Honest John's "Soviet Style Command and Control Systems

In another chapter in the development of the socialist republic of Oztralia, the conservative H. R. Nicholls Society has attacked the Federal Government's new workplace laws, comparing them to a Stalinist regime of command and control. The H. R. Nicholls Society has been one of the staunchest supporters of deregulating the industrial relations system.

Society president Ray Evans yesterday found common ground with the union movement. ACTU secretary Greg Combet said last week that the new laws gave the Government "Kremlin-like" control and scrutiny.

Mr Evans told the ABC's Inside Business yesterday: "It's rather like going back to the old Soviet system of command and control, where every economic decision has to go to some central authority and get ticked off."

They also give Workplace Minister Kevin Andrews sweeping powers to monitor every workplace in the country. Big Brother meets Big Business.

"We feel very let down by the WorkChoices legislation," Mr Evans said. "I don't believe the Howard Government is that keen on freedom. This new legislation is all about regulation." Mr Evans, a committed federalist, also criticised Prime Minister John Howard for using the corporations power to override the states' industrial systems.

"He is a centralist," he said. "He's the most centralist PM since Gough Whitlam. This attempt on his behalf to diminish the role of the states to concentrate all power in Canberra is very much to Australia's detriment."

Seems to me if it looks like a duck then it is a duck.