EXCLUSIVE:
by Perkin-Warbeck
With the Shorten – Albanese road show over, the ALP had exhausted its rather limited appreciation of the virtue of appearing nice and it set about in the time-honoured way of having the factions decide who should be on the front bench.
And, predictably, it was a bloodbath and a public relations disaster. There was a vicious non-holds-barred fight for the spoils of defeat.
PM Abbott probably can’t believe his luck that the Labor factions have recycled those who were such notable failures during the six years of Rudd – Gillard – Rudd. Every time they appear on TV or anywhere for that matter, Australians will be reminded just why they sent them to the wilderness. For Abbott, the ALP is the gift that keeps on giving.
The Opposition now is looking more like a disgruntled government-in-exile just waiting for voters to realise what a silly mistake they made tossing them out. With this attitude, they will be as relevant to Australia’s future as the Crown Council of Ethiopa is to that that country. Based in Washington, this sad little self-deluded bunch is hoping the monarchy, driven out in 1975, will be restored.
Don Farrell, who lost his seat and will leave the Senate on 30 June next, is on the front bench while Jacinta Collins who, in the last Rudd Government was Deputy Leader in the Senate and fourth-ranking Minister, has been dumped to the backbench.
Stephen Conroy’s decision to take for himself via factional deals the job of Senate Deputy Leader showed an arrogance and selfishness in the true Rudd tradition although he loathes Rudd and always did. When Rudd returned for his last hurrah, Conroy spat the dummy and went to the backbench in a huff.
Outgoing Speaker Anna Burke was excluded from getting anything at all and made no secret of her bitterness saying, “Our new leader, Bill Shorten, may hope for no rancour in the caucus, but the current outcomes of the shadow ministry reflects an immediate reversion to the faceless men being firmly in control.”
She said “no meritocracy” exists in Shorten’s regime. No doubt the Government has already got a bulky folder of quotes from Labor about Labor to taunt the Opposition when Parliament resumes.
Two former Ministers from Albanese’s Left faction – Kate Lundy and Warren Snowden – were dumped by their own faction because they had voted for Shorten who outflanked Alabanese by recruiting star left-winger Tanya Plibersek as his deputy. The only other ex-Minister not recycled was Bob Carr who is on the way out anyway.
Veteran left-winger Laurie Ferguson spoke up for Lundy describing her demotion as “sad collateral payback.”
The real tragedy for Labor is that talented backbenchers who are not tainted with the mistakes of the past have been locked out. They could have helped present a new fresh face to the Opposition and made serious contributions to policy formulation – Julie Owens, the only caucus member to have been the CEO of a small business organisation and Clare O’Neil who studied at Harvard and worked for leading consultancy McKinsey and Company are two who come to mind.
The most devastating expose of Labor’s six disastrous years came via retired Attorney-General Nicola Roxon who didn’t hold back in a recent speech.
She set the tone by describing Rudd as a “bastard” who, for the sake of the Labor Party, Australia and very probably the known and unknown universe, should quit Parliament and then, we can reasonably deduce, sink into a well-earned obscurity.
“Although I was frustrated beyond belief by his disorganisation and lack of strategy, I was never personally a victim of his viscous tongue or temper. I did, however, see how terribly he treated some brilliant staff and public servants. Good people were burnt like wildfire…,” she said.
There was more.
Ms Roxon said while caucus had made the right decision to dump Rudd as leader in 2010, “We were clumsy and short-sighted in the way we did it. We didn’t talk about his rudeness, or contempt for staff and disrespect for public servants. Removing Kevin was an act of political bastardry, for sure, but this act of political bastardry was made possible only because Kevin had been a bastard himself to too many people already.”
In retrospect, Abbott and his team made only one mistake – being far too polite in their criticisms of the Labor shambles.
Rudd, in response, had his spokesman say that he had no comment adding, “He is focussed on politics for Australia’s future rather than the internal politics of the Labor Party.” It’s the sort of lofty response we can expect from Rudd who is in a tightly loyal faction of one. Perhaps he could become a strategist and adviser for The Crown Council of Ethopia.
Ms Roxon, a pal of Julia Gillard, even had some mild criticism of her but it was all in sorrow rather than anger.
“Julia also took on too much – as the new leader, the promised ‘fixes’ were all attached to her, she wore every mistake and every setback,” she said. Really, it was all a terrible shame.
It seems that nobody in the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Governments ever had a decent, kind or worthy thought or achieved anything meaningful except, understandably, Ms Roxon herself.
New leader Bill Shorten has pledged to defend the legacies of the past six years, irrespective of how damaging that will be in the public eye. With the front bench the factions have handed him, he will have no other option.
And the ALP circus rolls on with new driver and front seat passenger in the funny car, but a strangely familiar entourage of loser clowns following behind.
Posted by: Jim Witt | October 18, 2013 at 10:24 AM
Roxon demonstrated all that is wrong with Labor. This failure highlighted in her recent rant her own double standards and hypocrisy. By far the greatest laugh I have had in a long time was when I read that rant was supposed to be a presentation of "10 Points On How To Run A Government". Hilarious.
While she was doing that I Agree With What Julia Said Even Though I Don't Know What She Said Shorten came out with another doozy when he said he wouldn't stand for any disunity as the factional war raged all around him and he himself had to duck for cover.
What a bunch of dingalings. But then, as we used to say in the services, "SNAFU - Situation Normal, All F....d Up".
Posted by: Allan | October 18, 2013 at 11:05 AM
As the opportunity to destroy the country has been removed from them, they will have to be content with destroying themselves
Posted by: Anton | October 18, 2013 at 11:12 AM