Darron CharlesworthLabor reaps its own reward
August 21st 2010 21:06
Category: No Category
With the result of yesterday’s election still hanging in the balance one thing is absolutely clear – Labor has lost its majority. Next comes the inevitable blame game. Who was at fault? Where did it go wrong?
Granted the campaign did not go well for Labor. The damage done to Gillard from internal leaks may prove to have been the final nail in Labor’s coffin. But do not think that that is the cause of the defeat – oh no. The performance of Labor over the past term was what sank the party this time around. By the time the campaign came around Labor was already on life-support.
Over all there was a wholesale failure of Labor to deliver: on anything. Their key policies were either scraped or botched. The commitment of the party was nowhere in sight. The spin which had served Labor so well fell down because, sooner or later, action is required to back that spin up. Talk, talk and more talk is not what the people want. They want to see leadership, they want to see action, the want strong decision making backed up with sound policy effectively delivered.
In this last Labor term there was none of that.
Poorly constructed policy rushed out to appease the masses resulted in catastrophic failures which provided the opposite result. The ‘Building the Education Revolution’ (BER) was seen as inefficient and delivered pointless projects to places they were not needed. Dismal management led to widespread rorting and wasteful implementation. As this was the domain of the newly appointed PM – Julia Gillard – it is unsurprising that her competence was questioned by the Liberals.
The insulation installation initiative was another highly publicised failure. The former minister in charge of this project – Peter Garrett – failed to heed advice which led to tragic consequences. The total cost of this failure has yet to be measured as repairs and inspections are still underway. Doubtless though the cost will run into many millions before it is finished.
The promised construction of over 200 Child Care centres was withdrawn. Citing them as unnecessary this was poor comfort to the hundreds of families unable to find places for their children so they can work longer or at all.
The list goes on but you get the picture. Promise after promise was broken. The billions thrown at the Global Financial Crises is still being questioned. Many economists and commentators are unconvinced the spend was necessary. The public therefore remains dubious to the merits of the rescue package.
Then came the final insult – the shelving of the emission trading platform on which Labor collected many hopeful votes. It is highly probable that this was the single issue which mortally wounded Labor.
This is not to say that emission trading alone caused Labor’s woes. Far from it. What this did though was undermine what little credibility the government had left. They were seen as uncommitted. Unable to deliver. A government plagued by popularism but without vision, passion or belief.
Almost as one the public turned their back on Labor and stopped listening. From this point on nothing that was said would be believed by an increasingly cynical public.
When the dust has settled and the final results of Election 2010 are in Labor can look back and remember that the result was its own doing. The party drove itself to defeat. The opposition merely sat back and enjoyed the ride. There was nothing for them to do other than keep quiet and not say anything stupid. Labor took care of the rest for them.
So when Labor looks for blame there may be one or two stand out players. Holistically though each member of the party can look in the mirror and say “I failed”. Brings into question the wisdom of following the party line. Labor lemmings we salute you.
Granted the campaign did not go well for Labor. The damage done to Gillard from internal leaks may prove to have been the final nail in Labor’s coffin. But do not think that that is the cause of the defeat – oh no. The performance of Labor over the past term was what sank the party this time around. By the time the campaign came around Labor was already on life-support.
Over all there was a wholesale failure of Labor to deliver: on anything. Their key policies were either scraped or botched. The commitment of the party was nowhere in sight. The spin which had served Labor so well fell down because, sooner or later, action is required to back that spin up. Talk, talk and more talk is not what the people want. They want to see leadership, they want to see action, the want strong decision making backed up with sound policy effectively delivered.
In this last Labor term there was none of that.
Poorly constructed policy rushed out to appease the masses resulted in catastrophic failures which provided the opposite result. The ‘Building the Education Revolution’ (BER) was seen as inefficient and delivered pointless projects to places they were not needed. Dismal management led to widespread rorting and wasteful implementation. As this was the domain of the newly appointed PM – Julia Gillard – it is unsurprising that her competence was questioned by the Liberals.
The insulation installation initiative was another highly publicised failure. The former minister in charge of this project – Peter Garrett – failed to heed advice which led to tragic consequences. The total cost of this failure has yet to be measured as repairs and inspections are still underway. Doubtless though the cost will run into many millions before it is finished.
The promised construction of over 200 Child Care centres was withdrawn. Citing them as unnecessary this was poor comfort to the hundreds of families unable to find places for their children so they can work longer or at all.
The list goes on but you get the picture. Promise after promise was broken. The billions thrown at the Global Financial Crises is still being questioned. Many economists and commentators are unconvinced the spend was necessary. The public therefore remains dubious to the merits of the rescue package.
Then came the final insult – the shelving of the emission trading platform on which Labor collected many hopeful votes. It is highly probable that this was the single issue which mortally wounded Labor.
This is not to say that emission trading alone caused Labor’s woes. Far from it. What this did though was undermine what little credibility the government had left. They were seen as uncommitted. Unable to deliver. A government plagued by popularism but without vision, passion or belief.
Almost as one the public turned their back on Labor and stopped listening. From this point on nothing that was said would be believed by an increasingly cynical public.
When the dust has settled and the final results of Election 2010 are in Labor can look back and remember that the result was its own doing. The party drove itself to defeat. The opposition merely sat back and enjoyed the ride. There was nothing for them to do other than keep quiet and not say anything stupid. Labor took care of the rest for them.
So when Labor looks for blame there may be one or two stand out players. Holistically though each member of the party can look in the mirror and say “I failed”. Brings into question the wisdom of following the party line. Labor lemmings we salute you.
| 60 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
