He knows that the Australian people want a government to stand up against the
global tide for them. He's just tricked them into thinking the enemy is couple
of thousand desperate refugees and not the corporate order that now rules the
global markets.
While the debate over the benefits of free trade has its pros and cons, one
thing is clear: core global labour standards need to be incorporated into all
trade agreements. That is, only companies that do not use child labour, do not
use slave labour and give their workers the basic right to organise should be
allowed to trade with Australia.
It should not be contentious; that it is highlights the triumph of the Right
in deifying the market.
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It is this debate, more than any other, that could define the upcoming triennial
ACTU Conference. It will be interesting to see how far the union movement is prepared
to push labour's political wing to create a set of trade rules that give Australian
workers what the High Court seems to recognise they deserve: a fighting chance.
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