Summer of Steve: No ‘Real Jobs’

Monday 19th Mar 2001 Dr Muriel Newman Media Release -- Social Welfare

Employment Minister Steve Maharey has yet again attempted to spin success out of abject failure, ACT Social Welfare Spokesman Dr Muriel Newman said today.

“In answer to parliamentary questions released to me today, it is clear that Maharey’s claim of getting students ‘real jobs’ over summer has been proved a joke,” Dr Newman said.

“His statistics simply do not stand up to basic scrutiny.

“Maharey gloated that he had personally achieved 28,657 summer placements for students but he conveniently glossed over the fact that nearly 17,000 student jobs – around 60% of the total – lasted no more than a week.

“He also neglected to mention that three out of ten summer placements were for less than a day!

“In fact, it was also uncovered today that more students relied on the Emergency Student Benefit last summer than over the previous two years.

“No repackaging or professional spin can hide those results. I suggest to Mr Maharey that he place more emphasis on admitting to students the real story, rather than in trying to perpetuate the myths of his spin doctors”, Dr Newman said.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>