NEWS
By Don Gordon-Brown
What’s not going to go away any time soon .... which probably helps explain why Premier Anna Bligh went away sooner?
Those watching Monday’s Labour Day procession of proud unionists through city and Fortitude Valley streets could have easily answered what really is not as cryptic a question as it first seems – growing resentment to the sell-off of state assets.
Union after union voiced their opposition to the State Government’s multi-billion dollar privatisation of rail and ports infrastructure, forestry land and other public assets, kept quiet until the last state election was out of the way.
And the strength of that message seems to be getting stronger as the months pass. The Premier might have missed the march for right or wrong reasons – she found herself reluctantly in north America fronting a vital state trade mission – but the unions made sure they didn’t miss her on their special day.
Some unions had their own special axes to grind - the Nurses Union paid out over the pay fiasco - but anti-sell-off banners were everywhere, and typical of the contingents was the Electrical Trades Union and the Rail Tram and Bus Union, with their signs showing “Sold” plastered over Queensland’s public assets and unflattering photos of the Premier and minister Rachel Nolan as sale agents.
And ETU members handed out colourful bumper stickers that declared “See Queensland First before Bligh sells it".
Acting Premier Paul Lucas headed this year’s parade with outgoing ACTU national president Sharon Burrow, and took all the flak in his leader’s absence, with one irate unionist throwing an object at him during the traditional post-march speeches.
Theme for the 2010 Labour Day celebrations was “Australian Unions: Working for a Better Life”.
Many of the unionists marching on Monday also appear to be working up quite a head of steam in anger over a supposedly labour-leaning government doing a very unLabor-like thing – flogging off public assets in a one-off, can-never-be-repeated quick fix for some pressing financial woes.
