Workers pay for union bosses
The ABC and Fairfax press have self censored over the issue, but it is widespread and substantial. The much maligned Work choices had checks in place to prevent union corruption, but Gillard removed those when she put Fair Work in place of Work Choices. Even so, historical corruption regarding slush funds was clearly prevalent in union culture. Slush funds are not harmless. They involve unionists losing money for union chiefs to spend as they will. They also involve unions standing over businesses and extorting money, which is illegal. Some will say it is wrong to do that, and it should be illegal. But the fact is it is illegal to do that according to the statute books, and only legal if the courts choose to ignore the law, which they have no right to do. The very structure of the ALP is called into question over this. Maybe the ALP needs to reform by adopting a Liberal Party structure?

Ukraine has to answer questions over MH17
Findings of the inquiry into MH17 have suggested the bomb used to take down the aircraft was Ukrainian made, while the device used to fire it was Russian made. It looks like the Russian separatists fired the bomb at the aircraft, but only after Ukraine had presented the aircraft as enemy hostile. Precisely how has not been examined yet and the salient questions have not been asked of Ukraine. It would be good for Mr Abbott or Miss Bishop to discuss this matter with Ukraine. It might excite ABC interest if Mr Abbott says he will shirtfront the Ukrainian leader.

Green alarmism costs money
Australia under ALP shed some six hundred billion dollars with nothing to show for it. Left behind are costly and inefficient green projects, like desalination camps which aren't used because they aren't needed, house insulation poorly installed, wind farms and solar installations which don't reduce base load as well as crumbling coal power stations needing to be modernised. But had the money been spent wisely, flagship infrastructure which allows substantial growth could have been put in place. At about 1% of the cost of the waste, the Bradfield Scheme could have been realised. A wireless NBN could have been implemented. An NDIS could have been implemented and change sufficient to power innovation in industry would have been left over with surplus budgets. Instead, people have drowned for compassion, no animal has been saved and no forest is safe from environmental dangers. In fact forest fires have reputedly been caused by a failure to prudently back burn.

Plibersek plays lethal game re Ebola
Shorten has no policy on any thing. Plibersek is filling the vacuum by being stupid and risking the lives of Australian Health workers tasked to go to Africa to fight Ebola by an Australian government without infrastructure to evacuate if that is needed. Thing is there is sufficient aid from those who have the infrastructure and regional responsibility to deliver it. Plibersek's position is partisan and foolish. She is hostile to the action of the defence force tasked to face ISIL and has said so. If Plibersek were compassionate for the suffering of others, she would not try to drown desperate people wanting to come to Australia.

Poet short changed
Going by headlines this column condemned the poet Barry Spurr and it was wrong. The poet has had comments of his that were personal released out of context. Were they public utterances, they would and should be condemned. However, what has happened is an injustice which seems to have been wilfully perpetrated by a bad journal called New Matilda. New Matilda has form in illegally obtaining data and abusing it for sensational purposes. They appear to have done so here, and one hopes they are sued out of existence if they in fact have. Chillingly Sydney University have acted quickly to stand down the poet without apparent due process. Had the poet been left wing and given his thoughts in a writer's festival, publicly, one feels this entire issue may never have risen. Take as an example the graphic novelist Phillippe Squarzoni who has published an imagined, virtuous, assault with an assault rifle on a shopping mall.