The Australian Institute of Political Science is pleased to announce the appointments of Professors Ross Garnaut and Nancy Viviani as 1992 editors of The Australian Quarterly. A new editorial committee will assist the editors.
![Immigration intake was controversial throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. The above are various comments published with mine in The Sun-Herald [Sydney] 11 August 1991, p. 19.](https://michaeleasson.com/content/uploads/2020/11/1991-More-Skilled-Migration.png "Immigration intake was controversial throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. The above are various comments published with mine in The Sun-Herald [Sydney] 11 August 1991, p. 19.")
In a recession we need to be sensitive to the employment market. But, generally, immigration is good for Australia.
A good deal of idiocy is associated with many debates about preference to unionists and its perceived corollary, “compulsory unionism”. It must be stressed at the outset that, as a matter of law, there is no such thing as legal compulsory unionism in Australia.
It is an irony that for most of the 1970s and earlier, the most vocal and strident critics of the Australian centralised and regulated wages system were located well to the ‘Left’ of the industrial relations mainstream. Such critics alleged that the centralised conciliation and arbitration system acted against the interests of unions when seeking to extract the best possible deal from employers.
Thank you for this invitation to talk about a few ideas. In looking at Japan, in looking at the experience of the Japanese economy and the industrial relations system of Japan, it is interesting for an Australian trade union official to think about ‘how did Japan achieve the economic successes that it has over the last three decades?’ and ‘what lessons there might be there that are applicable to Australia?’
For some years now trade unions in New South Wales, and more recently the ACTU, have turned their attention to the possibilities and pitfalls of employee financial participation in the enterprises for which their members work.
Affluence: “union movement has completed its mission – one of the most successful organisations of this century”.
Over the New Year break I re-read Simon Leys’ polemic on the Maoist revolution and gulag (the Chinese equivalent are called Laogai camps), Chinese Shadows.
Half of my reluctance in speaking to you this afternoon is due to memories of my own graduation.
Mr Gareth Evans, Foreign Minister representing the Prime Minister, Mr John Dowd, Attorney General representing the Premier, Mr Jeremy Bingham, Lord Mayor of Sydney, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – welcome to Australia, Mr Mandela!