In January 2013, the International Monetary Fund declared the Howard government to be the most ‘wasteful spending government in the history of Australia’. It has also been argued that his tax cuts and lavish handouts caused untold structural damage to the Australian economy.

Just before the election of 2007, the then ALP leader, Kevin Rudd pronounced that “this sort of reckless spending must stop!” He could not foresee that a year later the global financial crisis would require substantial spending to keep people in jobs. Although he was pilloried by the press and Opposition, Australia did not go into recession. Still, it was a close-run thing. Highly-respected economist Saul Eslake commented that if Rudd had spent too little it would have been far more damaging than spending too much. He argued that Labor got it right when it came to the big calls.

Now Scott Morrison has had to go against the grain of Liberal Party ideology. Smaller government and balanced budgets have had to be jettisoned as the country finds itself in crisis again, only this time facing something far worse. Like Mr Rudd he is generally making the right calls but this time the press and the opposition have been in lock-step.

Frank Carroll

Members of the Annerley Branch have adopted a resolution calling for negotiated pay rises for health workers to be honoured.

Recently, the Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszckuk, indicated that the scheduled pay rise could be suspended for six months, angering many in the health sector.

Alex Scott, Secretary of the Together union which represents most of Queensland’s public servants, had warned the state government not to “rat on the deal” for better pay, which had been agreed to in principle during 2019.

In adopting the resolution, many Branch members expressed deep concern that workers at the frontline battling COVID-19 would be penalised at such a critical time.

The Branch, which will support the ongoing union campaign to ensure the pay rise goes ahead, has conveyed the resolution to South Brisbane MP, Jackie Trad and Miller MP, Mark Bailey.

In other news….

• The Annerley Branch has established a special working group to examine the results of the recent Brisbane City Council elections. The group will develop a written submission to the campaign review expected to be formalised by Party Office in the near future. The 2020 elections, held late last month, saw no improvement for Labor in the Council Chamber, with the state government’s refusal to legislate for compulosory preferential voting giving the LNP a boost.

• Branch members have unanimously supported a resolution calling on the Palaszczuk Labor government to honour its election and State Conference commitments to protect Channel Country rivers, which are among the last remaining free flowing desert river systems in the world. The resolution, which has been sponsored by the Labor Environmental Action Network (LEAN), has resulted due to growing concerns about a lack of safeguards with respect to unconventional gas extraction activity in the region.

• For the first time, the Annerley Branch conducted its monthly meeting online via video link up on 7 April. With all face to face activities now cancelled, the Branch is planning to hold futher virtual online events to keep its members connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information contact the Branch at info@annerleylabor.org.