Alexis Wadsley
IN ANCIENT ROME, the Republic was protected by the law that Roman legions should never cross the Rubicon river, that then established the border between Roman Italy and Cisalpine Gaul. It was identified as a point of no return that makes conflict inevitable, it also made Julius Caesar the master of Rome.
This week Will Hodgman has crossed the web of vested interests at the big end of town that form the Insider Republic. Firstly by opposing Lennon’s push to have the state pay for water and sewerage pipeline for the pulp mill (which signalled the end of the makeover, and back to business as usual for Lennon Labor). Secondly, by calling for a parliamentary investigation into the consideration promised by Federal Hotels for its lucrative pokie monopoly. Namely, the building of a luxury hotel at Coles Bay, now 3 years late.
These attacks start establishing points of difference between the Liberal and Labor party that can shape choices at the next election. At the last state poll, Rene Hidding’s catch-cry of ‘Special Deals for Special Mates’ lacked resonance not because of a lack of evidence of wrong-doing by Labor cronies, but because of a lack of evidence that the Liberal party would be any different. If principles are to take courage, then they must exact a price. For corruption, that price is letting one’s friends face the music.
Hodgman’s call for further enquiry into the Federal Hotels deal has excited an attack from Federal Hotels communication spokesman Brendan Blomeley as well as negative responses from the Australian Hotels Association and the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania. One has to be concerned when calls for greater transparency are labelled ‘shameless’.
But this is simply indicative of the state of Lennon’s new Republic. The spokesman for the AHA is a former Labor staffer.
The easiest way to analyse what happens in Tasmania is a question of insiders and outsiders. Insiders make the special deals and get the spoils, outsiders get lynched by the bureaucracy and other members of the insider club. The biggest insiders are Gunns and Federal Hotels. Losers have been Auspine and Bicheno eco-resort developers Alan and Wendy Cameron. The Liberal party has many insiders who want to play by the club rules, we might identify Abetz as a leader of this group and Brendan Blomeley as a member. But with Lennon standing atop the spigot of government patrimony this is the path for perpetual opposition. At the last election ‘insiders’ established the grouping ‘Tasmanians for a Better Future’ ostensibly to the hold back the Greens from the balance of power, but the message became ‘for stability’ don’t vote Green OR Liberal.
The insider-outsider problem hamstrung the Liberals’ response to the pulp mill, most particularly Gunns’ withdrawal from the RPDC process, so that Lennon’s unpopularity could not be converted into additional votes for the Liberals. The pulp mill shenanigans have created a rift between the majority of Tasmanians and their elected representatives. The people support due process, not individual projects, while so many parliamentarians have struggled to understand the concept of an impartial application of the rule of law.
The response of Federal Hotels to Will Hodgman’s call shows that they don’t accept the separation of political authority from commercial influence. And why would they? It is the cornerstone of the ‘Insider Republic’ that has made them rich.
Will Hodgman is not starting a revolution by calling for an inquiry into the Federal Hotel development obligations, but building a case that the Liberal Party under Will Hodgman will govern for all Tasmanians, not just ‘insiders’. This is the bare necessity for any level of political competition for the Premier’s suite.
Whether it is true or not will be shown by the actions in government, when there is the ever-present lure of the corruption of power. However a willingness to take pain now is a sign that there is some courage to support principle.
Hodgman has not yet crossed the Rubicon, he is standing in the middle wondering whether it is worth the pain. He may still turn back. Caesar could have turned back and become Governor of Gaul, instead he changed history.
There is a golden opportunity for Will Hodgman to build on if he has the ‘audacity of hope’. While I’m a Clinton supporter, the rhetoric of change of Barack Obama in the US Democratic Primary should be Will’s inspiration.
The rift over the pulp mill laid bare the power of ‘insiders’ in the Tasmanian political system and created a deep sense of distrust and disillusionment. As shown in the Federal election, these people haven’t drifted to the Greens and despite Rudd’s national swing, the Liberals were competitive in Bass and Franklin. The essence of Obama rhetoric is post-partisanship. In the Tasmanian case, the partisan fault line is not Left-Right but on the environment and development. This is Tasmania’s Rubicon.
The leader that credibly offers to heal these wounds is the one that will have the opportunity to form the next government after March 20th 2010.
Alex Wadsley is a consultant and casual lecturer at the University of Tasmania lecturing in Macroeconomics Theory and Policy and Financial Economics while completing a PhD in Economics under Dr Bruce Felmingham. Previously he has worked as an analyst in the oil and gas and energy sector and as a project financier for major processing and energy projects. He has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Western Australia and a Bachelor of Economics with Honours degree from the University of Tasmania.
Earlier: HERE
