An apology

A somewhat belated happy New Year to all readers of Tasmanian Times. I look back at last year with no sense of satisfaction, having been extremely sick. The editor is sympathetic and tells me that TT is timeless and to a certain extent, I can agree with that, especially as it gets me off the hook of deadlines – the scourge of writers everywhere. Unfortunately, I became sick in the second week of December and it was all downhill from then, so much so that I could only manage one fork load of turkey on Christmas Day, which set a record. I had an article prepared which was nearly complete but not to my satisfaction so I have junked it and started work anew. I only wish I could say that my health was much better but it’s marginal.

For the first time in many years, I actually saw in the New Year, with my daughter and her husband. We enjoyed the fireworks but the Almighty’s thunderstorm made man’s efforts look rather puny. It was a very spectacular event and I think that newspaper photographs captured rather well. As they say in the classics, enough of this self-indulgent crap because 2010 is a critical year with both a state and federal election in prospect. The chances of a February federal election have vanished in my view, evaporating with the hot air from Copenhagen and the main game for Tasmanians comes in March.

The honourable retirees

Michael Hodgman QC

Before getting to the main event, as befits a crusty, I must mention Michael Hodgman Q.C., sometime Her Majesty’s Shadow Attorney-General on the federal scene and still a shadow minister until Parliament is prorogued. Many words of praise have been spoken inside and outside Parliament about a man of remarkably consistent views and strong Christian belief. It is well known that Mr. Hodgman has often assisted the less fortunate in society and with his passing into retirement, which I trust will be long and enjoyable, the last true gentleman leaves state parliament. I think he is entitled to retire with the words: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” ringing in his ears and hopefully, it will bring warmth to him. I should mention that I have a fair bit to do with Michael when he was in Federal Parliament and have tried many times to see him since I retired to Tasmania. Why I have been rebuffed remains unclear but there were never any harsh words between us and when we were both engaged in working for a charitable institution, his work was unstinting.

The very honourable James Glennister Cox.

Also retiring is the most honourable member of them all, Jim Cox, the man who refused to sell out his party for a fistful of dollars. I wish him a well-deserved, happy retirement also. And on the subject of Jim Cox, I still regret the leniency shown towards those elements that sought to subvert the outcome of an election. Jim lost an election but came back. Although I don’t know him personally, meeting him has always been a pleasure. However, the stench from the bribery affair lingers and will continue to do so until the pestilence is removed from our midst. That is a very good reason not to travel north: go well Jim.

Steve Kons (Braddon)

And finally, to Steve Kons, whom I do not know personally. I’m sorry in some respects that you broke the 11th Commandment: “Thou shalt not get caught.” You stepped down from being Attorney-General and will not re-contest at the election. You are young enough to come back and I can think of a few reasons why perhaps you should keep your options open. Provided you have learned the lesson and stay on the straight and narrow, there is still a future. Jim Cox is a valuable example and we all know that the ALP lacks firepower, especially in the north west of the state.

Interval – Toot-Toot – blowing my own whistle.

I read with some amusement in the Mercury before Christmas about a proposal for light rail from Hobart to Granton and the “gee, golly gosh” reaction in some circles, culminating in an article in The Mercury of December 10, which states that the three parties are interested in the idea… I’m not going to blow my own trumpet too loudly but I proposed this idea many years ago and the only difference is that they are talking about solar power in connection with the proposed railway. Way back in 1989, with plans and a submission, I approached the Minister for Transport suggesting that a passenger service utilising light rail should be run out of Hobart, through the northern suburbs to Brighton and adjacent areas. In peak hours, the single coaches would form a small train as they do widely in Europe but off-peak, half-hour services would comprise one coach starting from each terminus and there were loops in existence for passing. However, stations and car parks would have to be opened close to parking. Then would come the hard part – selling the idea to the commuters because tourists alone would not be practicable.

That minister is a former premier and, with moustache bristling, he told me in no uncertain manner that rail had no future in Tasmania and everything would go by road. Regrettably, his dismissive attitude was an indicator of future behaviour. I spoke to the then Green Member of Parliament Dr. Gerry Bates and another Green, Mike Foley. I received a good hearing and both appeared interested but said there wasn’t much their party could do so I approached the Liberal Party and they did not deign to see me. All that material was prepared on my first computer, an old Amstrad and most of it is lost owing to degradation. I still have the computer but it’s for old times sake. I raised the matter one last time with the late Democrat Robert Bell who was also interested but dubious about state government motives and quite rightly so.

I wish the current proposal better luck than that accorded to me because it makes sense. What is lacking is the usual problem, political will and vested interests who would like nothing better than to see the end of rail in this state. I hope they all choke on their words before departing this mortal coil. For years, the University of Tasmania employed “bouncing Bob” Cotgrove, urban geographer and sometime member or sympathiser of the ALP and on-site consultant to ABC radio. Bob loved to rave about post-industrial society and the changes needed in planning and execution of the design of cities and transport. The problem with mentioning post-industrial society is the common misapprehension about the definition. All it means is late phase industrial society but courtesy of Barry Jones, the noted hot air balloon of the ALP, certain pretentious claims about employment changes were made that have never come to pass. In particular, I refer to the notion of telecommuting or working from home. I have conducted considerable research in the area and while management embraces such ideas in theory, like so many other reasonable ideas, it falls down in practice. Managers like to see bums in seats and a dispersed workforce is practically the domain of small self-employed business people and consultants. It was only with a couple of slightly immoderate letters to the Mercury from bouncing Bob that I realized he was overseas. A great pity because the battle should be rejoined. This is a very important state matter.

I have recently been approached to support a certain Labor candidate standing for the first time at the next election. I have declined partly because I believe the current government does not deserve to be re-elected in a majority and secondly, the candidate in question is being promoted publicly ahead of Ross Butler, member for Franklin and the aged. I am not going to assist Mr. Butler in any way apart from what can be managed and that will probably be distributing election material. I find it very disappointing that the ALP sees fit to overlook the experience of the person who has been around and knows what it’s at: he has seen life and has a rich employment background but to many people, he is irrelevant because of his age. Compare his experience with that of certain young members of both parties who are still wet behind the ears and there is no real comparison. This state needs people like Ross Butler in Parliament. But that itself raises a difficult proposition for me because I have a strong maverick streak when it comes to voting and how I vote is a question of conscience between the ballot box and me.

Ross Butler: – he’s the man in and for Franklin!

Ross Butler (Franklin)

I have known Ross on and off for quite a few years now. As everyone knows, he entered state parliament through the demise of a colleague. A great deal was said early about his age and the fact that he had driven a taxi. That’s when I first met him, driving me to a medical appointment where I had been advised not to drive myself because the treatment was intrusive. I found Ross to be witty, highly intelligent and quick off the mark. In some respects, his own electoral material to date has not given him sufficient credit. For example, he may well be in his 60s but he is an extremely fit man and runs every day and umpires Australian football under-19 matches in the winter. Half his luck!

He has been a teacher and a principal of a high school: he is well qualified academically and is well respected in the community in the various suburbs that comprise Franklin. He has more than a passing acquaintance with several European languages although as he said recently, he needs to get back to reading a book in French or German once a week. As something of a foreign language wannabe myself, the only New Year resolution I made was to resuscitate my German which has lapsed badly through lack of practice. The only problem is that I’m not very good with resolutions. However, this is to commend Ross Butler because he listened to the community on the question of the Ralph’s Bay development and was firmly opposed.

From my conversations with him, he is also interested in the problems experienced by ageing and that is a problem for us all, disability issues and I found discussing the latter, a very pleasing meeting of minds after speaking to Ross and Clarence Mayor Jock Campbell. They are both acutely aware of what needs to be done for the unfortunate people in wheelchairs or those restricted in physical movements.

For those of you who enjoy rude health, be very thankful. For those who don’t, you have my sympathy, except if you smoke. I have had to live with disability and chronic pain for well over 25 years now and every now and then, I hear experts on ABC radio waffling about the subject. Like many conditions, unless you suffer from chronic pain, then you are not entitled to be an expert on the subject. I was explaining chronic pain to Ross and like my more regular driver; he drove as though I was made from the finest porcelain. Those of you who have had experience with some taxi drivers will know the difference. What is more, he literally got me from door to door. The wisdom of taxi drivers is greatly underrated and unappreciated. In the pantheon of confidants to the male of the species and I can’t answer for the female, taxi drivers and hairdressers learn more about people than a rushed 10 minute consultation with a GP.

The basic reason why I am urging people to vote 1 for Ross Butler is that he has fine personal attributes and he is no dummy. In some respects, it could be considered a neophyte in Parliament but he is a quick learner. His age should not be held against him and I shudder to think at the loss of accumulated wisdom just because we have or had a mandatory retirement age. While I was working, I knew 70-year-olds who could carry on with the energy of men half their age and 40-year-olds who were idling their way towards retirement. Being a workaholic, I loathed being idle and enforced idleness now is a major frustration. I am prepared to proudly have an election poster for Ross Butler in my front garden and if circumstances permit, assist in other election activities. His treatment by Labor House is both shameful and shameless. In the obscene rush to elect relatives of others, Ross will be given as much support from the ALP hierarchy as to quote Lenin; the rope supports the hanging man.

Yes this is an unapologetic plug for Ross Butler the man for Franklin. I have no hesitation in saying that he is receptive to any approach on any matter and where he can help, he will. But it is also a blow for those of us who are in our 60s and still active mentally. There is absolutely no reason to suggest that Ross Butler will fall off the perch before 2014. I’d like his fitness and my looks – we’d make a big splash.

I am inclined to think the election will be closer than some think, especially given the turmoil in the federal Liberal party. A very good friend of mine who has written occasionally in the past was something of an expert on the Libs and I have asked him if he can find the time to write something about that Party. However, he has other commitments but will get back to me. The reason why I think we should look at political parties is very simple. We put candidates into Parliament and we should know what they stand for – party policies and something about the calibre of the candidates. What we do not need are rumours, gossip and innuendo. We have had enough of that in the past. Contrary to what they will tell you, the Liberal party is written with factions, tribal loyalties and personal loyalties and if that sounds familiar, then that is certainly the case. It appears endemic to our political parties with the possible exception of the Greens about whom I do not know enough to comment.

I didn’t need to read in the Mercury that the ALP has a special task force which will spend a great deal of money trying to ensure re-election of a majority government. It will bring out the animals, the dirty polemicists, who will seek to smear their opponents and use every trick in the book. There have been signs of activity already in the steady denigration of political opponents. It won’t work because this government is on the nose. The early promise of David Bartlett has trickled away, largely through a series of disasters for which he must bear his share of responsibility, especially as he is the Premier. I imagine that trying to get solidarity in the badly divided ALP at present is akin to herding cats. The price of cutting the size of Parliament will be felt for many years, even if agreement was secured to expand the lower house to its former size. I regret that what we will get is more of the same in terms of candidates – union hacks, lawyers, teachers and you can guess which ones will be elected and that applies to both sides.

Lastly, some free advice for Lisa Singh – lay off the flag and the republic and you’re in with a chance, albeit slender. It dismays me mightily that the former Deputy Premier from Braddon has enjoyed so much good press. If the man had a scintilla of decency, he would’ve done the honourable thing and followed Steve Kons into retirement. Those who know more about the local political scene than me suggest that he will be returned easily at the election and be ideally placed, with the support of a tribalist faction of the left to become the new Labor leader. The ALP is as ruthless with failed leaders as the Liberal party federally. And I cannot see David Bartlett surviving for too long. The basic problem I have with Mr. Green is that he believes he did nothing wrong. The joke of the South was one of the first to have his name plastered on the back of Metro buses. “Sturges delivers in Denison” was what I saw on the back of a bus a couple of weeks ago and I think I’m entitled to ask the question: “What is he delivering apart from bad manners, bullying, stand over tactics and a great deal of horse manure?”

My hope is for a hung Parliament and this time round, I will vote for five candidates whom I believe to be people of integrity who can be relied upon to put the interests of the state first and their own interests further down the list. And I believe there are some standing for Parliament who will do this. In an ideal world, there would be a coalition of the decent and the willing but it won’t happen because vested interests won’t allow it and it contravenes all precedents. So we will see the continuation of some very ugly politics, which commenced before Christmas and is revving up again. It is not something that I relish because rumour and innuendo loom far too large in politics and you would be surprised at the number of people who regularly ring me with what I regard as smutty political rumours. I am not and have never been a purveyor of salacious politics nor a transmission belt for circulating the latest in creative shit throwing. That can be left to professionals. A good friend of mine observing the state of the state and Tasmanian government urged me to finish with a quotation. It was uttered by Oliver Cromwell when dissolving the First Parliament of the Protectorate: “Weeds and nettles, briars and thorns, have thriven under your shadow, dissettlement and division, discontentment and dissatisfaction, together with real dangers to the whole.”

It sounds all too familiar.

Our esteemed state newspaper The Mercury rated our politicians and I didn’t agree with too many but rating myself as C- needs to improve, I offer the following in appeasement. My new e-mail address is crusty2010@gmail.com

The previously mentioned conditions apply. I will not dignify insults with a response.