Michael Costa has taken a leaf out of Mark Latham’s book… Forced out of office and Parliament? Write op/eds attacking your former party!
LISTENING to Kevin Rudd at Council of Australian Governments meetings as he tried to connect the global economic situation to the more mundane items on the national reform agenda was often excruciating.
Anybody with a rudimentary understanding of economics would have quickly concluded, as I did, that the Prime Minister didn’t have a good understanding of these issues.
Can a tell all book be far behind? Would it need to be a three volume set to contain slurs on all the people Michael Costa doesn’t like?
Here’s a suggestion for the under-employed former pollie - why not join the Liberal Party? You’ve already got News Limited Columnists eating out of your hand (you actually are one too!)… And your right-wing views should see you fit in nicely. Perhaps with your added ruthlessness, you could spark endless speculation about Malcolm Turnbull’s polling and leadership and unlike the Great Pretender seize the top job by the power of the Word!
Take note owners of Loy Yang, Munmorah et al. Greenpeace activists admitted causing £30,000 damage to the chimney of coal fired plant in protest at plans to construct another one but were acquitted by a jury on the grounds that “they were legally justified because they were trying to prevent climate change causing greater damage to property around the world“. The decision has reverberated around the world, particularly down here. Continue reading ‘Climate Change and Electoral Politics - Local Edition …?’
The only question is why it took Morris Iemma so long to see what everyone else could see plainly. Apparently Paul Keating had a hand in the decision.
Update: Trevor Cook:
Costa is a loud-mouth political bully who screams and screeches like a two-year old when he doesn’t get his way. He held several portfolios without distinction. He is basically a blow-hard and ineffective politician who has spent his miserable career doing damage to the union movement, the NSW Government and the people of this state.
Update: Via Amanda in comments, there’s speculation that Iemma will be toppled too when caucus meets.
Update [dk.au]: Iemma resigns. Daily Telegraph
So, Barry O’Farrell and the Coalition rained on Morris Iemma’s privatisation parade. Now, the Dilemmster announces that he can still privatise the retailers and generation sites without parliamentary approval.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Iemma’s original argument some high sounding blather about the sovereignty of the people’s representatives in Parliament assembled and governing in the people’s interest not those of the unions and the party machine? Internal ALP democracy was supposed to give way to parliamentary democracy.
Pathetic. Contempt for his own party, the people of New South Wales and democratic institutions.
Hat tip: Chookie in comments.
Poor old Morris. He can’t take a trick. After cunningly switching the introduction of the electricity privatisation bills to the Upper House (to avoid the chance of a symbolic defeat in the House that actually determines government and presumably to unleash the persuasive charm of Michael Costa), now he’s finding to his surprise that his troops in the Liberal Party won’t do his bidding. Wtf? But it’s the logic of NSW state politics at the moment. Confused columnists at The Australian are also decrying the Liberals for doing something which is a political no brainer - going with public opinion rather than propping up Iemma. The “business community” might be unhappy, but on that see this post from Andrew Elder, who I think reads the politics somewhat better than Tim Dunlop does. Dunlop seems to have partially swallowed the “test of O’Farrell’s mettle” theme. I think it’s perfectly sensible, and indeed appropriate, for an opposition to oppose highly unpopular legislation which is misconceived anyway.
Update: A new post on Iemma’s latest move - dispensing with parliamentary democracy altogether.
What the hell is with the New South Wales government? Down here in Victoria, our state government is at least trying to grapple with serious issues like how we’re going to move ourselves around our rapidly growing state capital. Meanwhile, in New South Wales, the government seems to be far too busy fighting itself and the NSW union movement to do anything much. Not to mention backbenchers publicly slagging off the entire front bench.
About the only policy output coming out of them right now seems to be Treasurer Michael Costa running his mouth off at the Garnaut Review in The Oz. As typing is not activism points out, it’s moronic.
Is there any prospect whatsoever of the NSW Labor Party getting itself sorted out and concentrating on dealing with that state’s considerable economic and social problems at some point between now and the next election?
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