what Australian newspapers say on Saturday, April 21, 2007

AAP General News (Australia)
04-21-2007
what Australian newspapers say on Saturday, April 21, 2007
SYDNEY, April 21 AAP - Labor's industrial relations choke-hold has been a manoeuvre performed
to satisfy union demands while giving the appearance of charting a new era for bosses
and workers, The Weekend Australian says in its editorial today.

Big and small business have easily seen through the charade, and as a result Prime
Minister John Howard is armed with the perfect weapon with which to turn the tables on
the resurgent Labor Party.

The Work Choices laws are now undoubtedly the keystone of the coming federal election
campaign, but it is still not possible to say whether they are a vote-changer or will
merely reinforce the allegiances already felt by voters.

The ACTU has three key demands of Labor besides scrapping Australian Workplace Agreements:
reintroduce industry awards and a national safety net of 10 minimum conditions; scrap
the fair pay commission, giving back responsibility for minimum wage determinations to
the Australian Industrial Relations Commission; and introduce collective bargaining, forcing
workplaces to negotiate collectively by majority vote.

The plans jeopardise Labor's economic credibility and re-arms the Prime Minister, who
is prepared to fight with conviction over his record on jobs.

The Sydney Morning Herald says the problem in the Murray-Darling Basin for Mr Howard
is that drought and climate change have become messily entangled in the public mind --
a perilous confusion for the government in an election year and one that Labor will happily
encourage.

Inevitably, the big dry will touch all Australians as the slowdown reverberates across
the continent and into all those corners of the economy reliant on Australia's most important
agricultural region.

Immediately, the government must substantially increase drought relief -- already costing
$2 billion a year -- from its handsome budget surplus.

Its $10 billion plan for the Murray-Darling system and other waterways is likely to
prove conservative over the next decade as the government seeks to reduce demand on river
systems to a sustainable level.

Like the drought itself, this process will mean painful adjustment for many rural communities.

In the meantime, there's prayer.

Brisbane's The Courier-Mail says the Queensland and federal government approach to
building and implementing a sustainable water policy owe too much to political expediency
and not enough to common sense and foresight.

Whether it is a $10 billion "save the Murray-Darling" plan cooked up in the Prime Minister's
Office or a desalination plant that will consume enough electricity to power a couple
of suburbs, the announcements from Canberra and George Street have an air of hurriedness
about them that weakens any promotion of their economic credibility.

Granted, the drought is unprecedented in its duration and scope, but why are south-east
Queenslanders still paying less than $1 for a tonne of water?

Both governments should have managed demand for water years ago by charging a realistic
price for its use.

Sydney's The Daily Telegraph says it's too easy for new drivers to get a licence.

Young drivers are chronically and tragically over-represented in the road accident
figures. As much as tough licensing standards have been set and strict limits imposed
once they are licensed, young people continue to kill themselves in great numbers on the
roads.

Yet NSW's Road Transport Authority has formed the view that tougher licence tests to
be introduced on July 1 should be "dumbed down" to ensure pass rates do not change.

Its concern, apparently, is that if the new tests result in lower numbers of passes
for learner drivers, they would suffer a public backlash.

But the new regime is supposed to be harder for learners -- because too many have demonstrated
by their appalling lack of competence and should not have been licensed in the first place.

The Weekend Australian Financial Review says Melbourne University's wholesale revamp
of its undergraduate and postgraduate courses is a revolution higher education has to
have.

Many overseas students come to Australian universities to gain permanent residency.

To them, Melbourne University's attraction may slide as the length of study increases,
and this could hit revenues.

On the flip side, those interested in research will value the graduate focus.

The Melbourne model is yet to prove itself. If it lifts the higher education bar, meet
Australia's needs and delivers an edge in the global market for talent, imitation will
be inevitable.

AAP rs

KEYWORD: EDITORIALS

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