Friday 4 April 2008

Coalition position worsens as Howard history resurfaces

Liberal leader Brendan Nelson's listening tour is turning into a running joke with Crikey's sale of I brake for Brendan Nelson's hair bumper stickers, Nationals leader Warren Truss is morphing into the invisible man due to lack of media attention, former Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran is dishonouring his contract with the Gippsland electorate and jumping ship because he doesn't like being on the opposition benches, and now the Maritime Workers Union (MWU) appears likely to get its hands on non-embargoed government documents which may go some way to proving that the former Howard Government breached its own industrial relations law in order to break Australian waterfront workers.
Matters do not grow any easier for a Coalition out of government and out of favour.
John Howard was prime minister at the time and defended his handling of the dispute.
"It was my government that changed the law to make it possible for the monopoly on the supplier of waterfront labour by the Maritime Union to be broken," Mr Howard said.
"It is important to understand that the Maritime Union of Australia is attempting to defend the indefensible."

If the MWU is successful with another freedom of information application, the Liberal Party in particular may learn what it means to live in interesting times. If Julie Bishop's response is any indication, party members are afraid of what will out.

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