John Howard In Retirement
John Howard in retirement he lives the good life
With Janette one can say his devoted wife
His term as Australian Prime Minister by the voters was brought to an end
But with fame and money he won't go short of a friend
Howard's Government policies did not unite but divide
Their Work Choices did get the Trade Unions offside
But the Government defeated and their Work Choices with them gone
A win for the Workers and the Unions live on
Kevin Ruud who dethroned him may well celebrate
But on him there too is an unseen use by date
By the Australian voters as Prime Minister empowered
But will his fate be that any different to Howard?
The one who divided and could not unite
He failed when he took on the Trade Union's might.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Stand Aside John Howard
Stand aside John Howard and leave some one else take over you've had your go and you've failed to impress
For seven years you've been Prime Minister of Australia and without you there would be more happiness
The Country would be better off without you and you've clung to power in such a sneaky way
History will treat you less kind than did the Aussie voters
It's time perhaps that you called it a day.
As a leader you have only been divisive and you'll always be
seen as a lesser light
The Country now needs someone with more goodwill a leader whom the people behind can unite
You fought the last election on boat people and you've clung to power by preying on the voters fears
Move over John leave someone else take over you've only caused mistrust in seven years
If you feel the Country cannot do without you here's news for you John you have got it wrong
You are just an old style tory politician and back there in the fifties you belong
Australia will go on no matter who comes or goes and the Country will do nicely without you
Stand aside John and take your huge retirement packet a good
P.M. Aussies are overdue.
Stand aside John Howard for you have had your innings and you've clung to power in your own cunning way
You won your last election at the expense of boat people on the fears of Aussie voters you seized your chance to prey
Your Government demonised misplaced people and as a P.M. you have been so small
And you have sullied an Australian icon the Aussie belief in a fair go for all.
poem by Francis Duggan
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One Of Johnny Howard's Forgotten
Like a piece of driftwood by the tide left on the beach to rot
She walks the streets of the slum end the one who is forgot
By the bureaucrats of Government they see those in poverty
As the people of the dead end who create their own reality.
The Government has been re-elected yesterday was voting day
And Johnny Howard remains as Prime Minister the voters had their say
To the middle class and to the wealthy class a hero Nationwide
And one who has greatly benefited out of the great social divide.
One of Johnny Howard's forgotten her tousled hair is gray
A woman in her sixties she has known a better day
Her Landlord raised the rent on her and now she must sleep rough
And life already on her it would seem quite hard enough.
The Government supporters are dancing in the street
As they wave their flags and buntings and victory is sweet
Yet in the World thousands are in poverty to every millionaire
And what have they to celebrate when life is so unfair.
Like a piece of driftwood on the beach that was washed in by the tide
She walks the street of the slum end her collie at her side
One of Johnny Howard's forgotten she knows of poverty
And there are many others just as pauperized as she.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Smirking Peter Costello
Smirking Peter Costello wee Johnny Howard's heir
What his views are on others I do not much care
Since he is only courting the Conservative right
I would not trust him with my life though he is cunning and bright.
On what it takes to be a good Aussie he likes to have his say
But I for one respect to his views does not pay
As his views do have racial undertones it does seem seem to me
Though with my opinion many would disagree.
Smirking Peter Costello he is so full of guile
He is one of those people who smirk when they smile
Johnny Howard's job he craves and he secretly pursue
Yet he is a good Politician to give him his due.
On Howard's retirement he patiently wait
But wee Johnny the top job may never vacate
Till at the polls he's defeated or of old age he die
And that might be for two decades between you and I.
On the Government benches as they sit side by side
Their contempt for each other they struggle to hide
Sneaky wee John as P M is determined to stay
And Costello like a bad smell will just not go away.
And what of opposition leader Kim Beazley known as runner up Kim
There is very little to enthuse about him
Post next Election the next Australian Prime Minister perhaps one of these three
And of the job none of them worthy it does seem to me.
Smirking Peter Costello a man who craves power
But he may never know of his glorious hour
For Howard like a leech to the top job does cling
One must suppose the human lust for power is a natural thing.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Lines On The Australian Dock Dispute (98)
My sympathy is not with the sacked Australian wharfies
Compared to most others they are overpaid
The old tired fight the bosses versus the workers
On the Australian docks is once again replayed.
And my sympathy is not with Chris Corrigan of Patrick Stevedores
He sacked one thousand four hundred of his men
Because they all were members of a Trade Union
Is union membership nowadays a sin? .
But least of all my sympathies are not with the Australian Government
They only seek to conquer and divide
They are the greatest culprits in this conflict
But soon their fate the people will decide.
I can feel sympathy for farmers and exporters and importers
They are between a rock and a hard place
This power struggle is going to cost them millions
This dock dispute an Australian disgrace.
But for the farm leaders I don't have any sympathy
For siding with the Government against the M.U.A.
They should have known that those who take sides in disputes
Win or lose will have some price to pay.
Perhaps the wharfies should have accepted their substantial redundancies
Although 'twould seem that they've not been treated fair
But my sympahies are with the lower paid workers
And the forgotten people on welfare.
And as for the Government elected by the people
For taking sides in disputes they were not empowered
And history will not look on them too kindly
Especially those two Reith and Johnny Howard.
On the WIK issue the Government had shown their true colours
They only seek to conquer and divide
But they were not elected for to be divisive
And the Australian people on their fate will soon decide.
And since the wharfies by the Federal Court are re-instated
Their jubilation with them I can't share
I see them as the privileged class of workers
And my sympathies will always be elsewhere.
Millions of dollars have been squandered on court battles
Between Patrick Stevedores and the M.U.A.
And poor Australia is the biggest loser
And barristers and judges getting wealthier by the day.
The likes of St Vincent De Paul and the Salvation Army
With the squandered millions could do quite a lot
They could help out the less privileged and needy
The people by this government forgot.
poem by Francis Duggan
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The Climate Change Converts
After eleven years as Prime Minister it does seem quite strange
That John Howard the ageing politician is talking of climate change
But this after all is an Election year
And of losing the top job is now his greatest fear.
For eleven years warnings of climate change he chose to ignore
But climate change has become an Election issue as never before
Howard the climate change convert on combating climate change now leads the way
On climate change he has become an instant expert and on it has much to say.
His opponent for the top job Kevin Rudd is a climate change convert too
It is amazing what an Election can do
To the climate change realist voters they are trying to appeal
Of climate change suddenly they make a big deal.
The ideas of the climate change experts Howard and Rudd now embrace
As their moment of truth they are about to face
The climate realist voters they are trying to appease
But try as they will not everyone they will please.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Kevin Andrews
Kevin Andrews the Australian Minister for Immigration says African refugees don't adjust to life in this Land
That Australian ways and culture they do not understand
His excuse for accepting less of African refugees
Seems nothing but latent racism of varying degrees.
He says African refugees are not well educated I only quote what he say
His remarks smack of racism in a very latent way
Kevin Andrews will never be seen as a great
He's not the type of person we should celebrate.
With words he is clever as most politicians are
He just says so much without taking it too far
Just to appease the racist voters amongst the voters out there
And racists as we well know have never been rare.
The accusation that he is a racist of course Kevin denies
Though his feelings on the matter he can barely disguise
And though many with what he says may well agree
It does sound like latent racism to me.
poem by Francis Duggan
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The Ex Government Minister.
He lives on his fat retirement pension and he's doing quite okay
And with his wealthy buddies on the golf course every day
He practices his putting and his driving and the good life he enjoy
And of thirst and malnutrition this man will never die.
On the board of a big corporation he makes more in one day
Than many in a month do who work hard for their pay
A man who has become wealthy out of the social divide
As the gap between the haves and the have nots has grown wide.
A former Government Minister none of his mates are poor
And his wife and his family are financially secure
Still good luck to him as I not to be his judge
And of his easy life and affluence him I should not begrudge.
With their wealthy connections he and his wife dine
And in the upper class restaurants drink the most expensive wine
And his voters who gave to him fame and helped his wealth to grow
Are not part of his circle and them he does not wish to know.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Men don't and can't live by exchanging articles, but by producing them. They don't live by trade, but by work. Give up that foolish and vain title of Trades Unions; and take that of laborers Unions.
quote by John Ruskin
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Corruption Reigns Supreme
Politicians and union chiefs,
Are really so alike,
High salaries and pension schemes,
They never go on strike.
They're rewarded when they make a mess,
The same applies when they fail,
Whereas we'd be sacked immediately,
Then thrown into jail.
Their policies are much the same,
In Immorality they are entwined,
They want the plebs under their thumb,
In corruption they are enshrined.
They're paid for by the working class,
They always get their way,
Yet when it comes to all their perks,
We do not have a say.
When we hit recession,
For us redundancy will lurk,
While they retain their earnings,
They forever remain in work.
Take the miners leader,
He was pretty deft,
He's the leader of a union,
Where there are no miners left.
Trade unions and the government,
Have an affiliation,
You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours,
It's a truly sick creation.
You often find that union chiefs,
End up as politicians,
The job is very much the same,
Dictating our conditions.
If they were truly competent people,
With problems we would not be beset,
But throughout the world these wasters,
Have saddled us with massive debt.
They must be forced to recognise,
That we've all had enough,
If they had to live as we do,
They would find it really tough.
The workers of the modern world,
Really need to unite,
Strip these people of all their power,
Then push them out of sight.
Maybe then we could rid ourselves,
Of our lowly self esteem,
But the problem is we're far too weak,
That's Why,
'' Corruption Reigns Supreme ''
It is true that they paid much more attention to the trade unions because the trade unions were after all speaking for the rights and conditions of working men and women in their employment.
quote by Barbara Castle
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As I, as a worker, came to know them, the aims of German trade unions were political, and there were a number of various trade unions with varied political views.
quote by Fritz Sauckel
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The unions claim the deck is stacked against them when it comes to labor laws, but the truth is many private and public sector workers are forced to pay union dues as a condition of their employment, yet they have little say in how the unions spend their money.
quote by Linda Chavez
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Tis time
By many right wing conservatives one who is admired
But Australia's P M John Howard his voice has grown more tired
Perhaps the man has known a better day
And 'tis time that he gave politics away,
Who knows the Coalition the next Federal Election too may win
But their leader Mr Howard should hand his ticket in
And since he is many years beyond his prime
For everyone there is a retirement time
But since most politicians with wisdom and humility are rare
Like many of his kind he will just hang in there
Till at the polls he will finally meet defeat
And he too will have humble pie to eat
He bores me with his lack of ideas and his lack of wit
And i would not feel sad to see him quit.
poem by Francis Duggan
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The trade unions and the Labour Party... failed miserably. Instead of giving concrete support, and calling upon workers to take industrial action, they did nothing.
quote by Arthur Scargill
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It's beyond belief that any Australian could be so stupid as to carry drugs into any country in Asia.
quote by John Howard
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The Meeting
Today I met a very old friend
I hadn't seen in years;
We sat and poured out memories
Into each other's ears.
We swapped a hundred stories
Of how we'd fared since school,
When he had been so clever,
And I had seemed a fool.
He said he recollected
How he remembered me,
And what I used to look like
When we were in 3 B.
I don't suppose he realized
That he had changed as well;
He didn't give it any thought
As far as I could tell.
But Howard looked so different,
His hair as grey as ash;
It lent the man a genteel air,
As did his grey moustache.
My friend was once a business man,
Successful in his field;
But I possessed no bank-account,
Nor any power to wield.
And manifest upon the brow
Of Howard Jones, my friend,
Were lonely lines of worry
No money could amend.
For happiness cannot be bought
No matter what men say;
And Howard was a loser
With no jokers left to play.
The joy of power and money
Had filled his greedy heart,
'Til Howard and his 'happiness'
One day, like we, did part.
Written May 1995
poem by John Carter Brown
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No woman in my time will be prime minister or chancellor or foreign secretary - not the top jobs. Anyway, I wouldn't want to be prime minister; you have to give yourself 100 percent.
quote by Margaret Thatcher
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Individuals have little opportunity to get elected to Parliament under the label of the government party... unless they are in good standing with the Prime Minister and pledged to be cooperative.
quote by Stockwell Day
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Call to Arms!
teachers, unite
farmers, unite
carpenters, unite
factory workers, unite
small businessmen, unite
women, unite
families, unite
small towns, unite
neighbors, unite
taxed without representation!
our livelihoods sold, no compensation!
our dignity taken by undignified men!
our freedoms bartered for barrels of oil!
lied to, trodden on, used up!
we're not gonna take it anymore!
it's time for change!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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After 20 years in Congress, I still believe that smaller government and lower taxes are the most effective economic policies.
quote by Howard Coble
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