Bob was accompanied by his wife and members of the Your Rights at Work Bennelong group, including the chair of last night's meeting Judy King, Principal of Riverside Girls' High and long time resident of Bennelong. Mark Lennon, Assistant Secretary of Unions NSW and Maxine McKew, Labor candidate for the seat of Bennelong, also addressed the meeting.

Of course, a number of events have already been held for Rights at Work in Bennelong this year and John Howard has been invited to each of them. He did send a letter declining to come to one of these and stated that the letter of course would not be read to the meeting – but surprise, surprise it was read out.

Mark Lennon spoke about industrial relations consultants now being closely involved in bargaining practices and outcomes in workplace agreements, shifting the bargaining power away from employees. He also mentioned that workers on AWAs were $106.00 per week worse off than workers on collective agreements.

But Bob was the show of the night, speaking passionately about the rights of workers and the need to focus on this as a vital issue at the coming election- the most important in living memory. He argued that there had been three great lies of the current government: industrial relations, the economy and security.

The government's first lie, Hawke said, is that they are for the battlers and the workers. For him, union work in Australia over the past century has had a positive impact on the lives of all Australians. All the conditions which the current government has threatened through Work Choices were hard fought for and won by the action of unions and their members. And, of course,  ironically the other Prime Minister who fiddled with the arbitration system in Australia was Stanley Melbourne Bruce who lost his seat in 1929.

The government's second lie for Hawke is about Australia's great economic management and that Labor can't be trusted. Observing Howard's work in treasury Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew apparently commented that Australia would soon become the white trash of Asia. John Stone in his briefing to Hawke on 1983 after the election wrote that "the magnitude of the deficit was unprecedented in any developed country since WWII".

Hawke of course with Paul Keating set about retrieving the situation and developed a consensual model to right the problems besetting the country. The current strength of the Australian economy was laid at that time, and this is the opinion of the economists in Australia, the IMF, the World Bank and the OECD. But of course there has been no thanks from John Howard.

And the third lie – security. What has eventuated in Iraq under Howard's watch is an tragedy. Innocent lives have been exposed to awful consequences, all undertaken whilst standing shoulder to shoulder with George Bush. The threat of terrorism has increased and Howard has me-too'd with Bush on Iraq, WMDs, Kyoto and now even labour relations. He is happy for a vast underclass of underemployed to exist in this country, just as they do in the United States.

Hawke finally reminded the meeting that Australia was once known as the country of the fair go. He stated that Australia needs to be a just and fair society and certainly for those present it was a stirring occasion, finishing with a standing ovation.

Maxine McKew then addressed the crowd and said that Howard was cavalier to dismiss what is at our core – notions of fairness and the fair go for all. She has had many conversations during her long campaign and recounted that numbers of people are struggling in this country at a time of evident prosperity. AWAs are forcing people into lower pay for the same job. One young man had signed an AWA with no expiry date. She expressed deep concern for women who are particularly hard done by in the work choices world, with many agreements reducing already low incomes. She finished by quoting the American poet Robert Frost – she having "promises to keep and miles to run before I sleep."