FED:Editorials, Monday August 22, 2011

AAP General News (Australia)
08-22-2011
FED:Editorials, Monday August 22, 2011

SYDNEY, Aug 22 AAP - Despite the impending crisis in the manufacturing sector, which
employs almost one million Australians, the Gillard government, mired in political controversies,
has given little indication of how it intends to respond, The Australian says in its editorial
today.

If living standards and wages are to continue rising at the rate Australians expect,
productivity growth will need to pick up significantly.

Businesses and government should redress inefficient regulation and business practices
and the labour market.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Treasurer Wayne Swan cannot afford to ignore the advice
of senior business leaders who will meet the Treasurer this week to discuss economic reform
to boost lagging productivity. Such reform must include industrial relations.

A key reform needed is individual workplace agreements with a no-disadvantage test,
which would not be a return to Work Choices but a useful means to lift productivity.

IR reform poses a serious challenge for both the government and opposition.

Sydney's The Daily Telegraph says simmering concerns have been apparent for two years
over Labor member for Dobell Craig Thomson's use of union funds during his period as the
national secretary of the Health Services Union.

Those concerns have become so grave they threaten his political viability - and the
Gillard government's future.

It now transpires that his alleged spending history also features restaurant bills
at some of our finest eateries, the sports memorabilia and extensive travel payments.

Thomson should be compelled to at least offer a full account to parliament.

The court of public opinion may be the forum of most concern to Labor and Thomson.

Right now, that particular jury is edging very close to a verdict.

Melbourne's Herald Sun says authorities and parents in Australia have to learn from
the riots that rocked England.

Society has a collective responsibility to look at adopting long- and short-term measures
to stop such incidents happening in the first place.

That means such things as better parenting, better education, better job prospects
and more youth facilities.

It means providing police with resources to monitor a new generation of tech-savvy
gangs who can move quickly like never before.

Victoria Police is monitoring the activities of more than 70 youth and street gangs
in Melbourne and investigating strategies to prevent gangs creating mayhem.

Police are examining communications laws to see what can be done to shut down social
media if need be.

Melbourne's The Age says a new cybercrime bill being considered by a parliamentary
committee should ring alarm bells about privacy concerns.

The legislation will amend existing laws to allow greater sharing of communications
data with foreign countries.

At first glance, the bill seems commendable as it targets criminals such as pedophiles,
terrorists and pornographers.

Its objective is a common criminal policy aimed at the protection of society against
cybercrime by adopting appropriate legislation and fostering international co-operation.

The Law Council of Australia fears the threshold test and reporting requirements are
not as stringent as those required for domestic investigations.

We should learn from government collusion with the US in holding Australians in Guantanamo
Bay that we need to be vigilant about retaining autonomy in international law.

Brisbane's The Courier-Mail says health payroll lessons have been ignored with OneSchool.

The perils of outsourcing multimillion-dollar services such as information technology
must be one lesson; the importance of extensive trials of new operational systems before
exposure to unsuspecting workers must surely be another.

At least Education Minister Cameron Dick has responded quickly to media scrutiny over
glitches in the OneSchool computer system that has snarled contractors' salaries and the
payment of bills.

Reports of stressed school administrative staff working long hours to plug system holes
are now emerging. We hope support provided them is more than that offered the victims
of the health payroll shambles.

Government must be especially cognisant of the human cost of any change it oversees.

Every dollar spent on repairing an ill-designed system is one fewer for learning resources
for children. And that's one corner Queensland cannot afford to cut.

AAP jxt/rs

KEYWORD: EDITORIALS

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