The High Court will hand down its ruling on the reinstatement of the locked-out unionists on Moday morning AEST 4 May.
Public opinion has swung decisively against the government, and newspapers which initially supported the government have changed tack. The headlines from today's Australian, for example, read 'Docks Row, PM takes over', and 'Time up for Zealot Reith'.
These refer to a clearly shellshocked Chris Corrigan being summoned to Parliament House in Canberra yesterday by Prime Minister Howard, and it is being speculated that the PM is attempting to cobble together a negotiated settlement which will allow the government to extricate itself from the mess with the least loss of face. This will involve the reinstatement of the majority of the unionists, the retention of some non-unionists, and a downgrading of pay and conditions. The MUA secretary, John Coombs, is adamant that there will be no such deals done before the unionists are reinstated.
In an even more bizarre development, a former SAS soldier who know owns Fynwest, the company who organised the Dubai training fiasco, is offering to sell to the highest bidder documents which he says implicates a government official in that scheme. The government continues to deny government knowledge or involvement.
Stuart Svensen
National Key Centre in Industrial Relations, Monash University
Level 8, 30 Collins St, Melbourne, Vic 3000 Australia
Ph: 61-3-99038708 Fax: 61-3-99038710
