It's not really BBQ weather

There’s a lot being said about Western Australian Treasurer and Attorney General Christian Porter’s decision to resign from Cabinet and vie for preselection for the Federal seat of Pearce.

All I’ll write about that here is “good on him”. He will be criticised for the way he did it, but there’s something to be said about the value of following his personal dreams. As a new dad, I think my advice to my child in a similar position would have to be “go with your heart.” Kudos to Mr Porter for doing that at least.

But for me, the most interesting outcome of the last few hours has been the re-emergence of the ugly factional alliances that damaged and scarred the Party in lead up to the 2008 election.

The person to watch over the next couple of weeks will be the Member for South Perth, John McGrath. He’s the fall guy the western suburbs clique use to do their dirty work – either because he’s too grandad-like for anyone to punch in the face or because he’s too du… um, well… let’s just say might not realise he’s being used by those who like to get blood on other people’s hands.

Mr McGrath is known as “Matchie” by some long-term Liberals, because he is (in)famous for hosting BBQ’s at his home that somehow turn into number-crunching leadership coups. Indeed his home was the secret BBQ bunker the faceless men used to bring down former Liberal Leader Matt Birney and if I recall correctly was also involved in the rise of Colin Barnett when it was determined that Troy Buswell finally had to go.

Matchie started the factional jostling before the Partyroom meeting this morning when he answered the question of whether or not Mr Porter had put his personal needs above the party with the thoughtful and telling single word of “Maybe”.

Then while Christian Porter was still speaking at his press conference, Federal Deputy Leader and western suburbs champion Julie Bishop was on the radio kicking Colin Barnett a little and shooting a big warning shot across Mr Porter’s bow: “I think this is a huge endorsement of Tony Abbott’s  team,” she said duplicitously. Then came the obvious sting in the tail, “However, I stress that Christian Porter will have to win pre-selection like everyone else before he can even run”.
Far from a ringing endorsement from the most senior Federal Western Australian MP.

Some will say, “yeah, yeah that’s just because Ms Bishop doesn’t want to make it sound like there’s a parachute involved .” And I partially agree.

A parliamentarian pushing a particular candidate does irritate lay-Party members, who passionately believe the pre-selection process is squarely in their domain. However, it is plain as day that Christian Porter would bring an enormous amount of value to the Federal Party, as a backbencher or anything else they see fit to give him. It wouldn’t be too hard for someone like Julie Bishop to justify an exception to the ‘no interference’ rule on this occasion.

And Ms Bishop’s comments were reinforced with some smarmy words from so-called Curtin power-broker, Peter Collier. When asked about Mr Porter’s move this morning, his feigned response was, “I’ll miss Christian, he’s a friend and he’s a talented colleague (but) I really have got no idea why he would want to go to Canberra – it all happens here in the West….”.

In my view, these three comments from these three people add up to something significant.

Mr Porter’s resignation and the combination of both a State and Federal election next year means old Liberal Party factions are being revived.

You see the western suburbs Curtin clique, and most particularly Peter Collier, already had a preferred candidate for Pearce – another former President of the Young Liberals. Sadly for that young man, they don’t control the numbers in Pearce. But that won’t stop them trying.

And that kind of competition, combined with the fact that the Premier has basically invited every backbencher to pitch for a place at the big table over the next few weeks will see old alliances re-formed and other new ones created in response.

Dusty BBQ’s will be washed down and at least a little bit of blood will be spilled as these voting blocks - or factions - recklessly swing their weight around in a last ditched effort to get their candidate promoted before the main event next March.

Watch this space and Liberals should don the disposable protective clothing immediately.

PS. Thanks to all those who have emailed me asking why there had been a break in my posts. The reason was the early birth of our beautiful baby girl, Madison. Mum and bub are home and healthy, de spite what a former friend and colleague once said, so I’m back at the keyboard.

ADDENDUM 15/06/2012: I should clarify that Julie Bishop wasn’t supporting the former young Liberal President for Pearce – she was, as a Party member corrected me the other day and Andrew Probyn wrote in today’s West Australian newspaper, in fact supporting Nick Bruining who has now decided not to stand.

As a perpetual limb-climber, I believe the fall is as valuable as the climb and I will therefore happily be corrected when I’m wrong and acknowledge it widely. Please keep the tips, suggestions and corrections coming!

db

Max and the other cut snakes

I’ve thought a lot about how I think over the years. One thing I’ve worked out about what happens in the big old round thing on the top of my shoulders is that in the most part, words get translated into pictures before I can process them.

So when I think of Parliament my heart sinks, because the image that follows is a fuzzy big grey blob.

It’s not quite as boring as that. It moves around, almost spinning on its axis – but it’s not that controlled either. Every now and then I see little bursts of colour, but they are either sucked into the centre of the blob and assimilated or wildly spun out to the edge and discarded…

Which brings me to the way Nationals’ stalwart Max Trenordan was treated by his party over the weekend - spun to the edge and discarded.

I’ve known Mr Trenordan for a long time and it’s been an honour.

I remember one particular occasion when he invited me to dinner at his house in Northam with the then Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer. It was nothing like what I expected. There were no silver spoons, no real formalities and not even very much in the way of politics. My memory of the evening includes images of a fire in a 44 gallon drum, lots of laughter, a few cowboy hats and a dog that had a rather unhealthy interest in my leg. It was honest, friendly, down to earth and very… Max.

The truth is Mr Trenordan has been one of those rare colourful bursts in Parliament - and he’s paid his dues by serving both his electorate and Party with vigour for 26 years.

Now, I’m not suggesting a statue for Max. He’s done a job and he’s been paid for it. Everyone knows that particular job comes with some perks and many, many risks - one of which is the very real possibility of losing it at least once every 4 years. And regardless of the vocation, there’s probably some wisdom in prompting change, or “renewal”, after a quarter of a century. So with all that in mind, it’s not the discolouration of the National Party I’m lamenting. I accept that the public’s growing hunger for the salacious means all political parties will probably respond with candidates who are less colourful and more likely to blend into the big grey blob that is our current Parliament.

My issue is the lack of courage, respect and courtesy inherent in the way Max was dumped. Frankly, he deserved better. He deserved the chance to step aside on his own terms, with a little bit of time to plan a somewhat more graceful departure. If it was inevitable (and sometimes in politics, that’s just the way it is), his retirement as a National Party Member should have been negotiated, not thrust upon him.

But some heartless individuals might propose, “C'est la vie,” “Live by the sword, die by the sword” or even “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen” as justifications for this kind of bastardry.  And I might even get a vitriolic email from someone who claims to be a political genius suggesting that this is merely an example of “beautiful Machiavelli” in practice...

I say the clichés are fine, from afar - and just because there’s a fancy Italian name for stabbing people in the back doesn’t mean it’s smart politics. Indeed, it’s probably the opposite. There is really only one absolute rule in modern Australian politics: to succeed, you need more friends than enemies on election day, and it really does help if they stay friends for longer than a day.

This stuff – knifing loyal servants without doing enough damage to ensure they don’t fight back - is possibly the most foolish political manoeuvre possible. In vernacular perhaps more familiar to traditional Nationals’ voters, don’t just cut a snake. Either coax it away, leave it alone or behead it.

But injuring people - foolishly turning friends into enemies - isn’t the exclusive domain of the National Party.

In July 2010, around five months before the second of the Premier’s ‘John Farnham’ (the last one, I promise) reshuffles, Mr Barnett’s Chief of Staff (CoS) asked me to stay back after a weekly joint CoS meeting.  In an alcove of the 24th floor meeting room, he quietly and delicately asked me if I thought my Minister at the time, the Hon Graham Jacobs, would be “amenable” to a discussion about his future as a Minister.

Knowing Mr Jacobs was, at that time, a very loyal supporter of the Premier, I responded, “Yes, however this is not a discussion you and I should be having. Graham is a very strong supporter of the Premier. If Colin takes the time to speak with Graham one on one, I’m sure they would be able to plan a win-win outcome.”

Sadly, the very next discussion regarding that occurred was when the Premier walked up the hallway to the Minister’s office on that day in December 2010 when the very decent, very loyal Minister Jacobs learnt that his Ministerial career would come to an end in a few days time. In retrospect, the Premier’s arrogance was kind of funny – I received a phone call from his diary secretary who told me “the Premier is on his way up to see your Minister.” The funny thing is that the Minister was out of the office at an official event and was going to be for some time. Apparently the Premier’s car was promptly turned around and the ugly 5 minute meeting happened later in that day, when the always busy Minister Jacobs could fit it in.

So there you have it.

We are soon to inherit a new generation of political hopefuls who think this kind of disrepect is not only acceptable, but the norm.

And Graham Jacobs and Max Trenordan share a lot more than just being honourable, loyal conservatives. They also share some of the colour we desperately need in our ever-greying Parliament and because their respective Parties didn’t have the political wisdom to treat them with the respect they deserve, they both have at least 9 months to brighten the walls of Parliament with the many tones of blue blood.

The trouble with lobbyists…

The trouble with lobbyists is that the Government is too afraid to admit it needs them and the community benefits greatly from their expertise and work.

The controversy this week about the $25,000 per annum Liberal “Leaders Forum” highlighted a couple of really disappointing things;

• The Premier is still so afraid of public perception issues that when he had an opportunity to educate everybody about the truth of what happens in politics, he ran away at top speed; and
• Neither the media nor wider public understand just how valuable lobbyists are to everyday Australians.

This is a hard post to pen because I’m not sure my non-staff readers will understand, let alone support it. Right now, I guess I’m feeling what the Premier felt just before he denied those who pay $25,000 a year to be part of the somewhat secretive “Leaders Forum” do so to allow them to directly lobby him and his colleagues.

And I really empathise.

It can’t be easy for Colin Barnett. While he sulked on the backbench during most of the last government, he saw those doing the hard yards bring down a number of ALP Ministers by systematically attaching them to the stink of corruption. In some cases, former Ministers were ultimately cleared of any corrupt behaviour but what Mr Barnett and the rest of us in the Office of the Leader of the Opposition knew was that perception is sometimes just as powerful as evidence.

In politics, casting doubt can be enough to turn a Minister’s shiny armour coating into a rusty old death trap overnight.

But even so, I’m disappointed in Colin. I really thought he would oversee an accountable executive and be strong enough to push back against our society’s growing desire to prosecute on perception rather than fact. But it appears even someone as wise and principled as he hasn’t been able to reverse the public’s self-fulfilling prophecy of political incompetence, fuelled by our constant over-scrutiny of our political system and the people who interact with it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating anything less that proper accountability, but the feigned horror many expressed when talking about the Liberal Leader’s forum this week was simply too much for me to stomach. The thing that really irked me was the way Mr Barnett backed away from the truth and missed a prime opportunity to educate us all about the genuine value of lobbying.

The simple fact is that without lobbyists, we would all be bound up in unworkable legislation and other public policy, written and enacted by people who have absolutely no understanding of the real-world impact of their decisions.

As an example of this, one of my first jobs in a political office was as a researcher. In that role, I helped the man I worked for prepare responses to parliamentary debates and speeches. I distinctly recall this occasion because of the utter fear I felt when the Member came to me and asked me to prepare some notes for his contribution to writing a piece of legislation regarding the services provided by gynaecologists in Western Australia – that’s right, a 30-something, childless, unmarried man writing notes for the male member of the Opposition who would next week be leading his side’s debate on, umm, gynaecologists. Fortunately, the Member I worked for at the time is a good man and not egocentric or foolish enough to believe he could just stand up and “wing it” off the cuff.

So how valuable do you think the contribution of the Opposition would have been to that debate if it wasn’t for my ability to pick up the phone and talk to some representatives of both the doctors and patients of the people who would have had to work within the resulting legislation?

And as a Ministerial Chief of Staff, I have sat through no end of meetings with individuals who simply have no understanding of the process of government. Some of these people had great ideas but the only reason they were able to make a meaningful contribution was because they were accompanied by someone who understood both sides of fence – you guessed it, a lobbyist.

Indeed lobbyists provide an incredibly valuable service to the community.

Without them, Ministers who were Bus Drivers and School Teachers in their former lives would have no choice but to take the word of their departmental staff every time on every decision – sometimes regarding billions of dollars of public expenditure or the direction of legislation that impacts on the lives of hundreds of thousands of every day people.

And while I am a staunch defender of the professionalism of the majority of our public service, it is not too unkind to point out that sometimes they simply aren’t aware of the practical implications of their policy recommendations. That’s a for no other reason than the fact that they are not necessarily at the coalface every day – unlike those who represent individuals and industry, such as lobbyists and CEO’s of companies.

So why didn’t Colin just say that the Leader’s Forum provides a unique opportunity to hear the truth directly from people at the coalface about the direction the Government is taking? It’s obviously the perception that the money buys that guaranteed access – and I’m not going to insult QBF readers by suggesting it doesn’t. Of course it does.

Let’s stop the crap.

It’s messy, it smells a bit and it’s easy to pretend we didn’t know this happens while jumping up and down about how the wealthy get special favours, but the hard facts are that every cent is publicly declared as required by OUR law and both sides of politics do exactly the same thing.

And as unpopular as it might make me, I for one have the courage to publicly say thank goodness our political parties are being well funded (as long as it’s declared) and thank goodness business leaders are speaking directly to our political leaders.

But perhaps the ugliest truth of all is that even if the Western Australian public were given a chance to talk to the Premier about policy, most wouldn’t know where to start and many others would prefer to stay at home drinking their beer and watching football on their plasma TV’s than genuinely try to make our State a better place.

With friends like these…

Fatigue does a lot of strange things to people, but then again so does being shafted by slippery cowards. With that in mind, it’s hard to tell what was driving Upper House Liberal Liz Behjat late last night when she stood up to, um, “support” the Minister for Energy.

At 9:45pm, after a very long day in the comfy red chairs, the first termer chose to make a statement on Western Power and specifically in response to the committee report “Unassisted Failure” that had been discussed earlier in the day.

No big deal, just a backbencher supporting her ministerial colleague and self-declared friend. Yep, if only that was the end result. However, what Ms Behjat did do, was demonstrate some excellent research skills by dredging up comments made in the House by former ALP members and, well, end with this somewhat awkward point:

“He spoke those words 40 years ago, and nothing has changed! Western Power is still a law unto itself.”

Doh! That didn't come out right, or did it?

Whether it was a botched attempt to support the Minister or a very clever shot across his bow for his part in Ms Behjat’s recent pre-selection trauma, we may never know – but one thing is for sure… with friends like these, one probably doesn’t need half the enemies one has created for himself.

RfR 4 all (unless you’re a Liberal)

I got an email from another lovely anonymous person (I love those kind of emails) the other day who wanted to “correct” me on a number of assertions I have made in previous posts.

The core of this person’s grizzle was that I apparently had “no f#%^ing idea of the relationship between the Liberals and Nationals in Western Australia.”

Well, given the content of one of today’s wonderful anonymous tips, it looks like I will have to wear that criticism. It turns out that I didn’t know as much about the current state of the relationship as I thought. However, unfortunately for the author of last week’s “passionate” rant, today’s best anonymous email has suggested I actually don’t know how bad things are between the Government partners.

It seems there is a fair bit of Royalties for Regions “good news” (aka Nationals’ electioneering) being celebrated in the bush at the moment and not everyone is being invited to the ribbon cutting parties.

Actually, it might be more accurate to say that everyone other than Liberals are being invited…

I won’t go much further today, but let’s just say that the next few days might be very, very interesting in State politics – and depending on how it’s handled by those at the “highest levels of government” (sorry Peter but again, since this great interview, I just can’t stop using that wonderful phrase) we could have another independent Member of Parliament well before the next election.

If the brown stuff does hit the fan over this, it is nothing more than yet another consequence of this Government unnecessarily creating enemies from their former friends.

Watch this space.