Menzies House

Labor’s Right topples another party leader

Menzies House Contributing Editor Damian Wyld analyses recent events in South Australia:

South Australia’s Labor Government is a shambles. A coup planned against Premier Mike Rann has essentially failed, with Rann announcing he will linger on until October 20 in a “mentoring” role.

Any suggestion that this is an orderly transition, an exercise in healthy generational change, is scarcely credible against the background of long-running Labor turmoil. The spin cannot mask the fact Labor needs more than a new leader to pull it out of a poll free-fall. Furthermore, recent happenings raise questions about factional dynamics.

First, some background.

The credibility of both former Treasurer Kevin Foley and soon-to-be-ex-Premier Mike Rann was severely dented after each of them was involved in separate but very public assault cases. These cases on their own did not cause each man’s fall from grace, but they certainly increased rumblings of discontent within Labor ranks and calls for new blood.

Voters should get the government they vote for

This is an excerpt from South Australian State MP Iain Evans' address to the 2010 South Australian Young Liberal Ball.

It is unbelievable that in South Australia, one of the world’s best democracies, we are debating whether the party that wins the majority of the state wide two-party preferred vote should form government.

But in South Australia in 2010 this is the question that people are asking- ‘Should the party that wins the majority of the state wide two-party preferred vote form government?’

If communication into my electorate office is anything to go by the overwhelming majority of South Australians believe that the answer to the question is yes.

On Liberalism and Federalism

This is an excerpt from the Maiden Speech of new South Australian state Liberal MP for Norwood, Steven Marshall.

I have two specific themes that I would like to address for the remainder of my maiden speech: Liberalism and Federalism.

During the election campaign, I found many people were surprised that someone with an obvious interest and concern for the environment was a Liberal candidate. This in turn surprised me, as I see the Liberal Party and liberal philosophy completely compatible with environmentalism.

I am a Liberal because I strongly believe in the Liberal philosophy.

Who is really running for Premier of South Australia?

Chris Browne questions whether voters realise just who they are voting for in South Australia.

Recent polls have shown that the South Australian election will come down to the wire. Mike Rann has been caught off-guard by Isobel Redmond, the energetic new leader of the Liberal Party who has changed what should have been a clear victory for Labor into a hotly contested election.

Roads to nowhere

Government interference could be responsible for massive urban sprawl, writes Michael Gabrielsen.

One of the strangest things I often see the political right criticise is the trend towards densification, public transport, and a lesser reliance on cars. It is assumed that the automobile is the natural form of transport, and a large lot in the suburbs is the natural form of housing.

A long term solution for the Mitsubishi Lonsdale site

Let's use existing skills to support the defence industry, writes Andrew Burgess.

In 2010 and beyond, South Australia will face many tough questions regarding economic restructuring. As industries such as mining and defence continue to grow and become more economically feasible, other industries will face decline through the increasing pressures of globalisation and technological change.