Government to Deploy Convict Labour to Fight Wage Pressures
From our Canberra correspondent Robbie Evans
In a joint statement from Canberra this morning, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott announced the resumption of transportation.
Penal Colony status restored. Image: Stock.xchng
“Britain has a burgeoning prison population and Australia has a wage inflation problem. This is a true win-win” Mr Cameron said.
The agreement is a coup for Mr Abbott, who has relentlessly pursued a low-cost source of labour since taking office last year. “For too long Australian workers have not only expected a job, but the worst of them, and by that I mean union members, have insisted on getting paid [for] it as well. This announcement today will go a way towards ending that little racket.”
The expected labour savings will provide a much needed cash injection to Mr Abbott’s mining and industrial overlords, soon to be burdened with significant expenses associated with maintenance of the knighthoods coming their way.