Paying the piper: Politicians and Workchoices

[Extract] Australians, like citizens of other western democracies, have a troubled relationship with their elected representatives. The Morgan public opinion polls have consistently indicated since 1979 that less than 20% of those surveyed rate politicians as having high or very high standards of ethics and honesty; in 2005 the figure for federal politicians was 15%, placing them 21st on a list of 28 occupations, headed by nurses and ended by car salesmen (Roy Morgan Research 2005). In the Australian Survey of Social Attitudes 2003, 45% of those surveyed reported themselves as having not very much confidence in the federal parliament (Bean 2005, p. 131)