National Union of Workers

Peter Garrett attends NUW survey launch

Thursday September 01, 2005

Peter Garrett, The Federal ALP Member for Kingsford Smith,flew in to Melbourne on August 30, to officially launch the results of the inaugural NUW member survey.

The survey attracted over 3000 repsonses from NUW members. Members were asked for their opinions on a range of policy issues, with over 90% of respondents nominating both education and the pending industrial relations changes as key concerns for them and their families.

Upon launching the survey, Mr Garrett said that "education is the key to our capacity to make sure that we maintain a sustainable standard of living."

If parents or kids can’t afford to get themselves into the university system because of HECS and HECS increases then you have immediately lost the foundation of a civilised society; which is that anybody regardless of means, if they have merit, ought to be educated", Mr Garratt said.

On industrial relations, Mr Garrett said Australia's unqiue system of conciliation and arbitration was a "basic part of the Australian compact and it’s that part of the Australian compact which was essential to our harmony as a nation and the fact that we had equity built in to the provision of wages within the systems that were set up, which is now under attack by the Howard Government".

NUW Victorian State Secretary, Martin Pakula, also addressed the NUW members, Officials, journalists, Federal and State ALP members and other guests who attended the launch.

"Our members represent a good cross-section of working families. We have a relatively even balance between men and women, we represent working families in regional and metropolitan Australia, we have members from a diverse range of ethnic and religious backgrounds, as well as industries.

"This survey not only tells us what working families are thinking, and the issues which most affect them, but it should also tell those with political influence the same thing", Pakula said.