Hang 'Em High

If John Winston Howard wants to revive Capital Punishment in Australia, he should consider the case of the Gretley Mine murders in 1996 as a test case. The Miners welcome Gretley disaster fine, but

Ken Kaiser, the father of one of the coal miners, says the fines mean little to him or his family because the company will not accept responsibility for the tragedy.

"What we were more hopeful was that the four men didn't die in vain," he said.

"In fact the disappointing thing is not the levels of fine or the levels of guilt [it] is the fact that the company [Xstrata] appears to be pursuing that the mine managers shouldn't be responsible for such tragedies, and that to me's appalling."

Emphasis Mine

I suppose the company's attitude is that is business as usual for Capitalism: people die, companies make money. So what's the problem? Ah! The Eichmann attitude.

Meanwhile, Unions angry at Govt move to override workplace laws in order to protect government bodies from Industrial Manslaughter laws.

In 2003, the ACT became the first Australian jurisdiction to make industrial manslaughter a criminal offence, rendering employers criminally responsible for a workplace death.

But Federal Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews has introduced a Bill that would override laws for Commonwealth bodies.

"We think they are discriminatory in the sense that they pick on one party," he said.

And why not? If a government can participate in the mass murder of thousands of people in Iraq, why should it be held accountable for the death of any of employees or contractors?

PEOPLE BEFORE PROFITS!