HOME WORK

By Ali

Extra facts

• he Government has started feed industrial relations policiesParliament. The first announcement on the weekend an extension of the right to request part-time work, which presently applies to workers returning from parental leave, to extra categories of worker including carers, the disabled and senior workers. The right to request p work does not mean that it must be granted, however the reasons for r must be stated in writing.

Liberal party

• Craig Thomson appeared before the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday last to face charges of fraud and theft relating to the unauthorised use of credit cards provided by the Health Services Union during his tenure as its National Secretary between 2002 and 2007 when he stood for and won the federal seat of Dobell on the NSW central coast. Thomson, who has consistently asserted his innocence in all matters pertaining to these charges, was granted a pair to attend the hearing.

Asylum Seekers – More Problems for the Governm

• On Tuesday seekers avoided repatriation to Sri Lanka after a Government backdown. The group had mounted a last minute High Court challenge on the grounds they had not been accorded due process. It’s clear that screening procedures could be tightened up however it is equally clear that some refugee advocates are prepared to argue that any asylum seeker arriving by boat must be assumed to be a bona fide refugee. This not helpful to the Government and is unlikely to help real refugees.

Government Dictators

• The Government looks as though it may be taking a leaf out of the Obama playbook by targeting the rich. In this case it is company directors’ remuneration. It has proposed new requiring companies to clawback payments to directors where there are anomalies in the company accounts. The problem is not that this is wrong in principle but that it imposes a new level of regulation on companies to address an almost non-existent problem. Shareholders have been so vigilant in recent years that there is all but no chance of directors being overpaid.