Aristides (Aristides – 530–468 BC) was an Athenian soldier and statesman. He was one of the 10 commanders against the Persians and one of the heroes of the battle of Marathon Aristides was nicknamed “the Just” because he was popularly recognized as never seeking personal glory or financial gain in his public service to the people of Athens. As a result, during his adult life, Aristides was asked to arbitrate difficult private and public issues.
What vision splendid?
I thought it best to acquaint myself with the nature of Tasmanian Times and it is certainly like the curate’s egg: very good in parts but somewhat ripe in others. However, it appears to serve a very useful function. The newspapers in this state are absolute disgrace. When The Mercury was a broadsheet of bastard size, there was some exceptionally good journalism and informed comment but these days, it resembles nothing more than an Antipodean cousin of what used to be referred to in the UK as scandal sheets or the yellow press and only the girl with naked tits is missing from page 3, for which the female of the species can probably be grateful. It really doesn’t matter: in this age more than any other, today’s newspaper is tomorrow’s fish and chip wrapper or alternatively pulp.
The election campaign of 2010 began when David Bartlett took over as an accidental Premier from another accident, something like a train wreck. It is not the most enviable position to find yourself in and you have to make the best of what you’ve got your disposal. He’s bright, quite an individual in his own way and tends to be out there and at ’em, commendable in a small state where all politics is local, like it or lump it. He stands head and shoulders above a rather mediocre band of ministers and the back bench, which consists of two disgraced former deputy premiers, who will probably seek re-election and rehabilitation and the redoubtable doorstop Brenton Best. I promise not to mention Nostradamus, because the comparison is not very fair. But he told me how much he likes Brenton and I was genuinely astonished. Here is a man whose radio performances make him sound like a buffoon and yet my friend said that the reason he likes Brenton is what you see is what you get and he is basically a decent man. And I cannot stress the word decent sufficiently because innate decency and honesty is in short supply: in both our lexicons.
Who’s in the frame?
The Greens.
The jockeying to nominate candidates for the five electorates began long ago, denials notwithstanding. The Greens, of whom I’m not particularly fond, should have no problems in sorting the wheat from the chaff. Their parliamentary quartet appears to be cohesive, more than reasonably articulate and in Nick McKim, a decisive leader, who in a mainstream party would be regarded as a very good asset. Cassy O’Connor is a tad strident but brainy, with ministerial ability but her range of interest appears somewhat narrow. They will have no trouble in retaining their seats and I don’t have any inside gossip on who will nominate for the one electorate where they have no representation. But they do have talent in depth. It is easy for the major parties to dismiss them as being of little consequence but while it will never be a force majeure in Tasmania, Far more likely is the proposition that they could hold the balance of power in just over a year’s time.
The problem for any government which contains the Greens as a coalition partner is their predisposition to be more dogmatic than pragmatic; more idealistic than realistic but in many respects, this is a quite praiseworthy trait – better that than blinkered vision. The state needs a conscience in the same way that the media needs the Tasmanian Times. I stand with them against the pulp mill, the excrescence that poses as development at Ralph’s Bay and the unbridled expansion of houses across good arable farmland. Sometimes their enthusiasm goes too far: the sneering about piping water to the Midlands, which is surely needed, is one step too far for me. I love the area between Ross and Oatlands and have been horrified by the havoc wreaked by drought on the area.
The Liberals.
Until the Liberal Party sorts itself out and rediscovers an identity then they have a problem. Robert Menzies, were he alive today, would certainly not approve of the goings-on in the federal party and its incestuous relationship with big business. As a now deceased friend of mine – an eminent historian – once told me, old Ming built the Liberal Party from the ashes and ruins of the long-forgotten United Australia Party; a party of grasping capitalist interest, motivated solely by profit and maximizing gain at the expense of the majority. I only saw the last days of what is sometimes referred to as the Ming dynasty, after which, politics nosedived into the gutter and there it has remained, despite what idealists and the rose-tinted spectacles set will tell you.
The truth is they have reverted to type; basically middle-class barbarians. There is no respectable conservatism in this country, only a miscellaneous gathering of scheming opportunists and reactionaries in short-term alliances and only one objective – power. In Tasmania, the reactionary forces appeared to be gathered round a certain Senator of German origin and they surely need to be extirpated, along with their influence, for any good they might have done. A contradiction in terms, the Liberal Party has resembles nothing more than an opposition, which opposes for the sake of opposition, seeks power for power alone and has few genuine ideas, let alone any intellectual weight or depth.
It may sound harsh but I don’t envy young Will Hodgman. Nice guy that he might be, I would be willing to wager that the forces of darkness don’t like him very much either and yet it appears that at long last, he is like the chrysalis emerging from the cocoon. Will he fly or picked off by a marauding predator, of which there are far too many. Some ideas floated recently appear to be basically sound especially in relation to the Royal Hobart Hospital and there have been some interesting statements on transport and economics, although some are more smoke and mirrors than substance. For example, freezing public service wages and cutting numbers sounds like a very good idea when you’re in opposition and the papers and the ignorant lap it up. But it’s not terribly practicable if you want to govern effectively. By and large Tasmanian public servants are the forgotten people and it is no surprise that most of them do not vote Labor or at least they if did, their reticence speaks volumes. Simon Cocker pretends to speak for the majority – that’s one database I’d like to see!
The Liberal Party has had long enough in a position and ample time in which to forge a clear identity or as the guttersnipe economists and the chattering public relations lobby would say, re-label or re-badge themselves as being in tune with the aspirations of Tasmanian people. I still find it staggering that so many people vote for a party that appears to have no soul, no conscience, no experience and very few ideas. They are as wedded as the Labor Party to the hack it down, pulp it and give it away at rock-bottom prices mentality; or dig it up, ship it out and keep the work force small policies that are the curse of Tasmania; the Intelligent Island? Give me a break – there are more cretins per square inch behind industry groups than in some of the mainland states. Some of their lowbrow members would be far more at home in the company of the late Jo Bjelke-Petersen and the white shoe brigade which still worships “entreprenewers” (sic ) those parasites on society who should’ve been exterminated years ago. By the way and apropos of absolutely nothing, I hope Sue Napier recovers fully – not my type but worth her place.
The government – for the moment.
Mind you, the same criticisms could be laid at the door of the once-great Australian Labor Party. Riven by factional interest and tribal loyalties, it exhibits the characteristics of what a retiring party elder in Victoria, Sen. Robert Ray described as the Stasi – the notorious East German secret police. In their company, walking quietly and carrying a big stick is pointless: full battle armour and a range of offensive weaponry is required. The party has a nostalgic longing for days and policies that are well past their use-by date. A look at the delegates to this year’s state conference confirms that there needs to be culling of those who wield influence but can be more accurately described as a blind boil on the arse of progress. The same old faces; the same old names; the same mustering of fractional numbers as sheep in my paddock.
What possible use is the so-called “experience” of the likes of Mdme. “Defarge” Bladel, Messrs. Field, Alexander et al., and the other desiccated relics of a bygone and failed era to a party seeking majority government and progress? They represent nothing more than a Leninist rump, or reincarnation of the so-called heroes of the Committee of Public Safety during the French Revolution, which should never been permitted to exist within a progressive social democratic party. The sight of Nicole Wells, union delegate and left heavy provides some idea of the Stasi mentality. They are democratic socialists and their day has gone, along with the murderous Che Gueverra, glorified by Hollywood. Individually or collectively, they are as much use as tits on a bull or Paul Lennon on the board of Gunns’ and that could be seen as akin to inviting the bull into the china shop.
What do you make of those serving politicians who today regard these people as mentors and accord them reverence that has not been earned and is certainly not justified? Like the Liberals, they lack vision, honour and courage. When a quango like Forestry Tasmania can not only dictate to a government but get away with it provides an example we don’t need this state. Nor indeed do we need any watering down of the resource planning and development system; in many respects the average Joe’s last resort against bulldozers and chain saws. I’m afraid, Mr. Bartlett, that your proposals for reform of the RPDC are as bankrupt as the thought processes of some of your ministers. Streamlining the process? My Aunt Fanny’s foot! Can you really expect us to believe you?
It has been said by persons wiser than me, but correctly in my opinion, that the talent pool in the PLP is so shallow that on a warm day, it would evaporate. It is beyond the power of the Premier to demand the heads of the non-performers and those whose disgraceful behaviour should ensure that they never set foot in Parliament again. The behavior of two former deputy premiers is disgraceful and disgusting. What ever their talents might have been, they continue to drag the party downwards like a yacht, with a short anchor chain at high tide. The ALP requires federal intervention and yet, the economic situation in the country makes Tasmania a backwater for federal action. Nothing short of a bloody nose at the next election; a hung Parliament and the re-endorsement/re-election of those who should hang their heads in shame and skulk away into the darkness, will bring down the blade of the Fed’s guillotine.
Don’t worry too much about the opinion polls: the election of 2010 is very much up for grabs. Although I have been asked, I won’t stand because I don’t think I could bear to campaign with or against so many hacks and, if elected, breathe the same air in the refurbished House of Assembly. At least Michael Polley can take some credit for the better working conditions of politicians. Would it not be also desirable to ensure that we do not lose MPs through malfeasance or sickness, such as we have seen in the past three years?
The pages and archives of the Tasmanian Times are rich in ideas for a directional change in politics but the problem lies with establishing or reforming a party that is progressive; stands for equity and equality, a healthy social conscience and some idea of justice. People who will put Tasmania first and personal ambition second and they are a scarce commodity. I’m not sure how I’m going to vote: defiling the ballot paper, apart from being a criminal act, is a waste of time. What should our priorities be and in what order? If I’m invited to write again, I will attempt to answer some of those questions. However, the most pressing problem is infrastructure, especially fast broad and the railways. While Graeme Sturges has at least shown some signs that he is mastering part of his portfolio, other ministers are being wagged by departmental dogs, most of who have been in the job for far too long.
Health is a running sore, pun intended, manifest in the grandiose plans to build on the waterfront, which are patently absurd, and thankfully, it would appear that public money will not be wasted on the crazy notion run by vested interests in government; the department and the medical profession. One thing is certain, never in the field of human endeavour have so many people wasted so much public money, time and futile effort on image-making to the detriment of improving their standing within the community. Like many others, I would like to see not only new blood, a vision that extends beyond the next election and a return to a larger Parliament.
A conclusion of sorts.
More in sorrow than anger, I can only say that expansion without necessary reforms in the two major parties, the political process will produce more of the same and we deserve a higher standard of governance than what we “enjoy” at the moment. Neither of the major parties deserves to government in its own right and I for one do not share the dread of the nervous Nellie’s; the so-called captains of industry and other vested interest groups that a hung Parliament would be a disaster. If nothing else, it could force them to work together in the interest of the state as a whole and that would make a much-needed change. I’m available to bang heads together as required but I don’t come cheap – consultations range from $12-$1500 per hour. Like many contributors to the Tasmanian Times, I’m worth a damn sight more than most of our politicians.
