Dysfunctionality writ large

Some thirty years after Labor in Power, a documentary series about the Hawke-Keating government, that held power in Australia from 1983 to 1996, comes Nemesis, featuring interviews with many of the key protagonists. This should dominate the political news cycle for at least the next couple of weeks.

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/nemesis-tells-the-story-of-the-coalition-years-in-its-own-words-some-of-it-will-leave-you-stunned/

How did this happen?

 How did this get out? Was it leaked, or published accidentally. As bad as the current Victorian government is, the Liberal Opposition cannot credibly present themselves as an alternative government if they release such sloppy policy documents as this. 

Not so cut and dry

Former Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, is spearheading a campaign against News Limited, Australia's largest media company, attacking it for what he sees as a protection racket for Liberal politicians, state governments, and the Morrison Liberal government. In practical terms, Rudd believes that its newspapers fail to hold them to account for corruption, incompetence, and maladministration, especially during the pandemic. 

One weakness in Rudd's argument is the situation in Victoria. As a Victorian, and a long time observer of Victorian politics, unlike Kevin from Queensland, I am qualified to comment. The Herald Sun, published in Victoria, and the best selling newspaper in Australia, often attacks the Victorian state government for using  lockdowns in its pandemic management. Even so, this has had little influence on public sentiment. While Labor has lost some voter support, Premier Daniel Andrews is still popular, and the Liberal opposition is unable to cut through. It is very likely that the Victorian Labor government will be returned in the 2022 election, just like Labor governments in Queensland and Western Australia in their most recent state elections. How would Rudd explain that?

As a student of history, Rudd is presumably aware that since 1982, when the Bolte/Hamer/Thompson government ended, having held power under three different leaders since 1955, Victoria has had Liberal governments for 11 of those years, and the Labor Party for 28. Clearly, Labor has been far more successful electorally than the Liberals. If there is a Liberal protection racket in Victoria, then Murdoch's minions didn't get the memo. 

Besmirching your heritage

Generations of Australians were avid readers of The Bulletin, a political and business magazine that was published from 1880 to 2018. It was controversial but respected, which contributed to its longevity. Among its significant contributors were Barbara Baynton, C.J. Dennis, Dorothy Mackellar, Nettia Palmer, Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Patterson, and Ethel Turner, all of whom were respected literary figures, and the respected political journalist, Laurie Oakes. 

The Bulletin lives on as a Facebook news site, but aside from sharing the name, it is a pale imitation of the original. It touts itself as an independent, unbiased, non partisan news source, free of the sinister tentacles of Rupert Murdoch, and the alleged Liberal Party bias of his newspapers and cable television network. 

Unfortunately, their answer to this is to publish puff pieces about the Australian Labor Party. It's poor form to accuse your rivals of bias, and at the same time appear completely oblivious to your own. The administrators don't like their views being challenged. Disagree with them, they'll belittle and block you. 

They also engage in gutter journalism, perpetrating rumours and gossip that portrays their political opponents in a negative light, and their spelling and grammar is poor. If this publication was in print, frankly, I wouldn't even use it to line my cat's litter tray. 

The first cut is the deepest

This Labor Party flyer appeared in my letterbox today, featuring sinister looking pictures of former Prime Ministers Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull, and current Prime Minister, Scott Morrison. These images are meant to remind voters of the leadership instability and division that has beset the Liberal Party since it won government in 2013. Fair comment, but I hope that these days are behind us, whoever wins the election in May.

What about the claims of Liberal funding cuts to schools and healthcare services? Are they accurate? It's not that simple. The ABC's fact check unit concludes that these claims are misleading, as are claims of record spending levels, since funding has to increase every year to keep up with population increases.

This campaign tactic relies on the average voter being too time poor to investigate these claims for themselves, or being an apathetic voter who only pays attention to politics during elections, so that they believe anything political parties tell them without questioning it.

As for energy policy, successive governments have mismanaged it. I see little reason to believe that a future government will buck the trend.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-24/when-a-cut-is-not-a-cut-and-a-record-is-nothing-to-brag-about/10419876

Get some direction

The ABC's Vote Compass is a handy tool for helping one decide how to vote. By answering a series of questions, the website will tell you which party best reflects your values. Based on my answers, I am a social conservative. This means that the Liberal/National Coalition, and...One Nation reflect my values. Since I would never in good conscience vote for them, this comes as a complete surprise to me. 

Give or take a few years

Like many conservative Victorians, I am disappointed with the results of yesterday's state election, having to endure four more years of the Andrews Labor government. 

On the lighter side, I found at least two errors in newspaper coverage of the election. Possibly soon-to-be former Liberal Opposition Leader, Matthew Guy visited his old primary school to cast his vote. I recognise the windows in the background. He was not, as the caption in this article says, visiting his electorate of Bulleen. The school is located in the neighbouring electorate of Eltham. 

Secondly, the school received its own indoor swimming pool at least one or two years before he started there in 1979, and not in 1982. At that time, Rupert Hamer, a Liberal, was Premier of Victoria, so the pool is hardly an example of Labor pork barreling. Either Guy or the journalist who wrote this story got his facts wrong.

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/on-election-day-smiling-matthew-guy-feels-the-love-and-loathing-at-his-old-primary-school-20181124-p50i3a.html

Razor gang

It's election time again. The Labor Party often resorts to caricaturing the Liberal Party as heartless bean counters, who have little regard for the human cost of their spending cuts, whilst the Liberals like to slam Labor as reckless spenders. This mock scratch card, produced by the Trades Hall Council, is an attempt to persuade voters of the dire consequences for Victoria of not voting Labor. They would have you believe that health, education, and workplace safety will all suffer. 

A harsh analysis of this issue would argue that if it wasn't for cost blowouts on major projects, the Liberals would not need state to cut funding for these services when they hold government.

Observers have recently warned of potential cost blowouts on major infrastructure projects. This will potentially cause budget problems for the next Victorian government. 

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/west-gate-tunnel-stand-off-to-blow-out-costs-and-delays-opposition-20180611-p4zktz.html

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/victorias-building-bonanza-risks-cost-blowout/news-story/70c3de4390a52941b602ea67558a16a0

Even if these projects are not mismanaged, they often cost more than necessary. Those with long memories will remember that the previous Victorian Labor government rejected the offer of federal government funding for the 2002 Melbourne Cricket Ground redevelopment, because it would not accept its conditions.

https://www.theage.com.au/national/mcg-funding-fallout-20020606-gdu9zb.html

According to the Auditor General, it is also very likely that the total cost of the current level crossing removal project will be much higher than initially estimated. 

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/level-crossing-removal-program-poor-value-for-money-auditorgeneral-andrew-greaves-20171214-h04ed0.html

Controversially, it also chose to build the Eastlink road project as a tollway instead of a freeway, rejecting federal government funding for the project. 

Lacking the common touch

Christopher Pyne hasn't done himself any favours lately. He has been accused of attempting to undermine the party’s candidate for the seat of Barker at the 2013 federal election by suggesting an independent run against him. On top of that, he is believed to have pressured another Liberal colleague to relinquish her seat to him if his electorate is abolished.

Back in 2009, he contacted activist group GetUp, in an attempt to drum up support for then opposition leader, Malcolm Turnbull. GetUp has strong links to the Labor Party. Indeed, Labor leader, Bill Shorten used to be on its board. Not only that, but GetUp has consistently campaigned against Liberal government policies.

In his capacity as defence minister, he is also spending $50 billion of Australian taxpayers money on submarines for the Royal Australian Navy, that will be obsolete before they're commissioned for service.

If Pyne ever had leadership ambitions, and no press gallery journalist, to my knowledge, has ever speculated that he does, surely he can now forget about them. If there's any justice in politics, his parliamentary colleagues should not reward disloyalty like he has shown, not to mention his arrogance. Voters are getting tired of arrogant politicians. Conduct like his surely must be a contributing factor towards the Turnbull government's low approval ratings, and voter disillusionment with the major parties.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/pyne-accused- f-plan-to-oust

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/christopher-pyne-and-fellow-backstabbers-who-conspired-against-tony-abbott-should-be-driven-out-of-the-liberal-party/news-story/4bc2f58ae01420519f36269de2d611d1

http://www.news.com.au/national/politics/newspoll-malcolm-turnbull-sinks-as-barnaby-joyce-fiona-nash-citizenship-crisis-hits/news-story/6a10afcae7a1d42f0282a9601c505c15

Secret ballot: Episode II

The ABC is once again running its Vote Compass website, which allows voters to complete a survey to see which political party best reflects their own political values, and help them make an informed voting decision on election day in July. 

It seems that I most closely fit the Coalition parties on the political landscape, most strongly agree with the Coalition parties at 68 per cent, and was slightly surprised to see that I rate Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at 65 per cent. 

Wearing out your welcome

Bronwyn Bishop has announced that she intends to renominate for preselection for her seat of Mackellar, which she has held since 1994. I agree with commentators such as former federal opposition leader John Hewson, and former Victorian Premier, Jeff Kennett, who believe that she should retire from Parliament altogether.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott took a lot of political damage for his loyalty to her during the 2015 controversy over the misuse of her travel allowance, and she repayed him by backing Malcolm Turnbull when he challenged Abbott for the Liberal leadership in September 2015.

Any potential challenger to her preselection knows that she is vulnerable because of her poor conduct towards her former leader, and her inept performance as Speaker. Her standing with her conservative Parliamentary colleagues and with the voters of Mackellar must surely be greatly diminished. Even if she contests the next election, she might lose her seat. It's time for her to move on.    

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-19/bronwyn-bishop-to-nominate-for-pre-selection-in-nsw/7097090

Befuddled

Another day, another news story about the unpopularity of the Abbott government. One of my American friends asked me to explain why Tony Abbott is an unpopular Prime Minister.

There are plenty of reasons. He is a Catholic conservative and once trained for the priesthood so "progressives" don't like him. He served as Health Minister in the Howard government. He opposed access to the abortion pill RU486.

The pro choice camp campaigned against him with the slogan "get your rosaries off my ovaries." This also harmed his image with women, and for a long time he has been smeared as a misogynist.

Some of his opponents resort to histrionics and claim that he is trying to turn Australia into a Catholic theocracy. I've had face to face conversations with people who make this allegation, and have firmly but politely told them that they are being alarmist. This will never happen.

The last reason is that his government has had to make unpopular decisions to bring government spending under control. This happens every time a Labor government is voted out. Labor governments are very bad at handling taxpayers' money, without any thought given to the consequences. Time and time again it is left to Liberal governments to repair this damage, and cop the political flak for doing this.

It seems that the Australian electorate has a short memory. Right now Labor is more popular than the Liberals. They forget that the former Rudd government was by and large a dysfunctional shambles. Julia Gillard led a more disciplined and cohesive government, but it still lacked fiscal discipline. That is the reason why the Australian government's finances are in such a parlous state now. Unless the Abbott government improves its opinion poll ratings between now and the 2016 election, it faces the very real prospect of being voted out of office after a single term.

http://www.news.com.au/national/newspoll-results-support-for-tony-abbotts-government-plunged-across-all-states-in-2014/story-fncynjr2-1227167569235

Let's be accurate

James Campbell of the Herald-Sun is speculating about who might become
Victorian Liberal leader if the Napthine government is voted out of office in the November 29 Victorian state election. Already the Liberals have narrowed the field down to two possible options; Treasurer Michael O'Brien, and Planning Minister Matthew Guy.

O'Brien went to Marcellin College, a private Catholic school, and then graduated from Melbourne University, and studied law. Prior to entering politics, he worked as a solicitor and barrister. Meanwhile, Guy went to Montmorency High School. Campbell might care to know that it was actually renamed Montmorency Secondary College when he attended there. After high school he went on La Trobe University, graduating from there with a Bachelor of Arts in 1995.

Campbell claims that aside from positions at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Victorian Farmers Federation, Guy has never had a real job outside of politics. That's not true. He leaves out part of his work history. I know for a fact that early in his working life, he had a part time job as a driveway attendant at a suburban service station. Doesn't that count? I pointed this out in a letter to the editor which was not printed.

I can't comment on Michael O'Brien, as I don't know him. Some politicians are career politicians with little grasp of the real world. Matthew Guy isn't one of them.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/the-circling-has-started-as-libs-look-at-leaders/story-fni0fh8t-1227077048175

Crazy times

The above screen grab is from the ABC's vote compass website. Filling out a short questionnaire about different policies will purportedly show you where you fit on the Australian political landscape. Apparently I'm a social conservative as opposed to socially liberal, and rather than having blind faith in the free market, on the left wing economically.

The grid shows that I am markedly different from the Australian Labor Party, the Liberal Party, or the Australian Greens. Then again, I have 61 per cent agreement with Labor, even though I have never voted for them and never will, 55 per cent with the Greens, and 53 per cent with the Liberals.

Looking at the party leaders, I rate Liberal leader Tony Abbott and Greens leader Christine Milne as being more competent than Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Tony Abbott has yet to be tested in government. As the leader of a small party, despite reports of internal tensions, Christine Milne appears able to run a tight ship. I see Kevin Rudd as the most mediocre Prime Minister Australia has ever had, at least in my lifetime, which is why I rate him so poorly here.

http://www.abc.net.au/votecompass/
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/what_exactly_is_new_about_six_year_old_labor/

Fiddling while Rome burns?

Robert Menzies

If you believe the analysis of the Canberra press gallery, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's leadership of the Labor Party is again under threat by another poor opinion poll rating, with Labor trailing the Coalition by 14 percentage points. According to the Nielsen poll, the Coalition is now leading Labor 57% (up 3) to 43% (down 3) in two party terms. The poll also shows an 11 point rise in Labor’s primary vote, to 40%, when people are asked how they would vote if former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was reinstated as leader. If Rudd were leader the two party vote would be 50-50.

Rudd is more popular with the electorate than Gillard, but not with his parliamentary colleagues. If Rudd were to successfully depose Gillard in a leadership challenge, it would only be because the Labor caucus are motivated by pragmatism. Motivated by self-preservation, they would put up with a leader they dislike. They would still lose the September election, but by a smaller margin. It seems unlikely that Rudd would be more effective as Prime Minister than Gillard. As of the time of this writing, despite all the mutterings and media speculation, there is little chance of yet another leadership challenge after the debacles of February 2012 and March 2013. 

There is historical precedent for a Prime Minister returning to the office after a party room coup. Robert Menzies was Prime Minister from 1939 to 1941. In 1949, as leader of the Liberal Party, he returned to office for a second time, and held it for 16 years until his retirement, becoming Australia's longest serving Prime Minister to date. No doubt Rudd is aware of this, but he is no Robert Menzies. Menzies was a competent and capable leader who carried himself like a statesman, whereas Rudd was not.

Gillard is a resilient and formidable leader, and by standing her ground, she would retain more respect with the public than Rudd, who for the good of his party, should accept that he will never again be Labor leader and move on. Australia needs stable, functional government led by a Prime Minister that has the nation's respect, and not leadership sideshows. 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-17/leadership-tensions-in-final-sitting-fortnight/4757450

http://theconversation.com/men-flay-gillard-in-poll-15228
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/don8217t-forget-why-kevin-rudd-is-no-longer-prime-minister/story-e6frg6n6-1226664351038

Greens show their true colours

The extent of an aggressive attack by the Tasmanian Greens on supporters of marriage can now be revealed following the release of the Hansard records showing how Tasmanian Liberal Leader Will Hodgman was vilified for supporting the idea that marriage is between a man and a woman. In response to Greens MP Nick McKim's motion calling on the Tasmanian Parliament to support a change in the federal Marriage Act, Mr Hodgman restated the Liberal Party's support for the current definition of marriage: "We strongly support the institution of marriage and its value in our community, and the benefits it brings in social cohesion as a foundation of the family" he said.

In reply Mr Hodgman was attacked for his view. Greens MP Cally O'Connor said "I felt sick listening to him. because what he espoused was actually bigotry" and that what he said "came from a hollow place inside him". Greens MP Kim Booth also claimed that Mr Hodgman's speech was "shameful, divisive, reactionary, and unpleasant and made me feel ill to even hear him utter the words that he spoke". Ms O'Connor later expressed contrition for her "unnecessary" language, but Mr Booth was unapologetic, telling his opponents "you are wrong, you are patently wrong. Your views are offensive, oppressive and unacceptable."

Mr Hodgman was careful to say he did not tolerate discrimination against homosexual people: Clearly no-one in our community should be subject to vilification or abuse on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, but to argue strongly in support of the institution of marriage as is defined in no way suggests that anyone will necessarily be tolerant of such a thing occurring. He stressed that "the Liberal Party totally rejects discrimination and vilification in our community". Despite this, Mr Booth accused him of using "divisive, hideous language", and claimed that his views on marriage, shared by most of the Australian community, "fester and engender hatred."

In a statement on the issue the Australian Christian Lobby said that it is concerning that expressing the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman is enough to attract such aggression. The Australian Christian Lobby believes a civil debate requires respect on both sides, for those who support change as well as for those who hold marriage to have sacred cultural and religious significance. The dismissal of traditional views as "hatred" or "bigotry" is an attempt to stifle one whole side of the debate, as well as the views of the majority of Australians. Mr Hodgman is to be commended on standing up for the definition of marriage as most Australians understand it.


Source: Australian Prayer Network and Australian Christian Lobby

Secret ballot

A federal election has been called for August 21, 2010. After deposing Kevin Rudd in a party room coup, new Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard is seeing to be elected in her own right. Meanwhile Liberal leader Tony Abbott wants to make history by leading his party back into government after three years in opposition. I’ve felt let down and disappointed by the major parties at times. They often seem too beholden to powerful special interests, and unresponsive to the needs of ordinary voters. I only wish there was a viable alternative.

Senator Bob Brown of the Australian Greens was interviewed the other day about voting reform. To explain to my overseas reader(s), in Australia, preferential voting is used in the lower house, and the upper house uses proportional representation. He remarked how in his view, it was unjust that it was possible for a certain minor party Senator from Victoria to be elected with 1 per cent of the vote, and yet hold the balance of power in the Senate, alongside Nick Xenophon (IND, South Australia). He’s not perfect, but I think that having him in that position is preferable to the Greens.

I’ve met a couple of Greens candidates. I always make a point of talking to them whenever I see them out in the street handing out pamphlets. There's only certain parts of their platform that I agree with. I agree that we need to reorient our economy towards renewable energy and away from fossil fuels, and have decent, accessible health care and education. Who could argue against that? Then again, they also champion a myriad of other fashionable causes that are popular with the progressive inner city AB demographic.

It strikes me as inconsistent that the Greens oppose cruelty to animals, but don't have a problem with abortion. There's also no way I could ever vote for a party that supports voluntary euthanasia, untrammelled marital and adoption rights for same sex couples, and has a weak stance against illicit drugs. The problem is that when you talk to them they seem so benign and idealistic, yet as a whole their policies are radically evil. I pray that they never hold the balance of power in the Senate, or achieve their ambition of forming a Green government. If they did I'd have to do something drastic and go into self-imposed exile overseas.

I am not a theocrat

Joe Hockey, Shadow Federal Treasurer, recently addressed the Sydney Institute on the sometimes thorny issue of the separation of religion and state. Click here to read the text of this speech. Hockey quite eloquently asserts that religion does have a place in political discourse in a secular democracy such as Australia, and argues that it is unreasonable to ask religious politicians to set aside their beliefs when making decisions. This is a perfectly valid observation to make.

I'm not sure what to make of the other points he raises. They are less well articulated, so that without the benefit of being able to speak to Hockey directly, it's difficult to put the finger on where he's coming from. As far as the Bible is concerned, he appears to assert that it is no longer possible to support a literalist reading of Scripture. It's not exactly clear what he means by this. Read a good book on Biblical interpretation, and one of the key principles is that the Bible is to be taken literally unless the context demands otherwise. Part of the task of hermeneutics is to determine how to apply this principle.

Hockey is a politician, and for this reason needs to be pragmatic in his public statements. He affirms the positive values that religious faith contributes to the fabric of society.

In his words, these are "a fair go, tolerance and respect, the importance of family and of making a contribution to the lives of others."

You don't need to be religious to subscribe to these values. In fact, you'll sometimes find that atheists or agnostics do a better job of embodying these values than the religious, which raises another set of questions. And broadly speaking, all the major religions may support these values, but that does not mean that all religions have the same essential underlying message. On closer inspection you will find great variance in the teachings of the major religions. This is not the place to explore this question, but I'd encourage any independent thinking and intellectually honest spiritual seeker to do so.

Pedantry corner strikes back

Casual observers will notice that one of the trends in Australian politics is that when in opposition, the Liberal Party often attacks Labor governments for what they see as squandering of taxpayers' money. Sometimes this is justified, as was the case with the Cain-Kirner government that held office in Victoria from 1982 to 1992. This government had an appalling record of financial mismanagement. The most tragic result of this was the election of the Kennett government in 1992. In order to repay massive government debt, over the next seven years, Premier Jeff Kennett embarked on an unpopular program of mass public servant sackings, privatization of government utilities, and slashing funding on infrastructure, health, education, and other public goods.

Now Federal Liberal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has picked up the baton, as reported in our national broadsheet, accusing the Rudd Labor government of massive overspending and waste.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26213921-26103,00.html

Pity about the typo in the headline. What's an oppsotion? It just goes to show again that you cannot rely solely on an automated spellchecker. Occasionally it pays to manually proofread your copy. No elephant stamp for you this time, News Limited.

It's well and truly over

Ahead of the next federal election, expected to be held late next year, political parties are finalising preselections. Lawyer Kelly O'Dwyer has secured preselection for former federal treasurer Peter Costello's seat of Higgins.

Costello's political career is now pretty much over, and he will serve out the remainder of his term on the back bench before leaving politics altogether. This also means that it can safely be said that the hopes of some people, including a high profile Pentecostal leader and self-proclaimed prophet, that Costello would one day become Prime Minister will now definitely not be realised.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/libs-herald-upandcomer-20090918-fveu.html

Update: Costello has since announced his immediate resignation from Parliament. A by-election will be held in Higgins within weeks.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/costello-quits-parliament-20091007-gmmh.html