We can be adult everywhere but the workplace

The success of workplace negotiations hinges on intent. These IR reforms remain firmly rooted in utter distain for the discretion employers received under WorkChoices. The new approach will be a constant reminder of those shameless ads approved by Greg Combet.

Does Gillard really believe society will be better off by attempting to force employers to do the right thing? Are Australian values, including our sacred sense of a fair go, so tenuous that we need FWA policing them night and day?

The Deputy PM is beginning to resemble George W. Bush attempting to justify the Iraqi war on any basis other than the real reason he invaded.

As the former President did with 9-11, Kevin Rudd tapped into national fear over globalisation and the intensifying uncertainty it brings. There's now a real risk Australia will endure many years of industrial warfare before its leaders can muster the courage to face up to reality.

We can retreat from the challenges of the free market and defer to Government. What's important is honesty about what this means. As the past has shown, an insular approach is costly and offers no real solution. We can't have it both ways like Rudd and Gillard imply.

If Australians want a competitive economy, employment growth and rising income, then government must limit its role to ensuring an appropriate level of transparency for the decisions that we as consumers and workers have to make.

Anything more, however emotionally appealing, is impracticable and counter-productive.