away at the back with her eyes on the PM position down the track. If he gets in I hope I am wrong. As a young family man I spent five months on the dole in Britain as a direct result of a Labour government's decision making and I am thankful that I no longer need to fear such an event at the other end of my working life here on Australia. Sadly there are millions of others that do.
