and the reforms introduced in the keating / hawke years have served watso well. the compulsory employer contributed super has been a huge positive. this reform was introduced in the face of critisism, that it could not be afforded etc etc.
ever stopped to think, that compulsory superannuation (and voluntary contributions) is invested somewhere - which usually means in business (real estate, shares etc). this fit, means that it is not in the interests of unions, to stuff things up
watso has always been more than happy to pay his union dues, even when at times he has supported the libs (every federal election since 1995). the reality of life, is that workers are far better of, when in a union. what makes unions weak, is that non unionists, get the benefits, which union members pay for. my guess is that even non unionists, are a bit worried about the demise of the role of the unions, under the present system
watso has benefitted from enterprise bargaining conducted between the unions and the employer. this system seemed to work, as in the end, there were benefits to both the employer and employee - a win win situation.
watso also benefitted from free university education introduced by the whitlam government
watso is a bit long in the tooth, is a swinging voter and does not live in fear of a labor government
oh - and for the links of unions to the labor party - of course. the labor party was formed to give workers a say in government.
mmmm - watso has been slightly of topic. - but of course, this time around,howard has simply been lucky because of the resources boom - not because of any "magical skill" on his behalf
this time watso would vote for a "drovers dog" to get rid of the extreme right wing government that we presently have. watso does not give a hoot about so called "policies" - after all howard has "core and none core promisies" - and throw in the line that he mentioned the other day - ie something about things said, in the "context of the political debate"
while watso is rambling on - let watso comment about the howard announcment of $4bn dollars for pensioners - of course that is a pork barrel. as far as watso is concerned, in general, pensioners are very well of . i look at my parents, who live on the peniosn and have a very very modest superannution. they never complain, and indeed, they are a bit peed of, when they hear others say "oh - but i am only a pensioner. the reality of life is, is that todays pensioners, went through a period of australia's history, where it was affordable to buy a house etc etc, but of course, some squandered the opportunity - but the reality is, is that pensioners cannot really spend what they have, or what they get - of course, this assumes that they were not wastefull during their lifetime
