The Guardian 26 April, 2006
Dingo bytes
University campus organisations and services will begin disappearing after July 1 as the Howard Government’s Voluntary Student Unionism legislation becomes law. The loss of compulsory student union fees means universities will either have to find corporate sponsorship or close student associations and campus facilities. These will include medical surgeries and child care centres as well as sporting and other social groups. The Government has allocated $80 million to allow for a "transition" period, but even that won’t be available until next January and most of it will be spread thinly between suburban and regional universities. By January university health and dental services, computing and library and welfare along with child care services will have gone down the drain. It’s called a race to the bottom.
Fees and charges by the big banks are set to increase so they can rake in an extra $10 billion a year. The banks are even charging people fees when they cancel Eftpos and ATM transactions or type in an incorrect PIN number. When that piece of news got out the St George Bank put out a press release saying it "does not charge customers for failed ATM transactions. Charges only apply for a successful withdrawal of cash or a balance inquiry." Maybe they’re so greedy they really just don’t get it.
The Howard Government is abandoning all its obligations as a member of the international community, including as an aid donor. Australia is way down near the bottom of wealthy, industrialised nations, giving only 0.25 percent of its income, a mere half the average and way short of the global target of 0.7 percent. And as usual this innately cruel and vicious government wants plenty for its money with the introduction of more "good governance", corruption and security in exchange for aid; as far as the Howard Government is concerned humanitarian purposes and the alleviation of poverty are not considerations. In other words, it is going to increase the use of aid as a political tool to pressure and bully countries to make policies that suit its agenda for control over poorer nations in the region.
CAPITALIST HOG OF THE WEEK: is Pow/Pulp Juice. On Sunday April 10, 16-year-old Amber Oswald finished a seven-hour shift at a juice bar in Sydney and was paid just $59.99 before tax instead of the $99.89 she would have earned before the Howard Government’s IR legislation forced her onto a non-union contract. Her hourly rate was reduced from $9.57 to $8.57 and her penalty rates were scrapped altogether. Pow Juice sacked their staff and rehired them under a new name, Pulp Juice, and handed them individual contracts. Said the boss, who identified himself only as Andre, "If they don’t want to sign they can leave. It’s not about what’s fair, it’s about what’s right — right for the company." There’s the class struggle in a nutshell.