Howard has no need for discussion

Crikey email;

Over the past nine years, Howard has trumped the achievements of even Paul Keating in cutting Parliament out of the political equation; empowering the Executive and treating the parliamentary forum as a rubber stamp.

Of course, not informing Parliment until absolutely necessary about key policy decisions helps avoid parliamentary scrutiny over controversies like today's debate over what role the Australian troops will exactly play in Iraq, see The Age - Call for details of troops' role in Iraq

Then we have today's little stunt of accusing Labor of demeaning Howard's Burger Flippers as a way of avoiding the substance of the question. They did nothing of the sort, of course.

They merely questioned why outfits such as Burger King receive welfare from the Government;

Ms MACKLIN (2.17 p.m.)—My question is to the
Prime Minister. I refer to the Prime Minister’s claim
yesterday that Australia is not suffering a skills crisis.
Isn’t it a fact that since 1998 the Howard government’s
New Apprenticeships scheme has provided millions of
dollars in subsidies to corporations that have next to no
traditional trade trainees, including $3.8 million to
Hungry Jacks, which does not have a single trade ap-prentice?
Prime Minister, isn’t it true that, at the same
time as turning thousands of people away from study-ing
plumbing, carpentry, motor mechanics and electri-cal
trades, the Howard government is using taxpayer
dollars to subsidise salaries in fast food outlets? Prime
Minister, haven’t these warped priorities created a
skills crisis?
Mr HOWARD—This is a very interesting question
from the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Let me get
it right: what the Deputy Leader of the Opposition is
saying is that there is something wrong with encourag-ing
apprenticeships in the entertainment and food pro-vision
industries. That is what the Deputy Leader of the
Opposition is saying. This is the new Labor snobbery:
there is something shameful about a person who works
for Hungry Jacks or McDonald’s. There is something
shameful about that.

Honest John, what are you on!?!