Train lines in the sand

Nostradamus

This is perhaps the greatest tragedy of the ALP: there has been little into generational change and the factional hacks still hold sway. And in a clear sign of the amount of power wielded by the Left, a new head of the Tasmanian Road Safety Council was announced – in time for Sunday night’s TV news. This must rank as one of the crudest and most cynical acts of government. No wonder Bryan Green was smirking last week, it appears highly likely that the deal was done and dusted, possibly before he made his adjournment debate speech. It remains to be seen how far this cynical act, justified by some as rehabilitation, will rebound on the Premier. Will it be seen as weakness or part of a great deal which ensured he kept an eye the job as Premier. This is in fact the first strike against him in the new role: he has succumbed to vested interests and will find that deals with mates, and mates of mates, has been the ruin of high-minded, well-principled political leaders in every state in Australia. Look no further than New South Wales or Queensland. This was nothing more than a political pay out – it does not bode well for Mr. Bartlett.
OUR BRIGHT and energetic young Premier David Bartlett would probably like a rerun of the last two weeks. If he didn’t know it before, a week is a long time in politics. At every gathering he has made a point of stressing that he wants to rule a line under 10 years of Labor government and start afresh. Well, all new leaders do that don’t they? Especially if their predecessor has been hustled out of power? Take Gordon Brown in England: Tony Blair was on the nose but had to go and Brown was seen as the logical successor. In the first couple of weeks there was talk of a general election but now he has recorded the lowest approval rating of any British leader in a long time. And to add to his discomfiture, he has been christened “Mister Bean” and reduced to a figure of ridicule. Politicians embrace love and admiration; accept loathing and hate as an occupational hazard but being a figure of fun is the last straw and ridicule the most destructive weapon.

Mr. Bartlett has moved quickly to resume community consultative groups, initiated by the late Jim Bacon but unpopular with Paul Lennon, whose idea of consultation was to have a beer with a few mates – a guy sort of thing. While it is true that both former Premiers left some good in their legacies, there is something to commend Shakespeare’s words that: “the evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” But whatever one thinks of the former Premier and his demise, it is hard to overlook the fact that he left the state in a pretty good condition in economic terms but badly divided geographically and socially. Mr. Bartlett’s forays into the community appear to be a promising start to re-engaging with the electorate.

However, the past week highlighted the dilemma faced by the Premier. On Monday he was north of the DMZ engaged in community consultation following on from some held in the south the week before. The budget was apparently locked in but he had made a few minor changes and he had reason to believe that it would be generally well accepted, although the pulp mill still lingers as problematic and contentious with apparent let-out clauses included. There was, as Treasurer Michael Aird admitted, no “wow factor” in the document but the economic rationalists and other dries around the place would probably describe it as a “steady as you go” budget. It is an unfortunate fact of life that this school of economics continues to dominate across the country while overseas proponents of the dismal science are looking for solutions for worldwide recession.

Steady as you go was pretty much the line presented by the Mercury and its chief political reporter Sue Neales. Initially, the budget drew very little critical attention in the mainland press; just the usual questions on one page about who got what and why, or why not and The Australian’s economic dry hot air pump, Alan Wood didn’t even bother to comment. That was to be expected: despite the fact that The Australian calls itself a national newspaper, only scandals and intrigue from Tasmania ever make it into the pages. The roundup of state news in the weekend edition does not carry a regular Tasmanian column but Matt Denholm again managed a few more lines this weekend.

Events following the budget lockout quickly revealed more of the internal dynamics of the Labor Party and governance of the state, which indicate that the Premier still has the job in front of him. The selling of the budget took place in the face of criticism from the northern papers, which not unsurprisingly described it as a “southern budget.” His Treasurer duly fronted ABC 936 for an interview with Tim Cox and Mr. Aird escaped relatively unscathed although the questioning was fairly robust. Saturday’s Mercury brought us a glossy information sheet extolling the benefits to the south of the state from this budget – how much did that cost? Remember how much money the Coalition government under John Howard spent on such advertising.

Whether the Examiner and the Advocate carried a similar sheet lauding the advantages to the north is not known but all press criticism is relative and those who want to find fault will not be disappointed. It was not the budget that made the week embarrassing for the Premier. That came in the form of a double blow, the first being a ghostly or ghastly hand from the recent past and the second a crushing blow for a new minister. Critically both came the day after the budget.

Wednesday morning’s Mercury had carried a letter from Mr. Bryan Green, the former Deputy Premier and veteran of two court cases, to say nothing of many whispers. In essence, he was responding to part of a factual and measured article (Mercury 10 June) written by the respected former Mercury journalist Wayne Crawford about the demise of Paul Lennon and a few lines about Mr. Green. Understandably perhaps, in the letter, Mr Green maintained his innocence. Then, no doubt emboldened by his colleagues on the Left, who have thrown a protective ring around him from the outset of his troubles and when necessary run interference for him, Mr. Green rose in the Legislative Assembly that very night (11 June) to proclaim his innocence; point out that there had been no elements or charges of dishonesty in the cases against him and he selectively quoted from the words of the Director of Public Prosecutions to prove his case. He excoriated Nigel Burch and the opposition parties and implied that he was the victim of character assassination and alleged corruption. Parroting the words of the Premier about “drawing a line in the sand” (already the cliché of the Bartlett government) Mr. Green also expressed a wish or in his own words: “given the opportunity I would relish returning to the frontbench.”

Yeah right! The blow was timed to perfection; clever and connected but not very kind. It was nothing short of a brazen demonstration of who has weight in the ranks of the ALP and the budget immediately took second place. The adjournment debate during which Mr. Green aired his innocence allowed for no substantial cross examination or contradiction and is usually poorly attended. It is not known whether this audacious act was communicated to the parliamentary leadership of the ALP and it would be very interesting to find out. It certainly gave Matt Denholm a chance to highlight the affair in the Weekend Australian with a feisty little commentary entitled: “Shady operator bids for a place in the sun.”

Unless I completely missed the point with my law course at University, the DPP dropped the charges against Mr. Green after two juries had failed to agree on a verdict. He is perfectly entitled to say that he has no case to answer, or claim a presumption of innocence, thanks to the DPP but he cannot assert innocence in the legally accepted sense. Given the 1° of separation in Tasmania, it would’ve been remarkable had the juries being anything but hung – a very apt description.

Not unsurprisingly, Her Majesty’s shadow Attorney General, Michael Hodgman QC was on the attack Thursday morning in parliament with questions concerning an allegation that Mr. Green had asked the Attorney-General of the day, through his lawyer, to overrule the decision the DPP to prosecute Mr. Green and others involved in the TCC case, some six months prior to its commencement. It is no small irony that the A-G at the time was former deputy leader Steve Kons who now sits alongside him on the back bench. And in response the Premier followed what was obviously a tactic worked out in advance – he decried the obsession of the opposition parties with the past and claimed that the ALP was the only party looking forward. He had no option but to defend the smirker on the back benches. He even referred to Mr. Green as “his friend,” which has very strange connotations in most political parties and the Mafia. But there was no outward sign of sarcasm or the statement being made with tongue in cheek.

This “line in the sand” “forward-looking” “clever, kind and connecting” Leif motif will obviously be used as a mantra in the run-up to the next election. And as Mr. Aird has publicly denied that the government is building a war-chest, we punters can only sit and wait until the electorate makes its judgment on two disgraced ministers and the government. The lesson of this affair was Mr. Bartlett cannot afford to relax – he is there but the Left of the party believes that he owes them. The manner of coinage has yet to be determined but the upcoming State Conference to be held in the Great Northern Capital, promises to be an interesting affair, given that so many old war horses of the Left and their young acolytes will be in attendance.

This is perhaps the greatest tragedy of the ALP: there has been little into generational change and the factional hacks still hold sway. And in a clear sign of the amount of power wielded by the Left, a new head of the Tasmanian Road Safety Council was announced – in time for Sunday night’s TV news. This must rank as one of the crudest and most cynical acts of government. No wonder Bryan Green was smirking last week, it appears highly likely that the deal was done and dusted, possibly before he made his adjournment debate speech. It remains to be seen how far this cynical act, justified by some as rehabilitation, will rebound on the Premier. Will it be seen as weakness or part of a great deal which ensured he kept an eye the job as Premier. This is in fact the first strike against him in the new role: he has succumbed to vested interests and will find that deals with mates, and mates of mates, has been the ruin of high-minded, well-principled political leaders in every state in Australia. Look no further than New South Wales or Queensland. This was nothing more than a political pay out – it does not bode well for Mr. Bartlett.

Arguably the week went from bad to worse with the announcement that Pacific National was selling its Tasmanian operations. The hapless minister, Graeme Sturges, in the job a bare fortnight, appeared to be taken aback by Pacific National’s announcement, yet it took the ABC no time at all to recall that PacNat had advertised its rolling stock for sale some months ago. The knock-on from this disastrous announcement is that it puts the whole future of the Brighton transport hub on the line in a manner of speaking. If a new private consortium or perhaps a semi-government authority such as Tas Ports cannot move in quickly – PacNat has graciously given Tasmania three months notice – then we face the prospect of no effective use of railways and more trucks on the road. And unused railways have a nasty habit of staying that way and tracks are removed: so much for the budget spending allocation on a spur line in the north!

Given the rise and rise of petrol and diesel prices, producers, suppliers and consumers in the state face a calamitous future and it surely must be the objective of government to provide the means whereby as much freight as possible is carried by rail. Whether the clapped-out engines and rolling stock currently used by Pacific National will be up to it has not even been raised as a question. While the Greens are concerned about not enough money being spent on carbon footprint reduction and the Liberals in apportioning blame to the government for all matter of sins, actual or perceived, surely there must be enough cool heads to at least work together on securing rail services in the state. This is one matter that should be above partisan politics at present. The economy and the jobs of rail workers are dare I say it…on the line.

These matters have once again obscured a close examination of the catastrophic action that reduced the number of seats the Parliament. Work that should be carried out by ministers is being handled by public servants and advisers. Experience shows that where decisions are made in government departments and without close ministerial supervision, it’s not just trains that run off the lines. A cost-effectiveness study of the reduction in numbers of MLAs and the employment of more public servants and advisers since the reduction from 35 to 25 in the lower house is long overdue. Where is KPMG when they’re needed?

No one seems to be sure of the origins of the saying: “May you live in interesting times.” Some attribute it to Confucius and it is often seen as a curse: we are about to find out. The Australian economy is apparently slowing down rapidly and Tasmania unfortunately tends to follow the mainland. Although there are 18 months or so before the next election, Mr. Bartlett has to break the shackles and lead, not be led by the nose or the Left. Capitulation on the Green matter before the next election will stick in the throat of many voters. This is a time for decisive leadership because as events have shown, a reservoir of goodwill is easily piddled away. Ask that fellow with the red hair… what was his name again?