Category Archives: Abolition Of Work

Trade unions have warnedthe457 temporary work visa program will simply be rebadgedwith a different name and fail to put Australian jobs first.

The federal government will introduce a Temporary Skill Shortage Visa of two to four years to replace the 457 temporary visa for skilled workers.

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The decision to abolish 457 temporary work visas is presented by Malcolm Turnbull as putting the interests of Australians first.

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Ahead of a meeting with suppliers, Malcolm Turnbull says it's essential businesses and families have access to reliable and affordable gas,

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Former police officer Adam Watts details the lengths his insurance company went to deny him his workers compensation after being medically discharged from the force.

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No, Australia isn't suffering a housing bubble. Sydney and to a lesser extent Melbourne might be, but the whole nation is starting to pay the price for it.

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Australia has more economic challenges than just Sydney and Melbourne housing prices, for example wages growth is stubbornly low and so is inflation. Michael Pascoe comments.

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In it's inaugural list of industry influencers, Forbes names Adelaides Kayla Itsines as the worlds most influential fitness identity.

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Speaking at a co-sponsored breakfast between The Australian Financial Review and SAP in Melbourne, a number of the nations CFOs discuss the need for business to embrace diversity of thought and people (sponsored).

The decision to abolish 457 temporary work visas is presented by Malcolm Turnbull as putting the interests of Australians first.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's announcement was "more spin than substance".

"On the face of it, it looks like acynical attempt to rebrand a wildly unpopular policy," ACTU president Ged Kearneysaid.

"It doesn't matter what you call the visa scheme itself, what matters is that MalcolmTurnbull put an end to the exploitation of workers and of work visas."

Ms Kearney said workers from overseas needed to fill genuine skills gaps.

"It isunlikely Malcolm Turnbull's proposal will do anything to remedy the chronic exploitationof our work visa system," she said.

"Where workers can come to Australia and do entry-level jobslike retail shop assistants or kitchenhands, we still have a broken system.

"Unions want to see a full tripartite review mechanism for work visas and rigorouslabour market testing."

The secretary of Unions NSW Mark Morey described Mr Turnbull's move as a "rebrand" that was"tinkering at the edges".

"It's unlikely there will be any real change," Mr Moreysaid.

"Our immigration system is being used to exploit migrant workers and create a two-tiered system of workplace rights.

"What we really need is a root and branchreview, so that migrant exploitation and wage theft is properly tackled and Australian standards are both maintained and improved."

Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union secretary Dave Noonan said thereal issue that needed to be addressed withinthe construction industry was cracking down on the rorting of student visas.

"Working holiday visas are not being used as a cultural exchange, as intended," Mr Noonan said. "Some employers are using them to employ entire workforces and exclude Australian residents and citizens of employment."

Australian Workers Union national secretary Daniel Walton said his union had long called forchanges to the 457 visa program "because it has long ripped off Australian workers from getting access to jobs".

He said the devil wasin the detail of the government's announcement.

"We want to see the substance behind it before we start singing praises," Mr Walton said.

"If it is just window dressing and changing the program to a similar one with another name, it is not going to benefit Australian workers in the long run."

Mr Walton said labour market testing needed to be scrutinised to ensure jobs were genuinely advertised at market rates to prevent widespread abuse.

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Abolition of 457 visas is 'spin over substance', say unions - The Sydney Morning Herald

Kejriwal pledged to make Delhi a clean city, abolish house tax and end corruption

IANS | New Delhi April 19, 2017 Last Updated at 15:00 IST

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Photo: PTI

The AAP on Wednesday pledged to make Delhi a clean city, abolish house tax and end corruption if it took control of the city's civic body in Sunday's election.

"It is a very important election. Delhi has been turned into a garbage dump by the BJP which controlled MCD for the last 10 years," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, referring to the municipal corporation.

"We will make Delhi clean within a year if we come to power," he said while releasing an eight-page Aam Aadmi Party manifesto.

Delhi will vote on Sunday to elect a new South Delhi, an East Delhi and a North Delhi Municipal Corporation. All three bodies were earlier one single entity: Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Kejriwal promised to use the best technology to clean up Delhi.

Citing the manifesto, the AAP leader said more sanitation employees would be recruited and those on contract would get regular job.

He reiterated his promise to abolish residential house tax and waive off all arrears in Delhi.

He said Delhi would become free of dengue and chikungunya in three years. The civic body would start the process of "desilting nullahs" in the city within a year of its victory.

He flayed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for failing to provide a clean Delhi, saying it had backstabbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi by not implementing his Swachh Bharat scheme.

"It is the obligatory function of the municipal corporations to take preventive steps to stop the spread of vector borne diseases in which the BJP completely failed."

He dubbed the municipal corporation the most corrupt in Delhi and vowed to end all corruption.

"MCD is the most corrupt body in the city. People have to pay bribes to get their work done. We will make the MCD corruption free within one year and make it a profitable body."

The results of the civic body elections will be known on April 26.

The AAP on Wednesday pledged to make Delhi a clean city, abolish house tax and end corruption if it took control of the city's civic body in Sunday's election.

"It is a very important election. Delhi has been turned into a garbage dump by the BJP which controlled MCD for the last 10 years," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, referring to the municipal corporation.

"We will make Delhi clean within a year if we come to power," he said while releasing an eight-page Aam Aadmi Party manifesto.

Delhi will vote on Sunday to elect a new South Delhi, an East Delhi and a North Delhi Municipal Corporation. All three bodies were earlier one single entity: Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Kejriwal promised to use the best technology to clean up Delhi.

Citing the manifesto, the AAP leader said more sanitation employees would be recruited and those on contract would get regular job.

He reiterated his promise to abolish residential house tax and waive off all arrears in Delhi.

He said Delhi would become free of dengue and chikungunya in three years. The civic body would start the process of "desilting nullahs" in the city within a year of its victory.

He flayed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for failing to provide a clean Delhi, saying it had backstabbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi by not implementing his Swachh Bharat scheme.

"It is the obligatory function of the municipal corporations to take preventive steps to stop the spread of vector borne diseases in which the BJP completely failed."

He dubbed the municipal corporation the most corrupt in Delhi and vowed to end all corruption.

"MCD is the most corrupt body in the city. People have to pay bribes to get their work done. We will make the MCD corruption free within one year and make it a profitable body."

The results of the civic body elections will be known on April 26.

IANS

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AAP promises dengue-free Delhi, abolition of house tax in manifesto - Business Standard

Dr Sudath Gunasekaram Ex Secretary to PM. MRS Sirimavo Bandaranaike and President Mahanuwara Sinhala Bauddha Jesta Puravesiyange Sanvidhanaya. 17 4. 2017.

Theirs is like the seven blind men describing the elephant

Each one of these three persons is looking at Provincial Councils as the seven blind men describing the elephant after feeling different parts of the animal with their hands. You all know how they described the elephant. Similarly all these political henchmen calling themselves Governors or Ministers carefully use words to defend the system. Because, It is their bread and butter. What other better princely job could they get with so much of luxuries without doing any work perhaps without any qualification

None of them look at PCC from the angle of a subject citizen who see this system as a big curse and a colossal white elephant to the country. None of them see the wastage, clumsiness, overlapping, duplication and the useless ness of having this system which has made governance in this country an Augean mess since it was started in 1987. Not only PCC have destabilized the countrys governance but has already laid the foundation to a Federal structure and has fully served the hidden objective of the Indian Government had in mind when they force it down the thought of JR to sign the 1987 Rajiv /JR Accord and imposed the 13th Amendment to create the latest Sothern most State of the Indian Empire, perhaps that might end up as an annex of Tamilnadu.

I ask not only these three parasitic political appointees but all other Governors, Chief Ministers/Ministers and Provincial Councilors and all citizens of this country as to what contribution these Provincial Councils have made to this country, other than providing employment and princely luxuries to these political rejects and misfits at Parliamentary elections and other third grade politician and lackies, for their families since their inception in 1987 at the expense of the tax payers to suck the blood of the masses

I ask these people who try to defend this system tooth and nail as to what service these Councils have done over the past 30 years other than providing a stage and a world of luxuries with the best of official residences with all facilities and luxury vehicles in addition to duty free vehicle permit worth 3, 4 millions once in every five years and full salary as alifetime pension for robbing the nation etc for these political parasites and wring worms to attend sport meets and prize giving at schools, funerals, foundation stone laying ceremonies and openings of work often done by others, weddings, Pinkamas, dane ceremonies in temples to show off, meetings and rallies organized by the their political parties and also collect traveling and subsistence while subsisting on others, at the expense of tax payers money and the privilege of going on pleasure trips abroad and getting duty free princely vehicle and practically everything under the sun just for carrying firewood and water for the leaders and collecting votes at elections and commissions throughout. This system had been bleeding the country and the nation to death for the past 30 years.

As none in this monkey cage called Parliament will ever call for its abolition for obvious reasons, as it is their bread and butter, Ranil, the leader of this team of Alibaba and the 225 thieves is now going round the world selling Hambantota and Colombo to China, Trinco and the whole country to India, and the hill country , North and East to Tamils at Home..

The whole country must rise up in one voice and force the President to abolish this Jatika Huniyama before it finally gobble up this whole nation, built up by our ancestors on their sweat and blood. If the president also fail to respond then there is only one alternative left, that is to chase out all these parasites out of office and hand over the country to a set of leaders who are prepared to

The people of this country should as the last resort surround the temples of Mhanayaka Theras and demand them to get up from the deep slumber in which they are languishing and take the leadership in this mass movement, in the name of this country and the nation.

xxxxxx

By Ruwan Laknath Jayakody

Apr 8, 2017 Nation

Austin Fernando | Isura Devapriya | Niluka Ekanayake

Both, Provincial Governors and Provincial Chief Ministers expressed favour with regard to the abolition of the Concurrent List.

Among the Provincial Governors include those affiliated to the ruling United National Party government while among the Chief Ministers are those affiliated to the governing Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

The Ninth Schedule of the Constitution contains

List I, which is the Provincial Councils List (the subjects under this have been fully devolved to the Provinces),

List II which is the Reserved List (only the Central Government has the power) and

List III which is the Concurrent List. In the case of the latter, although the Provinces can exercise power in this regard, prior to the passing of any legislation on subjects coming within the purview of the Concurrent List, the Provincial Councils have to consult Parliament and seek the legislatures opinion with regard to the provisions of the proposed laws.

The same applies when Parliament seeks to pass a law on a subject in the said List. In both cases, neither the Provincial Councils nor the Parliament is however bound to give effect to whatever opinions expressed by either party.

Governor of the Eastern Province, former Defence Secretary Austin Fernando while acknowledging the possibility of not having the Concurrent List and it being given up, pointed out that it is better to have clarity rather than the duplication of functions. Chief Minister of the Western Province, Isura Devapriya too concurred with Fernando. Calling for subjects to be separately allocated for the government and the Provincial Councils, Devapriya, noted that: Without the concurrent list, it can instead be decided as to what subjects are to be handed over to the Provinces, whether it is for example, education or health. Meanwhile, addressing the questioning of how the said List could be amended, Fernando added that on the question of the Provincial Councils and the Centre, a decision must be taken on what powers are to be reduced and how the functions are to be allocated.

There is a definite need for review. There must be a solution regarding the divisions. Part must go to the Centre and part to the Provinces. This is a national issue, he explained.

Elsewhere, on the question of what constituted the meaningful devolution of power, while Governor of the Central Province, Niluka Ekanayake was of the view that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution should not be fully implemented, Devapriya suggested that aspects in the said Amendment, aside of police and land powers, should be strengthened.

Fernando on the other hand, highlighted that in order for the country to move forward, there would have to be some sort of devolution, which he explained should be based on the principle of subsidiarity and the understanding and maintenance of the distinction between delegation and decentralization. He also warned against encroachment by the government upon the Provincial Councils and vice versa.

Fernando was also of the view that the governors, appointees of the Executive, wielded too much power including certain powers which, according to him were a little too excessive. Yes, I agree that there must be certain changes. Whether politicians should be appointed as Governors too is a matter that has to be reviewed. There is no value however in a cosmetic governor, he emphasized, while Devapriya stressed the vital importance of consultations being held between the Governors, the Chief Ministers and the Provincial Councils during decision-making processes as a solution to various ills plaguing the current situation.

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Governors, CMs favour abolition of Concurrent List, Austin Fernando Isura Devapriya and Niluka Ekanayake (Apr 8 ... - Lankaweb

"Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget and I'll tell you what you value," Former vice president Joe Biden quoting his father knew that a budget reflected the values and priorities of our nation. Each April our country funds its priorities. Ultimately, as the Rev. Jim Wallis has said, "Budgets are moral documents."

Each year Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles calculates how much money the United States spends on nuclear weapons programs for the current tax year. The Nuclear Weapons Community Costs Project has identified that for tax year 2016 the United States spent $57.6 billion on nuclear weapons programs. California contributed more than $7 billion to this amount while Los Angeles County sent approximately $1.8 billion to the federal coffers to fund weapons that can never be used. In Flint, Michigan, where we have allowed our children to be poisoned by lead in their drinking water, $9 million was spent. In the nations poorest county, Buffalo County, South Dakota, they spent more than $142,000 on nuclear weapons.

Every dollar spent on nuclear weapons is a dollar taken from programs that support the health and well being of our country, our communities, and our loved ones. These are critical funds that we can never get back.

The Trump administration is proposing a dramatic increase in the budget for nuclear weapons while simultaneously proposing a dramatic decrease for social and environmental programs. This is in addition to the nuclear grand bargain of the Obama administration's proposed buildup of our nuclear arsenal to the tune of $1 trillion over the next three decades. This is the opening salvo as other countries follow suit in this new nuclear arms race.

Having grown weary of our actions and failure to meet our legally binding commitment to work in good faith toward the abolition of nuclear weapons, the non-nuclear nations are refusing to be held hostage by the nuclear states any longer. Taking their future into their own hands the vast majority of the non-nuclear nations will complete negotiations at the United Nations this July on an international nuclear ban treaty that will outlaw nuclear weapons just as all other weapons of mass destruction have been banned. This will leave the United States and other nuclear nations once again in breach of international law.

Fortunately, a world under constant threat of nuclear apocalypse either by intent or accident is not the future that has to be. But change will not happen on its own. Each of us has a role to play. Ultimately it will take the people of the United States to awaken from our trance and join the rest of the world in demanding that our leaders work to abolish nuclear weapons and to redirect these expenditures to secure a future for our children and address the real needs of our country. The time for action is now. Contact your representatives at: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

Robert F. Dodge, M.D., Ventura, California

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Tax Day the nuclear option - Progress Index

On 18 April, the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, flagged plans to abolish the countrys subclass 457 visa program, which the IT industry has been leaning on heavily to recruit skilled workers from overseas.

As expected, then local IT industry has had some things to say about the move to abolish the program, saying that the 457 visa has been vital in bringing in talent for jobs within the tech sector that are in demand.

A recent study by SolarWinds found that Australian organisations are facing an IT skills gap and increased complexity driven by todays hybrid IT environments, even as they are working build and expand cloud roles and skillsets for IT professionals.

Specifically, 48 per cent of those surveyed said they do not believe IT professionals entering the workforce now are equipped with the right skills to manage hybrid IT environments and 59 per cent said an IT skills gap was one of the five biggest challenges of managing cloud and hybrid IT.

In addition, 61 per cent of IT professionals indicated that hybrid IT has required them to acquire new skills, while 12 per cent say it has altered their career path, and 49 per cent also reported their organisations have either hired or reassigned (or plan to) IT personnel for the specific purpose of managing increasingly complex hybrid IT environments.

IT personnel entering Australia on a 457 visa help alleviate these problems.

Xero Australia managing director, Trent Innes, said the biggest risk facing Australias technology industry is a lack of talent and that abolishing the 457 visa has the potential to limit the opportunities of the worlds best and brightest tech workers, make Australian-based tech firms less competitive, and severely hinder the growth of the nations tech industry.

If companies can find skilled, local engineers and developers, theyll hire them. If we cant train, locate or import the talent, skilled technology jobs are at risk of moving offshore, he said.

Even with Xero committing to fostering local talent through teaching kids to code, working with universities and government to help modernise policy and curriculums and retraining and upskilling Australians Innes said being built on a global platform requires global talent.

With more than 1,600 employees, including several hundred in Australia, and customers in more than 180 countries, our business success, like many others, is built on being a global platform.

This requires the ability to bring in the best talent from around the world and have our employees work where they want and need to. If were going to build jobs for our kids, we need to build next generation companies at scale, he added.

He also mentioned that wrapping jobs in red tape sends a message to the world that Australia isnt open for business.

Any move to limit the ability to attract world-class talent has the potential to not only impact the way we work, but also the values on which our business is built. It could lead to an exodus of jobs and talent - neither of which are good for the Australian economy.

Gruden CEO, Tim Parker, said as a technology company, it has been heavily dependent on 457 visas to provide the top quality, qualified talent it needs to deliver digital transformation to its clients and that abolishing the 457 visa will impact Australia negatively.

With a number of our staff on such visas we applaud the grandfathering of existing 457s, as we do the intent to provide training to nurture local talent. However given that many countries have been teaching coding in kindergarten for a decade or more, Australia is well behind in the tech talent stakes.

Therefore, we will continue to require imported talent in the short-term, and hope the new arrangements recognise this need. Otherwise the imperative to offshore our software development could increase at the expense of the local economy, Parker said.

The IT Professionals Association (ITPA) president, Robert Hudson, said the organisation has some concerns as there are some "serious anomalies in the IT industry" under the existing 457 visa system.

"For that reason, we think that the proposed changes dont go far enough and we also feel that there is a need for much more transparency to be applied to the application process, the involvement of visa agents and the granting of visas to successful applicants."

He added that many IT jobs have now been removed from the list of roles that are eligible to apply for 457 visa, but there are still many that should also be removed, such as ICT customer support officer, network administrator and systems administrator.

"These roles are all tradition industry entry points for IT graduates many of whom are currently finding it hard to find work in the industry. Is the government seriously suggesting that it is not possible to source IT support officers and network managers in Australia?" he questioned.

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Industry speaks up against Turnbull's abolition of 457 visa - ARNnet

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service Posted April 18, 2017

UPDATED WASHINGTON (CNS) Catholic leaders initially praised the federal and state rulings that granted stays of executions for a group of Arkansas death-row inmates, but then a series of court actions seemed to clear the way for some of the executions.

After the darkness of Good Friday has come a great light, Karen Clifton, executive director of the Catholic Mobilizing Network against the Death Penalty, said in an April 16 statement. She said the plan to execute these men in such a short period of time brought about an extraordinary response from so many people calling for a culture of life and an end to this practice of retribution.

A federal judges April 15 ruling stopped the state from executing six of the inmates with a preliminary injunction handed down in response to a lawsuit filed by the inmates, who claimed the executions were unconstitutional because of their rapid pace and the ineffectiveness of the lethal injection drug midazolam. They claimed the sedative drug doesnt always work and causes those who are being executed to feel pain from the use of other two lethal injection drugs.

The previous day, an Arkansas judge, responding to a lawsuit from two pharmaceutical companies, issued a temporary restraining order on the states executions based on evidence the state may not have obtained midazolam properly.

The state and federal judges rulings are both under appeal by the state. A significant delay in these arguments could halt these executionsindefinitely since the states supply of midazolam will run out at the end of the month and state officials have said they have no source to obtain a further supply of the sedative.

But even with the court-issued stays, the executions are still possible before the end of April if the cases are sent to the Supreme Court and it sides with the state of Arkansas in its appeal.

On April 17, just minutes before inmate Don Davis was to be executed, the U.S. Supreme Court spared the inmates life by refusing to act on an appeal of the stay issued earlier that day by the Arkansas Supreme Court. The high court did not provide an explanation. The state court also had granted a stay to inmate Bruce Ward regarding his access to mental health experts which was not appealed.

That day the state also cleared obstacles that had been blocking some of the other scheduled executions. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a federal judges ruling that was preventing executions over the use of midazolam and the state Supreme Court lifted a lower court ruling that would have stopped the state from using another lethal injection drug.

In an April 18 statement, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he was unhappy with the Supreme Courts decision but was satisfied that the other court rulings have once again cleared the state to proceed with carrying out the sentences of the other inmates.

While this has been an exhausting day for all involved, tomorrow we will continue to fight back on last minute appeals and efforts to block justice for the victims families, he added.

Arkansas officials originally scheduled eight executions from April 17-27. Then after Ward was granted a stay, seven executions were to go forward. With Davis stay, six inmates still faced execution.

Hutchinson announced the executions months ago, saying they had to be done in quick succession to use the states final batch of midazolam before it expired at the end of April.

Many people have demonstrated against the states plan to execute these man in such quick succession, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In an April 13 statement, Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, chairman of the bishops Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, urged the states governor to reconsider the scheduled executions and reduce the sentences to life imprisonment.

May those in Arkansas who hold the lives of these individuals on death row in their hands be moved by Gods love, which is stronger than death, and abandon the current plans for execution, he wrote.

The bishop said the timing for these executions was not set by the demands of justice, but by the arbitrary politics of punishment, referring to the states supply of the sedative used in executions. And so, in a dark irony, a safeguard that was intended to protect people is now being used as a reason to hasten their deaths.

After the rulings temporarily halting the executions were issued, Bishop Anthony B. Taylor of Little Rock, Arkansas, thanked all of those who had prayed and worked so hard to prevent these scheduled executions from taking place.

Let us continue to pray and work for the abolition of the death penalty in Arkansas and throughout the country, he said in a statement. He also urged for prayers for healing for the victims of the horrific crimes and for the perpetrators of these crimes, saying: The Lord never gives up on anyone and neither should we.

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Catholic leaders praise rulings granting stays to Arkansas death-row inmates - CatholicPhilly.com

The new temporary visa program will carry over the worst aspect of the old 457 visa program.

The core problem with the 457 visa system is its failure to prevent overseas workers from being hired on cheap wages for jobs that Australians have the skills to fill.

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The decision to abolish 457 temporary work visas is presented by Malcolm Turnbull as putting the interests of Australians first.

Play Video Don't Play

Ahead of a meeting with suppliers, Malcolm Turnbull says it's essential businesses and families have access to reliable and affordable gas,

Play Video Don't Play

Former police officer Adam Watts details the lengths his insurance company went to deny him his workers compensation after being medically discharged from the force.

Play Video Don't Play

No, Australia isn't suffering a housing bubble. Sydney and to a lesser extent Melbourne might be, but the whole nation is starting to pay the price for it.

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Australia has more economic challenges than just Sydney and Melbourne housing prices, for example wages growth is stubbornly low and so is inflation. Michael Pascoe comments.

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In it's inaugural list of industry influencers, Forbes names Adelaides Kayla Itsines as the worlds most influential fitness identity.

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Following the forceful removal of a passenger from a United plane, shares in the company have fallen and the CEO has called the incident truly horrific.

The decision to abolish 457 temporary work visas is presented by Malcolm Turnbull as putting the interests of Australians first.

Global companies have been criticised for paying overseas workers below Australian market rates in industries, including IT, that they would be hard-pressed to demonstrate had a genuine skills shortage.

But the need for independent labour testing was the one key issue Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull washed over when he announced the rebirth of the 457 visa system under a different name.

When Turnbull said he was responding to the Coalition government's own 2014 expert inquiry into the 457 visa program, he failed to acknowledge its core recommendation.

The inquiry led by John Azarius recommended the abolition of the current approach to labour market testing and its replacement with a new independent model.

This finding confirmed the need for labour market testing to be done at arm's length of employers, particularly those with vested interests who would otherwise exploit the system.

In making this recommendation, Azarius was echoing international best practice and evidence from the OECD. The UK has an independent advisory migration body staffed by economists and legal experts who provide evidence and advice to the government on which occupations have skills shortages.

Joanna Howe, Associate Professor in Law at Adelaide University is an expert on the 457 visa program and says an independent labour market agency is needed to ensure Australia's skilled occupations list is regularly updated to reflect the economy.

She noticed that Turnbull had mentioned the name of Azarius twice during his press conference on Tuesday but had failed to note his key finding.

While the new temporary skill shortage visa was presented as a response to the Azarius review, it failed to implement its core recommendation to abolish employer-conducted labour market testing and replace it with an independent labour market testing model.

As Howe points out, the Department of Immigration does not have the capacity to scrutinise the validity of labour market testing conducted by employers.

Even if the government tightens employer labour market testing, it will still fall short of the independent model.

According to Howe, employer-conducted labour market testing is not working effectively anywhere in the world.

For it to work, the Department of Immigration would need massive resources to verify the testing conducted by companies that claim to have advertised for jobs that they could not fill with Australian labour.

While the announcement to abolish the 457 visa program is a step in the right direction, Howe laments that it provided more rhetoric than substance when it comes to putting Australian jobs first.

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Worst of old 457 visa system will carry over into the new - Brisbane Times

By Dermot Quinn 19 April 2017

The strike by 2,600 bus workers at Irelands Bus Eireann transport company has been called off.

The two main unions involved, the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) and the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), accepted the recommendation of the Labour Court, the final state arbitration body, and called off the strike on April 13.

The unions have agreed to ballot their members on an agreement that means at least 18 million in cuts to wages and services.

At the end of February, Bus Eireann bosses unilaterally introduced a list of 55 cost-cutting measures to reduce wages and conditions, claiming it had lost 6 million in 2016 and was facing insolvency. The Fine Gael government has been introducing measures over several years to outsource services and privatise certain routes.

A threatened strike at the beginning of March was called off by the unions to facilitate talks at the Works Relations Commission (WRC), the state-funded arbitration body with a record of sanctioning the demands of the employersalbeit with modifications. The unions work with the Labour Court in much the same way.

As a result, transport workers have experienced a steady decline in wages and conditions over the years, as the trade unions have been transformed into organisations hostile to their interests. Totally incorporated into the state, the union bureaucrats are now despised by thousands of workers within their own organisations and considered an irrelevancy by the majority of workers and youth who are outside these organisations.

After the weeks of talks at the WRC broke down, the recommendations from the Labour Court are to be put to a ballot of bus workers over the next three weeks. The document includes provisions for 220 redundancies of which 120 will be drivers and 46 clerical workers, as well as the ending of many routes across the country. Cuts to wages include the abolition of bonuses for shift work, a ban on overtime, and a compulsory two-hour-and-45-minute daily unpaid break. There will also be measures introduced to insure the remaining drivers have less control over the routes and the hours they work.

The cuts to services and job cuts negotiated with the unions also include the closure of the Dundalk maintenance garage. The Irish News noted in its editorial after the strike was called off, A large amount of what the company called for was in the Labour Courts recommendations, which could point towards Bus Eireann agreeing to the terms.

There is growing anger among bus workers across the transport industry. The government-sponsored slide towards privatising bus routes and cutting wages and conditions has been met with resistance. However, this has constantly been channelled by the unions into state arbitration bodies, where aggressive cuts to workers pay and conditions are hammered out.

At the end of March, the anger and frustration of bus workers came to the fore when hundreds attempted to spread the strike by picketing city bus depots and trains. The NBRU quickly moved to shut down the secondary picketing, and Patricia King, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, immediately issued a statement condemning the bus workers actions, as did Shane Ross, the minister for transport.

NBRU General Secretary Dermot OLeary promptly apologised on national radio for his members behaviour, stating arrogantly, Im urging those who are picketing to stop, and people should go to work immediately. I categorically state that the general secretary, who is me, is very much in charge of my trade union and its destination in this dispute.

The NBRU and SIPTU officials then spent a frantic four hours during the morning Dublin rush hour trying to stop Bus Eireann workers from picketing and spreading the strike. On April 9, as the strike continued and it was widely reported that the unions were prepared to agree to 18 million in cuts, OLeary remarked, The issue of headcount reduction would not be unusual when talking about efficiencies.

Having given assurances that the strike would not spread, OLeary again reiterated that the dispute could only be solved by what he called the proper arbitration bodies.

Chairman Kevin Foley, who presides over the Labour Court, is one of a layer of civil servants who receive between 175,000 and 180,000 annually to concoct agreements with the union leaders. Workers ballots are usually delayed for weeks to insure the maximum demoralisation.

The compliance of workers locked within these organisationswhich serve a policing function for attacks on workers pay and conditionswould not last if it were not for the political support the union bureaucracy receives from all the establishment parties.

Fine Fail and Sinn Fein condemned the Fine Gael government for grooming the company for privatisation, and called for the minister of transport to intervene. The pseudo-left members of the Dail/parliament (TDs) were vocal in their support for the striking bus workers.

At a parliamentary debate on the strike, Paul Murphy of the Socialist Party/Solidarity group declared, I salute the actions of the Bus Eireann workers. They are fighting not only in defence of their own terms and conditions, but for all those who work in public transport.

Their real and unswerving support, however, is for the trade union bureaucracy. While a number of bus workers looked on from the gallery, Murphys colleague, Ruth Coppinger, opened her speech by saying, It is welcome that talks have been announced in the Workplace Relations Commission tomorrow.

Only a united struggle by workers independent of the moribund union structures will succeed in challenging the continuing attacks on jobs, living standards and essential services.

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Irish unions scuttle Bus Eireann strike - World Socialist Web Site

Dont tell me what you value. Show me your budget and Ill tell you what you value, Former vice president Joe Biden quoting his father knew that a budget reflected the values and priorities of our nation. Each April our country funds its priorities. Ultimately, as the Rev. Jim Wallis has said, Budgets are moral documents.

Each year Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles calculates how much money the United States spends on nuclear weapons programs for the current tax year. The Nuclear Weapons Community Costs Project has identified that for tax year 2016 the United States spent $57.6 billion on nuclear weapons programs. California contributed more than $7 billion to this amount while Los Angeles County sent approximately $1.8 billion to the federal coffers to fund weapons that can never be used. In Flint, Michigan, where we have allowed our children to be poisoned by lead in their drinking water, $9 million was spent. In the nations poorest county, Buffalo County, South Dakota, they spent more than $142,000 on nuclear weapons.

Every dollar spent on nuclear weapons is a dollar taken from programs that support the health and well being of our country, our communities, and our loved ones. These are critical funds that we can never get back.

The Trump administration is proposing a dramatic increase in the budget for nuclear weapons while simultaneously proposing a dramatic decrease for social and environmental programs. This is in addition to the nuclear grand bargain of the Obama administrations proposed buildup of our nuclear arsenal to the tune of $1 trillion over the next three decades. This is the opening salvo as other countries follow suit in this new nuclear arms race.

Having grown weary of our actions and failure to meet our legally binding commitment to work in good faith toward the abolition of nuclear weapons, the non-nuclear nations are refusing to be held hostage by the nuclear states any longer. Taking their future into their own hands the vast majority of the non-nuclear nations will complete negotiations at the United Nations this July on an international nuclear ban treaty that will outlaw nuclear weapons just as all other weapons of mass destruction have been banned. This will leave the United States and other nuclear nations once again in breach of international law.

Fortunately, a world under constant threat of nuclear apocalypse either by intent or accident is not the future that has to be. But change will not happen on its own. Each of us has a role to play. Ultimately it will take the people of the United States to awaken from our trance and join the rest of the world in demanding that our leaders work to abolish nuclear weapons and to redirect these expenditures to secure a future for our children and address the real needs of our country. The time for action is now.

Contact your representatives at: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

Robert Dodge is a family physician practicing full time in Ventura, California. He serves on the board of Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles serving as a Peace and Security Ambassador and at the national level where he sits on the security committee. He also serves on the board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions. He writes for PeaceVoice.

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Tax Revenues and the Nuclear Option: In 2016, the US Spent $57.6 Billion on Nuclear Weapons Programs - Center for Research on Globalization

Due to the injunctions in both Arkansas State and Federal courts granting stays of execution for all 8 men, the press call on April 17th has been canceled

WASHINGTON Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN) joins all people of goodwill in rejoicing in the victory for life in Arkansas that has come as a result of both state and federal court rulings granting stays of executions for each of the 8 men. These rulings follow the tireless efforts of faith leaders, death penalty abolition advocates, and concerned citizens across the United States.

After the darkness of Good Friday has come a great light, Karen Clifton, Executive Director of Catholic Mobilizing Network said, This unprecedented plan to execute 8 men in 10 days witnessed an extraordinary response from so many people calling for a culture of life and an end to this practice of retribution. CMN is grateful for everyone who used their voice to stand for life this Lent.

Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Diocese of Little Rock furthered this affirmation of life, I would like to thank everyone who has prayed and worked so hard to prevent these scheduled executions from taking place. Let us continue to pray and work for the abolition of the death penalty in Arkansas and throughout the country. Bishop Taylor further commented, Let us also pray for healing for the victims of the horrific crimes that those in prison have committed and for the perpetrators themselves. The Lord never gives up on anyone and neither should we.

These two rulings, one from Circuit Court judge Wendell Griffen issuing a temporary restraining order to block executions on Friday evening and one from Federal Judge Kristine G. Baker on Saturday morning issuing a preliminary order staying the executions in response to a lawsuit mounted by the death-row inmates, came in the shadow of strong public opposition voiced at a rally held at the Arkansas state capitol on Good Friday afternoon. The rally included the delivery of a petition organized by a broad coalition of organizations, including Catholic Mobilizing Network, carrying 157,593 signatures calling for an end to these 8 planned executions.

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Catholic Mobilizing Network, a sponsored ministry of the Congregation of St. Joseph that works in close collaboration with United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, proclaims the Churchs pro-life teaching and prepares Catholics for informed involvement in the public debate to end the death penalty and promote restorative justice.

The organizations and/or individuals who submit materials for distribution by Religion News Service are solely responsible for the facts in and accuracy of their materials. Religion News Service will correct any errors brought to its attention.

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Catholic Mobilizing Network rejoices at the victory for life in Arkansas - Religion News Service