[Apologies and hat tip to J. L. Austin]
Kerry O’Brien did the “tough questioning” thing on pensions tonight on the 7.30 Report, interviewing the PM. And Kevin Rudd gave a bit of a lesson to those who had ears to hear – Possum’s analysis of what he’s up to is spot on. And O’Brien demonstrated that journos are still obsessed with a narrative of uncovering spin that actually mystifies by exposing their own lack of appreciation of different styles of governance.
In short, it’s highly likely from everything that we know of him that Rudd is being entirely truthful in saying that he can’t fix all the problems of the world in one go, and that it was always envisaged that the Henry Report would assess the level and calculation of the pension, rather than there being some sort of scramble to address a problem that – *hello Kerry!* – hadn’t even been raised yet by anyone as a political headache for the government when Jenny Macklin made an announcement in the House about the specifics of the pension review.
A week might be a long time in politics, but it seems when it comes to posing questions, remembering that far back is too much trouble for Kerry O’Brien. For his information, far from Wayne Swan saying nothing about pensions in the budget, I noted at the time in my liveblogging post that Swan made specific references to pensioners in the speech, and a check of the transcript demonstrates that Swan devoted an entire section to pensioners and “older Australians” which included a specific pledge to review the indexation basis of the pension.
Since it’s based on an absolutely false premise, the only conclusion I can draw is that O’Brien’s line of questioning demonstrates ignorance of the facts, and a lazy preparedness to go with whatever script the opposition and the press gallery concoct between them in the face of the facts. It’s not as though they’re hard to find. Google “budget transcript swan” if you can’t find the Treasury website. Pathetic. I want today’s 8c back, please.
Not totally off topic, but still irrelevant to the post and anyone except me and those I was with (hi guys), I saw Kerry O’Brien at The Second Cup cafe in Market City (Haymarket in Sydney, just down the road from the ABC) and I was all like “Ooh, is that Kerry O’Brien? It is, it is Kerry O’Brien!” I tried to act all cool, giving him his space, “I’m sure he doesn’t want to be mobbed everywhere he goes” type of thing, but I still regret not asking him for his autograph.
/gush
Yes, there’s been a lot of hoohaa about the pension issue (including some nonsense in the Feral Hun about “TEH pensioner fury”!); but I can’t work out what the exact gripe is.
Didnt they just go up $500 or something, as well as (and probably more relevantly)being reviewied for a potentially wider overhaul?
Maybe Ive missed something. Havent followed it too closely.
It’s like after Mandela walked off Robbin Island. Expectations get set real high. I take it as a good sign that people have unrealistic expectations and are pissed off that Rudd hasn’t yet delivered us Nirvana. They recognise that he’s the one we’ve been waiting for. Now if only they’d show some patience.
Wait til Obama get’s in. People’ll really get over-excited. I know I will.
Lefty E, Tim Colebatch agrees.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/tim-colebatch/2008/05/19/1211182701251.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
‘ken old codgers!
Yeah, I suspected it might be rubbish after reading the confected outrage of the Hun, and noting the story was curiously fact-free, for a paper so angry about sumpthin.
I’m afraid that the brains of many journalists turned to blancmange during the Howard era. The constant barrage of spin, paternalism, arrogance and the drip feed of Ministerial Press releases took its toll even on the sainted Kerry. Don’t get me started on Tony Jones! I dread to think what his upcoming Q and A program will be like.
Kerry begrudgingly conceded in the 7.30 Report interview that pensions could be thought of as retirement incomes. Well, hello! As Kevin Rudd politely pointed out, “when you retire you either get a pension or you are a self-funded retiree”. Pretty simple concept to grasp. I too want my 8 cents refunded.
The interview was interesting for the disputed timing of the announcements and the rather brittle nature of Mr Rudd’s responses.
If Macklin inserted a review of income of the retired into the Henry report then they might as well ‘fess up and move on. Rather we have the round about answers and deflections and the aggrievated viasage of Mr Rudd unhappy to directly answer a question.
OK the pensioners got a few mentions and lots of spending will end up being used by these voters but they weren’t given any special treatment and as possibly the lowest income group in Australia they will now grissle away and mobilise as they can to redress this preceived shortcoming.
As an average voter I am pleased that television journalists pursue ‘gotcha” moments – the immediacy of the response in front of the cameras affords us an opportunity to see the politician under pressure and discomforted. If you want to read intensively and in depth on policy specifics then don’t expect TV journalists to deliver a commensurate knowledge or subtly of understanding.
Politicians operate in a public arena and dealing with this type of repetitive and simple question shouldn’t be a stress for them.
I daresay that the “I didn’t get anything from the budget” rhetoric we’ve been hearing lately is partially a result of previous budgets being stacked with electoral bribes. Rather than being a form of fiscal management, the budget became seen as ‘pocket money day’ by a large sector of the population – daddy opens the wallet and everybody wants a bit.
I’m still highly disturbed by the deafening silence on disability pensions. We don’t get the $500, btw.Sure we did get the utilities allowance and a small increase for being on the internet.But really, I don’t suppose I should worry too much. In one and a half years I’ll be on the aged pension and then I’ll get all that pensioner moolah,I suppose.
While Red Kezza didn’t exactly shine last night, he’s still one of Australia’s better journos. Most of them are even lazier.
At least he challenged Rudd over the means test on the PV rebate.
David: but nobody has been able to ask hard questions of Labor about the issue, because no journalist has bothered to get their head around the issue.
Paul, I’m not sure what you mean by “deafening silence”. A discussion paper has been released on overhauling the “welfare to work” changes of the Coalition, including the disability pension. It’s been reported in the Fin Review (and possibly elsewhere.)
There hasn’t been the same brouhaha from interest groups and pollies, but that doesn’t mean nothing is happening.
I thought Rudd performed badly. His argument that they can’t fix everything immediately is a good one. But he stuffed it up being grumpy and bad-tempered about it. He needs a bit more of a charm offensive.
It’s fascinating reading the difference between the Age and the OO on this. They’re dealing with the same information and interpreting it in acompletely opposite ways.
Indeed!
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23726970-601,00.html
Mark,
I didn’t see the Fin Review report.There’s been nothing in any of the other MSM.I checked the budget papers and apart from the utilities allowance etc, ther only thing I saw was that they were going to call more disabled pensioners for face to face questioning at Centrelink. While this might make for a very exhausting day, since I’d have to go into town especially for it, and take a pretty enervating walk once I got there as Centrelink is not exactly in the CBD in Armidale, despite it being close to the new Woolies monstrosity built on top of a once polluted gas works. None of that puts money in my pocket. I’m far too ill to work, and am well aware Centrelink would just cross me off as stuffed, but I’d still have to jump through the hoops to keep my pension.
Paul, check out:
http://www.workplace.gov.au/workplace/Publications/PolicyReviews/Employment%20Services%20Review/
Direct link to the Disability Employment Services Review discussion paper:
http://www.workplace.gov.au/workplace/Publications/PolicyReviews/EmploymentStrategy/NationalMentalHealthandDisabilityEmploymentStrategy.htm
From what I read, they’re trying to construct a more realistic set of expectations for people with disabilities in regard to entering work and I would imagine benefit levels would also be considered in the context of the Henry review.
If I get a chance, I’m going to do a post on this.
Paul down the road from me is rightfully concerned about prospects for him.And ,well,frankly,I am disgusted by some approaches in opinion here on this matter of aged pensions.Simply because Rudd says,he is to undergo a review of all these things,doesn’t necessitate ,for one moment,in these very moments before the review,that this doesn’t make conditions worse for aged pensioners.To assume it wont,is similar to assume it will,accept the later will be self-evident,where the former will not be so.Seeing an analysis of the word economy implies that one has a phenomena to ascribe that description,it then becomes apparent that the economy is a way of saying,looking at a series of figures and what they all mean. So, if, the suggestion of an increase in expenditure of $3 billion is real,when would this expenditure take place!? The answer to that is a complexity that the Feds could of taken advantage of,rather than seeing it as liability alone.I wont explain that,but monies would of flowed eventually into corporates,and,corporates can advance their tax measures to government fairly rapidly now!
“I thought Rudd performed badly. His argument that they can’t fix everything immediately is a good one. But he stuffed it up being grumpy and bad-tempered about it. He needs a bit more of a charm offensive.’
Agree. I thought Rudd was surly and in “how dare you question me’ mode. Surprising, because he’s usually much more deft.
Mark,
Thanks for that. Have saved the second link and will peruse it at my leisure, and perhaps make a submission.
In my case it probably won’t matter much because by the time all the stuff is brought in I’ll probably be less than a year off the aged pension. Still, I might be able, indirectly, to help some other people.
Looking forward to the post.
No probs, Paul.
Not the first time Rudd’s been in grumpy mode, Geoff. It may have something to do with the fact that he only sleeps a few hours a night.
“It may have something to do with the fact that he only sleeps a few hours a night.”
Like that other imperious pollie Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven?
Peter Beattie too. It must be a pollie thing.
Or not. I understand George W. Bush retires at 9.30 every evening and gets up around 6 though.
Yep – but of course it’s best that GWB doesn’t work the long hours most senior pollies do. Imagine how much more damage he could do to the world if he did
Rudd was certainly keen to make his point but I didn’t think he was particularly grumpy. I suspect that when he is actually grumpy then it is pretty clear.
I thought that Rudd was well on top of his brief and had every point well covered.
I was disappointed by Kerry’s line of questioning. It is highly likely that the Government was surprised by the pensioner issue opening up. Pensioners had after all recieved a pretty good result. Those who prepared the Budget Speech may not therefore have spent a lot of time covering the pensioner issue. You can’t fit everything in.
If Rudd continues like this he will make the journalists earn their money – and probably kill a few bureacrats who have to provide the briefs.
I find it fascinating that these disaffected pesioners have only now become so disaffected. They sat back and said SFA when the lying rodent was in charge of the kitty, and now they are suddenly expecting so much more,And have chosen to ignore the fact that they are $500p.a. better off under Labor.
I personally would find this new-found protest much more credible if they had challenged the former govt, rather than behaving like a bunch of dissafeceted liebral voters,who were too gutless to challenge their hero, which they probably were, and now expect Rudd to deliver what the lying rodent refused to.
Snap! Robynne B. This is what’s puzzled me. Why is everyone so outraged now? You’d think the government had cut their pensions by $500, instead of increasing them.
I also wondered if this sudden outburst of rage had more to do with the political affiliations of the protesters, than genuine concern. It reeks of beat-up by RWDBs, just like the carer bonus crap.
The other thing that sticks out like the proverbials in all the bleating about the presents people didn’t get in the budget, is that sense of entitlement to multi government hand-outs by everyone, but most particularly those who least need welfare.
Seems the addiction to pork-barrelling is going to be a very hard habit to break.
hey – this is a slightly belated comment and maybe should belong on an even older post. but i’ve been kind of thinking in the back of my mind about mark (?)’s comment that the media just don’t get that rudd isn’t spinning things, that maybe they should consider that he actually means what he says (shock! horror!)
and, then, for no easily to explain reason i was looking at this article by ross gittins from october last year today. which is mainly about the “me too ism” blah blah but starts with this:
hmm i think my brilliant plan to put a quote in there didn’t work. let’s try this one…