Power brokers stunned
John Wilson, former president of the ACT Trades and Labor Council, individually black banned in his workplace by the PSU leadership and the TLC in an act of ALP factional hooliganism: "The election result has tipped the local political situation on its head. It has stunned the small group of power brokers in Canberra. They had been pushing to centralise power in this town, and the result has broken that."
Bill Tully, 2XX news team member: "The result was gratifying, but not surprising. It showed that ACT people are fed up with enterprise bargaining, and not just in the public sector. In the public sector it showed suspicion towards enterprise bargaining, and towards affiliation with the Labor Party."
Cath Gelber, Democratic Socialist Party branch secretary: "One defeated PSU Alliance candidate claimed that if members took independent action they would face the same fate as the airline pilots. It was the Labor government which sacked the pilots, and it will be Labor local and federal governments which try to stop the new leadership defending union members' conditions. Solidarity with the PSU branch will be important in giving PSU Challenge the opportunity to meet its commitment to union members."