And They're Off!

No surprises in today's announcement that the industrial relations legislation will be handed down by the end of the month (this humble blog reported it some weeks ago). However, the ACTU's Sharan Burrow makes a good point in suggesting the timing is in order to coincide with a rather famous horsey race for which Aussies are traditionally encouraged to get pissed at work and enter office sweeps and do virtually anything rather than concentrate on complex boring legislation.

I happened to receive my WorkChoices booklet today (strictly for research purposes, I'll have you know). There's an eerie sense to it. For one, it's almost completely non-informative (again, no surprises there). The photos occur in some idyllic workplace. Everyone has these very scared smiles on their faces. But for the fact that there are no Arabs, Asians, or ethnic faces whatsoever, I'd swear they popped out to Baxter, whacked hard hats and reflective vests on the detainees, sat just out of shot with a tazer or two and said `Now SMILE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!'

But of course they'd never do that.