Time to review policies
(Letter published in the Australian Financial Review, 26 March. Bracketed bits deleted by ED)
[Prime Minister Gillard has dismissed concerns about the resignations/dismissals of her ministers and made the astonishing claim that she is on a sound policy course In reality she can claim an electoral mandate for few if any of the policies she has been pursuing since her knifing of Kevin Rudd.] The resignation of two well-regarded ministers who were former heads of the union movement, Martin Ferguson and Simon Crean, indicates that Prime Minister Gillard has badly misjudged the views of current union leaders and the national interest too. Your report of the views of former Labor premiers (“Labor ex-premiers slam divisions”, 23 March), particularly former Victorian Premier Cain’s reminder of the “trade union thugs” with whom he tried to deal, adds weight to the need for Gillard to undertake a comprehensive review of policies.
Many calls have been made for a return to policies that acknowledged the vital role played by the private sector in a competitive economy under a Hawke-Keating government, which these two (former) ministers supported as trade union leaders. The [wide] disagreement now publicly revealed amongst (former) Labor ministers certainly suggests that those who describe themselves as independents should now seriously examine their roles as supporters of the Gillard government.
Des Moore
South Yarra, Vic