The endurance and initiative fast food employees must have to stick with it is just incredible – imagine that channelled into small business and communities instead of some mega giant faceless nameless tasteless schamozzle.

Diversity and respect for individuals does better our communities, small business can allow for that where a multinational couldn’t ever.

Poor kids. [poor adults as well]

Granted that you make your opposition to fast-food multinationals’ exploitative practises quite clear overall. By “being a bit soft on [them]” I was referring to your opening sentence: “John Howard is right to say that we should not ’sneer at young Australians who work for Hungry Jacks’”.

Who’s sneering at them, seriously? It sure as hell ain’t the Left — which not only champions full employment (a job for everyone who wants one), but would like to see, as indeed you point out, hefty wages rises for them, through the introduction of equal pay for equal work by young employees, instead of the current discriminatory system.

By letting John Howard’s demonstratively false premise into your argument — however fleetingly — you commit the common Labor policy error of losing control of the debate. Therefore, you say you agree with the PM, instead of demolishing his conceit. Pointedly,
Jenny Macklin adopts the same tactics — so omitting to attack corporate welfare at the very time such an offensive is called for. Labor’s response to the Tampa incident in 2001 is perhaps the best-known, and the most shameful, example of all.

As long as Labor keeps up this gutless game — of being too scared or too incompetent to challenge outrageous statements made by the government, so always ending up uttering qualified endorsements of government policy — it will be permanently unelectable federally.