About two weeks ago, I was so frustrated with the Federal Government that I let loose with a late night post entitled Short & Ranty, a pithy summary of why I think Federal Labor is unspooling. An awful lot of awful politics has passed in those two weeks, and during this time, we have watched our parliament edge closer to part-soap-opera, part-farce theatre improv. Tears, secret deals, backflips, big money, tricks and a sprint for the door - and that's just the lower house.
The Craig Thomson Distraction is still just that; as more and more is revealed about the HSU, the dodgier the whole saga appears. Is Mr Thomson guilty? The weight of common opinion has him well and truly convicted. I can't get that spelling error out of my mind: the signature on some dockets has Mr Thomson misspelling his own name, by adding a 'p'. That feels significant, but probably isn't.
At some point, the next chapter of Craig Thomson's adventure-mystery series will be revealed, but it won't make a difference at the 2013 Election. The Coalition will probably win, and even if it doesn't, the Thomson Distraction won't be a major factor. The only people who think that Labor can win the next election are Bill Kelty and the Tooth Fairy...unless Tony Abbott unhinges completely, and I don't rule that out.
In other Thomson-related news, Labor MP Ed Husic suggested on Twitter the need for a parliamentary line judge - a reference to the Abbott versus Pyne run to exit the chamber yesterday to ensure that Craig Thomson's surprise vote with the Opposition would be cancelled out. Strange, that of all the issues of conduct around this minority government, the Opposition chose to take a stand on the tainted status of Mr Thomson's vote.
At the same time, we learn that a record number - over 10% - of eligible Australians are not enrolled to vote. That's 1.5 million Australians that should be enrolled, but aren't. 900,000 of those have never been enrolled. Voting is compulsory - and yet individuals have to take the initiative to register to vote, or they aren't included.*
I'm surprised that number of unenrolled people isn't higher. Who would want any part in a democracy that plays out more like a tv game show than a solemn place where serious men and women decide the future of the nation? Politics - the process, the gravitas, and yes, the politicians - should inspire and lead us.
Instead of inspiration, we have the parliamentary answer to the Hokey Pokey, for which Tony Abbott must accept responsibility. His bitter reaction to failing to form a government with the Independents has dragged us here.
Australia has sustained economic health despite the GFC, yet it is met with denial and derision by the Opposition, and near silence in the media. Australia is committed to act on Climate Change, yet we're still not sure of the Leader of the Opposition has accepted that Climate Change is real - despite it having been a scientific fact since 1987. There have been about sixty unsuccessful censure motions brought by Mr Abbott, three Speakers in under five years, a new party formed, a party expulsion, a leadership challenge, a former PM on the back benches, members being sin-binned almost daily...it's the most exciting game in town.
In the face of this apparent chaos, the Government keeps on governing. Is Bill Kelty right? Will enough Australians forgive Julia Gillard for knifing Kevin Rudd, then changing her mind on the Carbon Tax? This week's Newspoll had both the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader with personal Disapproval ratings at a toxic 60%. Surely these numbers suggest an electorate which is disengaging.
And yet, how can you walk away from the privilege of voting? How can you simply allow others to elect your representatives? Does that not nullify your right to complain when the government makes decisions you don't support? Perhaps if those 1,500,000 eligible Aussies had made the effort to register and learn a bit about their candidates, and then - god forbid - actually vote, today's parliament might be something that does inspire us.
Decisions are made by those who show up.
* In Process Improvement Land, that's a critical weakness, but also a subject for another day.
Showing posts with label Craig Thomson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Craig Thomson. Show all posts
Friday, June 1, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
My Challenge to Andrew Robb
Barrie Cassidy has chronicled for us the list of Australian politicians who've been through emotional crises. I don't think any one of us wants to see Craig Thomson's name added to that list.
I've challenged Opposition front bencher and depression survivor Andrew Robb to take an hour or two to sit with Craig Thomson and talk, make sure he's okay, help him get the emotional support he almost certainly needs. I am no fan of Mr Robb's politics, but he has survived major depression and continued his career. That's something I'm struggling to do right now.
It doesn't even matter what the outcomes of the nine investigations might be. Mr Thomson's career has been damned by the speculation of the past months. He's been shunned by his own party, criticised and mocked by the Opposition, doubted by the independents, stalked, probed and challenged by media, and has been the subject of nine investigations. Is there any doubt that he is under extraordinary stress? We've seen it in his tears and in his anguished plea to just let history take its course.
That's what we know, what we've been permitted to see. Can you imagine the turmoil, the noise in Mr Thomson's mind? Even in the event that he is innocent, he is living the first chapter of his tortured sentence already. As I said a few weeks ago, Craig Thomson is barely relevant in the greater picture; unless something dramatic occurs, we should start preparing for an Abbott-led Coalition government. Mr Thomson can't do much but move the timing closer, and it's a no-brainer that he won't be re-elected. In fact, he continues to be a soft target for Tony Abbott and his team; no-one is looking out for Craig Thomson.
So I challenge Andrew Robb to remember his personal fight, to look beyond the scandal and the politics, and extend his hand to Craig Thomson, not because there's political advantage to gain, but because it's the right thing to do.
I've challenged Opposition front bencher and depression survivor Andrew Robb to take an hour or two to sit with Craig Thomson and talk, make sure he's okay, help him get the emotional support he almost certainly needs. I am no fan of Mr Robb's politics, but he has survived major depression and continued his career. That's something I'm struggling to do right now.
It doesn't even matter what the outcomes of the nine investigations might be. Mr Thomson's career has been damned by the speculation of the past months. He's been shunned by his own party, criticised and mocked by the Opposition, doubted by the independents, stalked, probed and challenged by media, and has been the subject of nine investigations. Is there any doubt that he is under extraordinary stress? We've seen it in his tears and in his anguished plea to just let history take its course.
That's what we know, what we've been permitted to see. Can you imagine the turmoil, the noise in Mr Thomson's mind? Even in the event that he is innocent, he is living the first chapter of his tortured sentence already. As I said a few weeks ago, Craig Thomson is barely relevant in the greater picture; unless something dramatic occurs, we should start preparing for an Abbott-led Coalition government. Mr Thomson can't do much but move the timing closer, and it's a no-brainer that he won't be re-elected. In fact, he continues to be a soft target for Tony Abbott and his team; no-one is looking out for Craig Thomson.
So I challenge Andrew Robb to remember his personal fight, to look beyond the scandal and the politics, and extend his hand to Craig Thomson, not because there's political advantage to gain, but because it's the right thing to do.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
The Damage Done
One of my colleagues, Anne, asked me today if I’d blogged about Craig Thomson. No, I hadn't. I wondered why, and I’ve narrowed it down to three possibilities:
1. I don’t care about Craig Thomson or his credit card
2. I don’t know enough to feel confident I know enough about the details
3. I have nothing new to contribute to the conversation
It’s really a little bit of all three. A sitting MP has been accused of serious wrong-doing in a job he held prior to being elected to parliament; he has been investigated, has been expelled from his political party…but not convicted of a crime. Yet.
If that’s not intrigue enough, the precarious state of our hung parliament means that any movement - by Thomson, Slipper or any other member of the lower house - could tip the balance and set up a chain reaction leading to the new election Tony Abbott wants so badly.
Overlay that with last night’s Newpoll figures, and Mr Thomson’s situation is simultaneously a Labor nightmare...and entirely irrelevant.
Why irrelevant? Because even though Labor’s numbers showed some bounce last night, all that is left for the ALP is their rusted-on supporters. Just about everyone who's going to desert the ALP has already gone. Craig Thomson's slow motion political implosion probably won't do a lot more damage.
As for the Newspoll result, it's not easy to determine whether it was simply a correction after the horror story in the last poll, or whether it was a genuine ‘budget boost’. The next set of Newspoll numbers will give a clearer picture of how deep the ALP's hole is...but it won't tell them how to fix it, and might even stabilise Julia Gillard as Leader.
Right now, I can't think of anything that could convince voters to trust this Labor government for another term with Julia Gillard at the helm.
In the 20 or so months since the last Federal election, the situation has only become more dire for Labor, and despite that, the Coalition has failed to offer a viable alternative. On current numbers, the Coalition would win an election held now, but not because they are liked, or trusted or respected, because they are disliked less, considered less untrustworthy and disrespected less than the ALP. Note that I haven't mentioned Coalition policy: they don't seem to think policies matter, and maybe, in the end, they won't.
Right now, if given a choice, many Australians wouldn’t vote for either of the major parties. In the past three months, the Labor primary has decreased from 35% to 30%...but while the Coalition primary has been above 50%, it's fallen back to 45%, exactly where it was three months ago. The Greens have picked up a whole percentage point, but “others” have picked up 4%.
And really, Craig Thomson's mess is not relevant. While the Coalition makes loud, monotonous and ultimately fruitless calls for Prime Minister Gillard to disregard Thomson’s vote, we know it won’t happen. Thomson is another convenient ALP failure that the Opposition can use to embarrass the Government. Thomson is still a member of the parliament, and his vote is valid.
Of larger concern is the damage this disgraceful series of events within the HSU has done to the union movement, and to progressive, people-driven, policy in Australia. Organisations like GetUp! will continue to gain relevance and influence, long after Craig Thomson has lost both.
1. I don’t care about Craig Thomson or his credit card
2. I don’t know enough to feel confident I know enough about the details
3. I have nothing new to contribute to the conversation
It’s really a little bit of all three. A sitting MP has been accused of serious wrong-doing in a job he held prior to being elected to parliament; he has been investigated, has been expelled from his political party…but not convicted of a crime. Yet.
If that’s not intrigue enough, the precarious state of our hung parliament means that any movement - by Thomson, Slipper or any other member of the lower house - could tip the balance and set up a chain reaction leading to the new election Tony Abbott wants so badly.
Overlay that with last night’s Newpoll figures, and Mr Thomson’s situation is simultaneously a Labor nightmare...and entirely irrelevant.
Why irrelevant? Because even though Labor’s numbers showed some bounce last night, all that is left for the ALP is their rusted-on supporters. Just about everyone who's going to desert the ALP has already gone. Craig Thomson's slow motion political implosion probably won't do a lot more damage.
As for the Newspoll result, it's not easy to determine whether it was simply a correction after the horror story in the last poll, or whether it was a genuine ‘budget boost’. The next set of Newspoll numbers will give a clearer picture of how deep the ALP's hole is...but it won't tell them how to fix it, and might even stabilise Julia Gillard as Leader.
Right now, I can't think of anything that could convince voters to trust this Labor government for another term with Julia Gillard at the helm.
In the 20 or so months since the last Federal election, the situation has only become more dire for Labor, and despite that, the Coalition has failed to offer a viable alternative. On current numbers, the Coalition would win an election held now, but not because they are liked, or trusted or respected, because they are disliked less, considered less untrustworthy and disrespected less than the ALP. Note that I haven't mentioned Coalition policy: they don't seem to think policies matter, and maybe, in the end, they won't.
Right now, if given a choice, many Australians wouldn’t vote for either of the major parties. In the past three months, the Labor primary has decreased from 35% to 30%...but while the Coalition primary has been above 50%, it's fallen back to 45%, exactly where it was three months ago. The Greens have picked up a whole percentage point, but “others” have picked up 4%.
And really, Craig Thomson's mess is not relevant. While the Coalition makes loud, monotonous and ultimately fruitless calls for Prime Minister Gillard to disregard Thomson’s vote, we know it won’t happen. Thomson is another convenient ALP failure that the Opposition can use to embarrass the Government. Thomson is still a member of the parliament, and his vote is valid.
Of larger concern is the damage this disgraceful series of events within the HSU has done to the union movement, and to progressive, people-driven, policy in Australia. Organisations like GetUp! will continue to gain relevance and influence, long after Craig Thomson has lost both.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Trust Deficit
As Prime Minister Gillard speaks to the media about her conversations with Craig Thomson and Peter Slipper, the first questions are inevitably about the possibility of an early election.
I've seen tweets over the past days and weeks, suggesting that our current federal politicians - the whole lot of them - is the worst group of Australian politicians ever. I can't disagree with the sentiment. No wonder there's so much blah in the electorate. It's almost impossible to find anything to relate to, much less admire, in the representatives we elected.
I can see that this government has produced some outstanding results, but the message isn't cutting through. They've also delivered some solid gold, fur-lined ocean-going political failures, and they continue to dominate the news cycle.
An opportunistic minority government with unstable leadership, an obstructionist opposition, an ever-increasing pod of independents and a largely tolerant news media have encouraged the voters to disengage. We're in a perpetual motion negativity machine, and we can't break free.
Conventional wisdom (and Rupert Murdoch) suggest its time to eject the warp core and call the election that isn't due for more than a year.
I'm a fan of at least listening to the unconventional wisdom...or perhaps in this instance, I'm just more cynical than most. My dissatisfaction with Canberra is not partisan. I'm disappointed by both sides, so going to an early election, which the Coalition would win, would be replacing one set of underachievers for another.
I want some of that hopey-changey stuff that President Obama promised back in 2008. Why is there so little of that in Canberra in 2012?
Instead, we've had months of Craig Thomson' credit cards, years of JuLiar, and a week or so of Peter Slipper's bizarre behaviour with CabCharge dockets and young male staffers although it feels like longer.Speculation about the ALP Leadership just won't stop, and Kevin Rudd's name keeps bobbing to the top like ice in XXXX; it's better than warm beer, but only as a last resort.
Although the ALP has been in power less than five years, there's a richly curdled legacy of School Halls, Pink Batts, the Carbon Tax "lie", the Malaysian Deal, the ADFA Skype scandal, the unReformed Pokies laws and the legendary Faceless Men.
And yet, if we did go to an early election, what would we get? A Prime Minister (Abbott) whose been a brilliant attack dog for the Liberal party, but is as about as unpopular as the Prime Minister. The Coalition's Shadow Finance team is a running joke under the heading Team Acalculia*, and there's Malcolm Turnbull, who probably doesn't believe his own party's platform on the NBN. There's Theresa Gambaro and her view than new Australians lack courtesy and deodorant, and Scott Morrison, who had issues with us footing the bill to fly children across the country to attend the funeral of their parents. The Coalition's greatest strength is Julie Bishop's death-stare.
The unknown quantity is the core of Independents, mainly former Coalition members: marathon speech maker Oakeshott, farmer Windsor, anti-Pokies Campaigner and former spook Andrew Wilkie, stood-down Speaker Slipper, Bob Katter and his Magic Hat (and his new Katter's Australia Party that lives there) and now Craig Thomson. Unpredictable is an understatement.
What disturbs me most about the current situation is it's fragility. The Government has been functional, but every new ripple is a threat, and every deal to reduce the risk has consequences.
Prime Minister Gillard is correct to say that Australia is a strong country, with a strong economy, but our government is constantly at risk and under pressure, and that weakens us all.
Twenty four hours ago, I would have protested the call for an early election. The Government is part-way through a legislative agenda. Despite this, today's bombshell has shaken my position and my trust.
I've seen tweets over the past days and weeks, suggesting that our current federal politicians - the whole lot of them - is the worst group of Australian politicians ever. I can't disagree with the sentiment. No wonder there's so much blah in the electorate. It's almost impossible to find anything to relate to, much less admire, in the representatives we elected.
I can see that this government has produced some outstanding results, but the message isn't cutting through. They've also delivered some solid gold, fur-lined ocean-going political failures, and they continue to dominate the news cycle.
An opportunistic minority government with unstable leadership, an obstructionist opposition, an ever-increasing pod of independents and a largely tolerant news media have encouraged the voters to disengage. We're in a perpetual motion negativity machine, and we can't break free.
Conventional wisdom (and Rupert Murdoch) suggest its time to eject the warp core and call the election that isn't due for more than a year.
I'm a fan of at least listening to the unconventional wisdom...or perhaps in this instance, I'm just more cynical than most. My dissatisfaction with Canberra is not partisan. I'm disappointed by both sides, so going to an early election, which the Coalition would win, would be replacing one set of underachievers for another.
I want some of that hopey-changey stuff that President Obama promised back in 2008. Why is there so little of that in Canberra in 2012?
Instead, we've had months of Craig Thomson' credit cards, years of JuLiar, and a week or so of Peter Slipper's bizarre behaviour with CabCharge dockets and young male staffers although it feels like longer.Speculation about the ALP Leadership just won't stop, and Kevin Rudd's name keeps bobbing to the top like ice in XXXX; it's better than warm beer, but only as a last resort.
Although the ALP has been in power less than five years, there's a richly curdled legacy of School Halls, Pink Batts, the Carbon Tax "lie", the Malaysian Deal, the ADFA Skype scandal, the unReformed Pokies laws and the legendary Faceless Men.
The unknown quantity is the core of Independents, mainly former Coalition members: marathon speech maker Oakeshott, farmer Windsor, anti-Pokies Campaigner and former spook Andrew Wilkie, stood-down Speaker Slipper, Bob Katter and his Magic Hat (and his new Katter's Australia Party that lives there) and now Craig Thomson. Unpredictable is an understatement.
What disturbs me most about the current situation is it's fragility. The Government has been functional, but every new ripple is a threat, and every deal to reduce the risk has consequences.
Prime Minister Gillard is correct to say that Australia is a strong country, with a strong economy, but our government is constantly at risk and under pressure, and that weakens us all.
Twenty four hours ago, I would have protested the call for an early election. The Government is part-way through a legislative agenda. Despite this, today's bombshell has shaken my position and my trust.
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