Pay rises for executives

The national press in Australia is spending much space and time trying to convince us that the present Labor Federal Government is in dire straits and will not be able to attract sufficient votes at the next election to remain in office.
This type of propaganda is splashed over the first two or three pages of most issues of the daily papers and, for those people who do not read the small articles placed in out of the way spots on pages beyond page four, this trivia would no doubt have some influence.
There have been small articles on matters appearing in out of the way spots in the Murdoch press that should be of considerable interest to the average working Australian.
One article on salary increases shows that top executives of Telstra received significant rises on their already very nice incomes, in some instances the increases reached 80 per cent of the original salary, with one lucky lad’s pay jumping from $3 million to $5.1 million, an increase of 80 per cent.
This information is even more interesting for the average working Australian when you consider that Telstra’s profit for the year ending June 30, 2011 fell 17.5 per cent and the fact that Telstra and Qantas, who was also involved in the large salary increases, were reducing their workforce.
This ability to indulge in these capers is a carryover from the days of John Howard and the Abbott and Hockey Government when our country was run on the Yankee Very Free Market system.
There should not be any doubt the LNP is well and truly biased towards the wealthy in Australia and overseas.
Something working people need to give some thought to is that, under the Howard LNP Government, the average weekly wage increases were usually about $10, but under the present Labor Government, the average weekly wage was increased by $26 in one ruling. While that can’t be compared with the millions that already wealthy executives have given themselves, it is a small step in the right direction.
Working people should make no mistake, a vote for the LNP will bring much happiness to big business and the wealthy members of our society but it will not help the majority of Australians.
Geoffrey H. Gilmour,
Stanthorpe