Abstract
In his recent article in this Journal on changes in the laws affecting industrial relations, 1 Richard Mitchell interprets the Fraser Government's industrial relations policies as aimed at serving political purposes rather than accomplishing any useful- substantive ends within the industrial relations field. While such an interpretation is naturally open to dispute, that is not the purpose of this comment. The intent here is to challenge one aspect of Mitchell's interpretation of the behaviour of the Aus tralian trade union movement in 1977. Specifically, Mitchell's assertion that in the 1977 compromise over the Industrial Relations Bureau, "... the unions apparently gained nothing whilst conceding a great deal",2 cannot be allowed to enter the historical record unchallenged.
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