The breaking news is that Prime Minister Julia Gillard is calling a Labor leadership ballot on Monday at 10AM. She will probably win this ballot but the irrecoverable damage to her leadership has already been done. This goes to the problem of politics in this country.
It’s treated like a game.
It’s like we’re at the footy barracking for sides… except we are not playing for something as trivial as a piece of metal hammered into the shape of a trophy. We are playing with the levers of a whole nation and it is contemptible that it is described, rightly, as a “soap opera”.
Government is not a game.
Running the country shouldn’t be a soap opera. There are consequences and far reaching outcomes for decisions that touch the lives of every person in this country, especially if the helmsman gets it wrong.
This is the power of intrigue since time immemorial, where the love of power and the love of the game comes second to governing the country. Rather than focusing effort on developing effective policy, two fools are scrambling for control of the helm outside the reach of the electorate. They are so lost playing their game of chess that they don’t realise the country is burning down from want and neglect. That it has come to this is a sembelance of the necrosis that is happening for the policy implemented by Gillard, and how deeply unpopular and impotent those policies are with the Australian public.
Here are some different plays for the game and rules for the game:
- Don’t give the media a soundbite to play on repeat by never answering a compromising question with a straight answer. Case in point of the consequences: “there will be no carbon tax under a government I lead“
- Fix the problems of the last administration such as taking us from $50B surplus to a $150B debt in one term
- Manage those who do not want to lose their entitlements as part of point 2, lest they become angry protest groups e.g. Victorian nurses
- Gotcha you’re not politically correct such as Mark Riley’s attempt to catch Tony Abbott out with the “shit happens”
- Make decisions that are politically motivated to skewer political opponents rather than to help advance the good of the country. If the nation takes damage from the pettiness, it is collateral damage.
One wonders the motivation of politicians… are they humble servants in search for the good of the country, or are they playing the political game for the power and the intrigue? Doubtless it is both (because one needs a certain ego and strength of personality to survive and rise up the ranks in politics).
If this is the case it should be “fixing the country first” before playing political games in the MP’s own time. Because right now those cheeky games are paralysing that which is happening at the helm. What is the root cause of this game? A political correctness that tries and fails to ensure that everyone is a winner, that everyone does the “right” thing, where the NIMBYs run the country and are trying to protect their entitlements by protesting loudly and voting for the candidates most likely to retain these entitlements. All while seeking bribes these activists new ones for the vote. And it is especially easy to vote for a tax that somebody else has to pay (e.g. the “rich” people over $80,000 a year).
It’s not that this battle is completely new either: John Howard’s government was flagging and he refused to hand over to Peter Costello, who was in the end loyal and never challenged. Then Peter Costello is accused of lacking “ticker”… the alternative is the poll and the bitterness we will see on Monday.
I weep for my country, and the circus it has become.
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