General

Senator speaks on the arts, Aussie culture and the USA-AU FTA

The ASU recently heard Senator John Faulkner speak at the Whitlam Oration, addressing the role of culture, arts and the Aussie way of life.

In addition to Gough Whitlam, other guests included the Mayor of Sutherland and local union officials of the ASU, including with NSW Branch Executive member and director of the Sutherland trade union club, Phil Bowering. The audience was a mixture of outdoor council workers, retired ASU electricity industry workers, local political and community activists and members of parliament.

The speech focussed on the role of government in Australian culture in the early 1970s compared to today, and the difficulties that lay ahead for Aussie culture as part of the USA-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and the issues yet to be faced under the GATS trade negotiations.

ASU Assistant National Secretary Greg McLean, said the speech showed how those days of the early 1970s were a time of change and that the steps taken by the then Australian Labor Government helped developed our unique Australian culture of today.

The speech highlighted the potential difficulties facing ASU members working in the cultural sectors, including local government, as a result of the USA-Australia FTA being pushed by the current Australian Federal Government.

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