I'll make the loudmouth miners pay: Julia Gillard's warning to Clive Palmer and Gina Rinehart.     


    By Samantha Maiden
    The Sunday Telegraph
    June 10, 2012

    PM says miners push to dictate decisions "offensive"
    Says they have no more say than a child care worker
    Then outlines plans to make childcare more affordable
 


LOUDMOUTH mining magnates shouldn't dominate public debate more than a nurse or a childcare worker, said Prime Minister Julia Gillard.   

In a revealing interview with The Sunday Telegraph to mark her second anniversary as the nation's leader, Ms Gillard has outlined her new childcare agenda for families, her fears about "cruel" social media attacks on kids and her hopes for the future.

Confessing she can't remember ever having a conversation with Australia's richest woman Gina Rinehart, the Labor leader bluntly told business leaders they shouldn't complain when asked to pay their "fair share" of tax.       

"I don't think it's any more complicated than in almost any profession or walk of life you're going to get a few loudmouths," she said.

"It rankles me when anyone thinks that they get a disproportionate go or a disproportionate say and so the great thing about our system is that the childcare workers that I've met today, their vote matters as much as Gina Rinehart's or Clive Palmer's," she said.

"I think it's fantastic that people work hard and make money and do well - that's a good thing - but when their nation calls upon them to do things like pay their fair share of tax I don't think that should get a pushback reaction.   

"When people think they can push around the national decision-making to suit them, that also I think is fairly offensive."

The Prime Minister wants to start a national debate on childcare reform, including the option of paying rebates directly to centres to reveal the true out-of-pocket cost to struggling families.   

Last month, The Sunday Telegraph revealed she was considering two options - boosting the childcare benefit for low and middle income earners or paying more subsidies direct to centres to keep fees affordable.

"We've taken some big strides forward in affordability but there's more to do," said Ms Gillard.

"I'm not going to rule options in or out at this stage. We are basically going halves with parents, so every increase is effectively half the parents, half for the government.

"When you're doing that and you don't have a mechanism to manage fee increases, then that does mean it is putting an increasing burden on families and on us."

Asked if childcare workers deserved a pay hike, she said: "I don't get to issue edicts about what people are paid but I think it's a really tough job."

As the government weighs an application by Facebook to allow under-13s to use the social networking site, the Labor leader said the "anonymity" and bullying of kids on the web was a concern.

"You're not going to get me to issue a pronouncement on Facebook for 11-year-olds but I do worry about the cruelty than can be unleashed," she said.

"Isn't the guide just - if you wouldn't say it to someone's face, you wouldn't say it some other way ?"

And they will make her pay at the polls

so you admit the mining magnates influence the polls? ...
you don't see anything wrong with that? why is their opinion any more valid than the nurses or the tiler or the cleaners or the local store owner ? they flood the media with as much disinformation as possible because they can afford to ...

John Smith wrote on Jun 10^th, 2012 at 9:34am:


Hypocrite!

You are acceptable for union boss doing it!!

The main point is that unions represent thousands of people


The main point is that you don't have a clue.

Do you think ALL unionists vote Labor?

Maqqa wrote on Jun 10^th, 2012 at 9:57am:


And you don't see a difference? Coles/ woolies employ thousands more than they do, and yet I don't see their CEO's faces on TV every day? I don't see them buying tv stations just so they can control whats shown? Unions represent thousands for the benefit of the members ... Palmer employs thousands to benfit him ... don't pretend they are the same thing

angeleyes wrote on Jun 10^th, 2012 at 9:54am:


Whats that got to do with it? The members can vote for whoever they like, the union as a whole will support whoever it likes, they can be different or the same ... not sure what you are trying to prove

Maqqa wrote on Jun 10^th, 2012 at 10:01am:


Ohh, that got me ... your right I was wrong (sarcasm) .. with a response like that how can I reply .... you really are stupid aren't you? what has that to do with the topic? careful, the more straws you clutch the dumber you look