From today’s Crikey email:
When you have the spectacle of a Queensland Nationals Senator moving a motion citing the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, you know something really bizarre politically is going on.
Ron Boswell’s conversion to international human rights law and the UN (which Joh Bjelke-Petersen probably thought was all part of the international communist conspiracy) is, of course, the latest twist in the increasingly twisted Sunshine State local government amalgamation saga.
This brouhaha is now part of The War on the States rather than an issue to be considered on its merits.
And there are some strange discussions taking place in Rudd’s office, if Glenn Milne is to be believed.
A trial balloon was floated in Milne’s column in The Australian:
Now though, there are elements within the Queensland ALP that also want Rudd to act. As they watch the party bleeding on the ground and the election drawing ever closer there are some who believe Rudd should not only take Beattie on, but that he should use the party’s own rules and platform to do so.
Milne goes on to outline a rather tortuous strategy whereby Rudd could convene a meeting of Labor’s national executive to overturn Beattie’s decision – using a combination of pledges in the ALP platform and federal party rules.
Milne’s leakers also seem to have bought into a conspiracy theory that Beattie is trying to undermine Rudd so as to fly in to Canberra after a Howard win to be the ALP’s saviour.
This is nonsense.
Beattie’s statement on the weekend that he wasn’t about to depart in a few months was directed at Howard. He’s trying to keep his adversaries off side, and off balance. The likelihood is still that he will be gone next year, but not to Canberra.
The Ruddsters appear to be unclear as to whether they should be campaigning against Beattie or Howard. The proposition that the ALP’s machine could be used to overturn a democratic decision of the Queensland Parliament should give pause to those who think this would be a master stroke in the defence of local democracy. Thirty-six faceless men and all that…
It would also be a neat way to actually start a war with Beattie.
One imagines saner counsels will prevail, but Howard may have unwittingly exposed another flaw in Rudd’s armour — and not the one he hoped to provoke with this wedge. Rudd’s office is heavy with policy wonks and media spinsters but light on hard headed political strategists – and this has just been demonstrated by the silliness revealed in Milne’s column.
The incident also demonstrates the continued nervousness in the federal ALP camp about the election. Beazley’s leadership, denials notwithstanding, was premised on a two-election strategy. A Rudd defeat would call into question his leadership – since he has given so much promise that victory is around the corner.
Team Kevin07 should learn to hold its nerve.
These people make a bloke laugh. Boswell is a member of a government that gleefully tramples over human rights as a matter of poicy- a government full of what Kim Beasley described as “pathological specimens”.
I’d have a some respect for Boswell if he was urging this to counter his own government’s appalling and self serving response to the Little Children “Emergency”, but this is typical fascist rubbish.
It is just propaganda noise and atention seeking.
Good analysis, Mark. Beattie has been preparing to hand over to Anna Bligh for the past year, as most of QLD knows, and he is looking increasingly tired on TV. He only insisted he was not going anywhere because Howard pressured him to do so, but of course that’s bloody hypocritical nonsense from a man in Howard’s shoes.
Howard hasn’t been able to lay a glove on Rudd, so now he is trying to make the election a wedge issue choice of Federal Liberal versus State Labour. Of course that is a typically bogus choice – anyone who really wants to see better co-operation between Federal and State governments should probably vote for Rudd, and give him a chance to work things out amicably with the Labor states.
All the more reason why Rudd and Beattie should avoid any public confrontation, of course.
The ALP National Executive can make any resolution it wishes, but it has no power over the Qld Parliament. I doubt that it would risk a war with the Qld government and the expulsion of Peter Beattie especially before the federal election! No, it’d be much better for Rudd to come out strongly against forced amalgamations and sheet the blame home to Peter Beattie.
It would be far better for Mr Rudd to tell the truth, and say that Council amalgamations are strictly a State issue, since Howard campaigned for this very thing in the late 1980s in the Referendum which failed to give Local Government Constitutional recognition. Mr Howard was also conspicuously silent during the time Kennett rammed home who was boss cocky in Victoria in the early 1990s. While this is no argument for a state government being high handed about these matters, some not so old history could be given an outing here.
The whole thing is a complete beat up, and the ALP should go after Howard like a rat up a drainpipe. Most people couldn’t give a rats about local government boundaries. It is the National Party wannabees who get their political stripes in local government in Qld who care. Beattie’s only mistake was to sound ‘high handed’ on the issue of a vote. He should let the Federal government pay for a ‘referendum’ if that is what the local worthies want. It would be ‘voluntary voting’ and the outcomes would likely be ambiguous as a result. The Queensland Parliament was and is entirely within their rights to do what they are doing, and everyone knows it. If any of those tyros from NSW ALP now in Rudd’s office mess with this, a classic Howard ‘war on everything that moves’ feint, they should have their heads cut off.
Which ad company does all those state-chauvinist XXXX ads that are never shown south of Coolangatta? If Labor hired them to do their ads – again, nothing south of the Tweed – you’d have shots of the outback, shots of the reef and surf, shots of tropical bush, rugged Aussie blokes laughing and spunky chicks in bikinis looking langurously at camera. Cut to shot of Rudd and Swan in smart casual with, say, marone polo shirts, surrounded by ALP candidates. Suggested taglines:
* Vote for Queensland
* If only Australia was more like Queensland
* Let’s do things our way, Queensland
* etc.
They’d romp it in.
Any reason why Qld Labor haven’t made more of Wally Lewis? I thought he’d at least be a minister by now, if not making numerous assurances that the Premier has my full support for the time being, etc.
Isn’t Wally Lewis recovering from an operation? I recall Wally saying about a decade ago that he would be quite happy to be a labor pollie.
…. if Glenn Milne is to be believed.
Now why would you go and do a silly thing like that?
Mark, I don’t think there’s any substance at all in this.
It’s just a typical Milne beat up, probably cooked up over a few bottles of red on the back veranda of Kiribilly.
Most of it is outright fiction, no, so-called Labor sources are named and I can’t think of anyone from the Labor side who would go out of their way to feed information to Milne of all people.
There would have to be some sort of angle to it to hand the wedge back to Howard and I can’t for the life of me see that there is any need for that. Howard could more than probably wedge himself providing there is no response to it from the Labor side.
The dead giveaway is the suggestion of Beattie planning a “Joe for Canberra” type campaign. That is just plainly ridiculous in the extreme.
Looks like the local Libs are circling in the water and prepared to torpedo the hopes of Noosa residents and current Liberal Members of Parliament in one foul swoop.
Councils to appeal for PM’s intervention
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/councils-to-appeal-for-pms-intervention/2007/08/14/1186857471106.html
Looks like the Mayor of Emerald thinks Howard can just jump in and over-rule Queensland Constitutional powers.
Also it seems they are now suddenly having second thoughts on opposing the 1998 Referendum.
Scorpio, no, I think you’re wrong. There are certainly people in the Queensland ALP I’ve talked to who understand that Milne did receive a genuine leak from Ruddites.
Oh hell!
They’re not on recycled water up there yet are they.
Common sense and communication seeme to get somewhat lost at times it appears.
Oh well, it will probably confuse the Howard bunker somewhat. They won’t know quite how to insert the wedge or where.
I’m more worried about the Rudd bunker.
amused’s comment above is spot on.
Perhaps Keating was right after all.
I re-read amused’s comment and I have to agree with you.
The in-experience the Libs are pushing at present might well be that of the “operatives” in the Bunker.
This will be good experience for them though, show them that they underestimate the old warhorse at their peril.
Looks as though it’s even worse now.
Rudd’s been blamed for the “drought” in South East queensland now.
That was one of their earliest attacks on Rudd from December last year. Recycled!
Amused has the whole solution in a nutshell. Rudd and Howard should both know better than to buy into the issue and both stand to be tarnished by sticking their nose in.
Howard has more to lose than Rudd because of the nasty splits that developed in conservative ranks in State Parliament last week. Word is that Both Liberal Leader and Deputy Leader are to be replaced by Nicholls and Stevens. It is amazing that there still hasn’t been an official announcement from the Queensland Liberals this week about who the Leadership team is at present.
What was with that story about Messenger getting into Flegg at a joint party room meeting last week. Messenger was never in a leadership position that I have ever heard of . It appears that the rabble is back to it’s infighting best.
Joan Sheldon jumping is likely to muddy the waters a little and blunt Howard’s scheme a bit.
Insight is on at the moment and seems a little stacked against Maxine.
I feel a bit better now. Howard was his usual evasive self and came across as nervous and out of touch.
Mark on 14 August 2007 at 7:34 pm
That cheeky Maria Hawthorne from News Ltd PerthNow used it today.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,22245538-5005361,00.html
The forum on SBS with Maxine & Howard and Bennelong crowd was interesting. The swinging voters and even some of the liberal supporters seemed to be swayed towards Labor. If any Bennelong people were watching [and I am sure many were]. The thing that turned them I believe was the polished performance and explanation of Maxine. In the end one so called ’swinging voter’ (though I suspect he was a pretty much liberal) ended up saying he might not vote Labor because he was worried about a landslide.
In the end I think the forum actually helped Maxine quite a bit.
I wonder how Howard and Rudd will go together.
Just bdid a post on Poll Bludger on the same issue.
The way he is travelling at present, Howard may chicken out altogether on a one on one debate.
He has got everything to lose and nothing to gain by a debate.
I know I am a sort of redneck,but,I cannot help but think Beattie Rudd and Howard are acting like gamblers..confusing the horses as racetrack ones. Cutting off their faces despite their noses on all matters future. Even GM foods seemed to of come out of some stall with canola being proffered as likely.This country,and maybe Queensland needs to regain its soberness..a lot of false and misleading claims going in all directions about the future…when this stuff happens the most intelligent and reliable and trustworthy appraisal has to take place. Because Queensland as horse is more intelligent than what the backers may claim its high intelligence is!. Be careful here,about which side you pick,because,to mischaracterise is actually worse than characterising. Revolutions of a centreing of power for the common good and not springing from them is a bad well to draw the requirement from. Howard has to be careful too,he is just overwhelmingly past the use by date..he has inflicted on the general populace. Beattie maybe in a diabolical position he hasnt yet recognised,good design implies a readiness to accept it. The true Queenslanders has to step forward,or dare being lost in a Brisbane crowd…that obviously has pains and troubles of its own..it is raining quite heavily as I type, Tyringham. N.S.W. If committees are still claiming distance is still a problem for exporting requirements,then plainly,as much as that maybe an issue in itself,those in anyway dependent on Councils are then competing for whatever services are available in the population nodes as in council areas now.They will be having to find new sources of money,and at the moment seem to want assurance from the Federal level for major projects..but it will be services delivery that will remain the most important one,and major projects if outside the usual… mean the local councils are involved in the Gambol.This surely then means Government itself needs more than iconic financing overhaul. Its been harder on Australians, than the service delivery notes of government communications on all levels..including what has been happening in Queensland. Be careful as stated,there is another day soon.
If Howard tried to debate Maxine in the same location, he’d look like her grandfather. Probably not a wise move.
Google News Australia has 76 News articles on the Costello Leadership issue.
Liberal leadership tensions to erupt
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Liberal-leadership-tensions-to-erupt/2007/08/14/1186857508937.html
Folks, can I please ask people not to leave comments about political developments on threads which have a specific topic? That’s what the Saturday Salon open thread is for. If anyone still wishes to discuss the specific material canvassed in this post, it really does disrupt the flow of the conversation.
Yeah, sorry Mark.
I get carried away sometimes when things develop and try to point them out to people who might miss them.
Costello will now not be supported to take over the leadership so he will quit after the election. Howard is going to quit after the election as well. The next ‘Howard’ government will not have Howard or Costello.
That lets loose people like Andrews, Downer, Abbott, Coonan.. ;o
I don’t know what help Howard is going to be to the rebel Queensland Councils now though?
He is liable to be pretty busy trying to shore up his own position, let alone try and pull the Queensland Libs into some sort of coherent action to support what ever it is he had in mind to wedge the issue .
The likes of Joan Sheldon and I presume there would be others, jockeying for position on the new “Super Councils” will only make his job harder.
Self interest is a mighty strong motivator.
Boswell’s rhetoric is not just bizarre/hypocritical. It’s unnecessary. Howard can use the name of the Commonwealth to contract with the AEC to run a general plebiscite on council amalgamations. And he can time it with the general election.
Either (both) governments are poorly legally informed, or Howard is baulking at doing this without the fig-leaf of Council requests/cooperation, and just wants to play this as an ongoing political debate.
Philip, a lot of the carrying on in Queensland at present is just heat and pressure because of the proximity of the Federal Election. Secondly the Nationals are a dying force in Queensland and they are using the council Amalgamation issue to rally their troops. See the clarity with with Boswell sees the Queensland issues but the blindness when the same process is occurring in the war on the Northern Territory.
The appraisal so far from the MSM has been anything but intelligent, reliable or trustworthy. It all seems to centre on how damaged Rudd will be while Howard’s self inflicted damage is ignored.
Interesting things Councils,I for the life of me can see why junking the Councils is such a problem,I wish they would junk all the Councils in Perth that good king Richard imposed on the ratepayers,why one Council cant run Perth has me beat.
Would it not mean less Mayors CEOs and hangers on save money in fact,maybe I,m wrong
Just read the story of Joan Sheldon expressing interest in being the Mayor of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council.
I wonder if Yvonne Chapmann wants to be the Mayor of the new North Moreton Regional Council?
That is what we have in Brisbane but out west they want one council to run a few hundred people. That is why the Nats are pushing it, mayors are the Kindergarten of Queensland Gnatworld.
From April 2008, only five councils will cover the Brisbane metropolitan region. It’d be interesting to compare how the larger Brisbane metropolitan councils perform, collectively and individually, relative to how a large collection of small suburban councils perform, e.g. in Perth or Sydney. Peth may be a better city thatn Sydney with which to compare the council performances due to similar populations.
A Rudd vs. Beattie stoush might work…give the swing voters who can’t stand Beattie (like my Mother-in-law) the sense that Rudd is ‘his own man’ & won’t cop heavy handed, seemingly undemocratic approaches from State premiers, regardless of the Party they sit in. I like Beattie, but he has been heavy handed on this occasion…a softening of his approach might help. However, if Rudd takes on Beattie too forcefully then it could backfire. A little argy bargy between Fed & States never hurts if both Leaders look strong & decisive…& rational.
I think that a reduction of 774 politicians is a good thing. As a wit in the local paper (QT/Ipswich) said after the announcement, ‘once the new councils are up and running we can abolish the state government and we’ll be right’.
Looks like Howard is going to introduce legislation to ensure the war continues.
Legal eagles, can the commonwealth legislate to do this?
On a tangentially related topic, the City of Sydney is planning on holding a local referendum at the next council elections (September 2008) on whether wards should be introduced and people were not optimistic about the Governor-General agreeing to hold such a referendum in conjunction with the federal election. Clover Moore in fact was using this as a reason to not hold the referendum until the next council elections, with the effect that wards could be introduced at the 2012 council elections at the earliest.
If the commonwealth is going to allow council plebiscites at the federal election, it would make sense for the commonwealth to allow a local plebscite in the City of Sydney on the question of whether wards should be introduced.
And Howard’s Wedge has failed
Mr Rudd called a press conference shortly afterwards to announce that federal Labor would back the law changes in Parliament and would move to let the Government introduce the necessary legislation as early as today.
“When it comes to the imposition of fines, or the threat of fines, and the making it illegal for local authorities to test the sentiments of their local voters if they so wish, I disagree with those courses of action on the part of Mr Beattie,” he said.
“Therefore the course of action outlined by Mr Howard, I’m prepared to support.”
How Democratic of John Howard. How about we get to vote on a few things at the Federal election. For instance:
Should we withdraw all Australian troops from Iraq within 3 months of the election?
Should we sell uranium to India or any other Nation if they haven’t signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)and are not a member of the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT)?
Should the Australian Government ratify the Kyoto Treaty?
Should citizens be able to enroll to vote up until 48 hours prior to an election?
Let Democracy bloom…:)…be a change for this Federal Govt.
I wonder if Howard would deny funding for these plebiscites if the States put those proposals forward ?
The Howard Government spent years encouraging the States to implement local government amalgamations and, even suggested that a point might be reached at which the Commonwealth would reduce funding if unviable councils were allowed to continue to exist.
Howard must think the Australian electorate is stupid.
Some of us even made submissions to a Federal Government inquiry looking into this and other local government issues.
John Winston Howard is becoming a walking bad joke.
Victorian Local Government Association account of their experience.
Looks like the High Court for this wedge attempt.