Hlb,
You raise some interesting points particularly with respect to KRudd's timing and lack of union action. Talking stimulus packages I read travel agents are packaging overseas holidays to NZ, South Pacific and some Asian destinations for around the $900 mark. I expect the economies in those countries will do well from the stimulus package. Sorry to diverge back to subject. I have friends who are teachers and recently travelled Jstar to Asia. They were surprised there was one Australian based flight attendant with the remaining crew being from overseas bases. I don't know if this is representative of Jstar crew flying to Asian ports so I'm happy to be corrected. They were concerned if there were Australian jobs being lost overseas. I asked them two questions:
1. What does a first year teaching graduate in NSW earn? They thought approx $43000.
2. What would be the reaction from the teachers federation in NSW should the NSW education department begin recruiting teachers from NZ and south east Asian countries to teach in Australia for $20K-$30K?
There was response was it would never happen in Australia. Hmmmmmm.