Senator Andrew Bartlett
Sunday, May 01, 2005
 
“Leadership Tensions” bore me to tears
If there’s one thing that really grates on me, it’s the instant media frenzy that happens every time so-called leadership speculation occurs. Crucial legislation that impacts on the lives of millions of Australians can be all but ignored, but a few loose words can get the entire Press Gallery panting excitedly about ‘battle being joined’ and ‘war being declared’.

This is going to be a continuing and dominant feature of Australian politics until John Howard announces his retirement. Every time he (or Peter Costello) answers a question, or doesn’t answer a question, or raises an eyebrow or folds his arms or scratches his ear it will be analysed for its implications in the ‘ongoing leadership tensions’.

This is a bigger problem than just being irritating to people like me who get tired of feeling like I’m a cast member in some gigantic soap opera rather than a Member of Parliament. When it gets to the scale that it now has within the federal Liberal Party, it actually starts severely affecting policy outcomes.

It has now got to the stage where every event is seen through the prism of its implications for the leadership. Bad measures which would otherwise be withdrawn (like the stupid decision to restrict Medicare funding for IVF) may survive solely because it would otherwise be seen as a blow to Costello/Howard/Abbott/etc. Actions to address the threat of more interest rate hikes will be assessed, and potentially decisions made, based on what it means for Costello’s chances, rather than whether it is good policy. In fact every action and statement can become a proxy for the battle and will be analysed and decided on in this light, rather than for its inherent policy worth.

This is not to suggest that the tensions aren’t real. I can assure people they are very real. But it seems that ninety per cent of the people involved in politics - whether it’s journalists, politicians or political staff – get instantly transfixed whenever there is a whiff of leadership speculation around and all the things to do with improving the quality of people’s lives, like legislation and policy, get pushed way down the ladder.

This is particularly poignant given that the Government is about to get control of the Senate, and every Liberal Senator in effect has the balance of power, as only one dissenter could defeat something on the floor of the Senate. There are some active and well-known Costello supporters on the backbench in the Senate, who also know they are unlikely to get off the backbench while Howard remains Prime Minister.

I don’t see anything Liberal MPs can do, short of some sort of definitive joint statement being issued by Howard and Costello, for this to be avoided. It can be dampened down, as the current eruption will be, but they are all stuck with this situation and it will not go away until it is resolved one way or the other.

Personally, I care very little about the whole thing, beyond the fact that all the coverage on leadership tensions stops coverage about issues that directly affect people’s lives. Many people seem more attracted to the so-called intrigue and drama they assume to be central to politics than they are to the substance of it, which is a big reason why the whole political system functions far less effectively than it should.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Sunday, May 01, 2005 Permalink
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