Page 16 - ETU Journal Autumn 2017

POLITICS > THE SENATE
SO CLOSE NOW IT'S...
fMalcolm Turnbull is Leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister with only
a one-vote majority.
The Liberal
Party formed government with only a one-vote
majority in the House of Representatives.
In the Senate, the Turnbull Government has a minority of 30 seats, while the ALP and Greens combined have 35 seats.
So the Turnbull Government needs at least six votes from independent senators to get any laws passed.
Senate
They might be a kooky lot and not agree with us on everything, but the indications are that the following independents are close to our position on local jobs and not selling out local industries workers: Lambie, Hinch and the Xenophon team.
Unfortunately, One Nation doesn’t understand industrial relations
and how the people they purport to represent will be left on the veritable scrap heap if One Nation supports the government’s position on IR.
Special mentions
ETU members turned out in impressive numbers for one-on-
one campaigning leading up to the election, with more than 100 people turning out to hand out union-friendly ‘How to Vote’ material on election day.
Victoria was only a few thousand votes short of rolling the Federal Liberal Government – a mighty effort.
Truly, there wasn’t a great deal to inspire anyone during this election, except for those in the know about what the Liberals aim to do to construction unions and workers’ incomes.
So to those of you who went the extra mile, literally, many many thanks to:
• Cameron Hill
• Howard Worthing
• John Islip
• Cameron Hill
• Jackson Mckee
• Matt Potts
• Tom Gallen
• Ricky Fandrich
• Paul Harman
• John Lane
• John Kattwinkel
• Randall Lee
• Rob Nestorovsk
• Mark Guest and family • John Long
• Steve O’Brien.
You try running a government with one vote up your sleeve.
Don’t have your mother die, because you can’t go to her funeral. Don’t go to the bathroom – you’d go to the bathroom and say ‘oh, I missed that vote because I had to
go to the bathroom’.
If you’re relying on a couple of votes, even a little nobody like me
can knock you out of the ballgame.
If there is even the slightest hint of union- bashing, I can assure you all bets are off.
Bob Katter to Malcolm Turnbull
f16
THE ETU > SUMMER 2016
www.facebook.com/etuvic
Chaos!