Larvatus Prodeo

One of the less profound books on Australian politics to be published over the last few years (and there’ve been a few) is Alison Rogers’ The Natasha Factor. Nevertheless, Rogers was Stott-Despoja’s press secretary and many of her insights are of interest. One that I remembered from my reading of the book last year was that Matt Price was one of the few journos Natasha felt gave her a good run. Price is now a columnist at The Australian, and because he has the “political humour” spot that George Megalogenis used to have, can get away with saying something interesting, unlike most of the highly predictable inhouse and op/ed Murdoch flagship columnists.

Interestingly, in light of recent prognostications at Troppo about the strange death of the Australian Democrats, Matt Price’s weekend column for The Oz might almost read as if it’s the first shot in Natasha’s campaign to take the leadership back:

Common sense tells you what should happen with the Democrats. Whatever her flaws, Stott Despoja is patently the best leadership option of the four surviving Mouseketeers. When irrelevance strikes on July 1, the depleted Democrats’ alleged legislative skills become essentially redundant. Any slim chance of survival depends on selling themselves in a cutthroat, competitive political marketplace.

Bob Brown provides the template for minor party success; the Greens have benefited enormously from the Tasmanian senator’s thick-skinned opportunism, relentless idealism and shameless media savvy. Allison may be a dedicated, hardworking parliamentarian, but her chances of rekindling the Democrats’ flame from the ashes of near extinction are remote.

My guess is that from July 1 the Mickey Mouseketeers will act as four independents. The Government fancies Murray as a kindred spirit and will court him for tight votes. Bartlett will champion refugees rights and environmental issues. Allison will try to cobble together some kind of united front.

Leaving Stott Despoja to tend to neo-Conrad-ical, indulge in her own political interests and ponder the senselessness of her demise … while trying hard not to laugh at her husband’s jokes.

Price’s references to the nicknames Stott-Despoja and her husband have given their young son, and his general “Natasha’s over the bitterness of her loss of the leadership but would accept a call to return” jive suggest, when read together with the statements about the close relationship between the journo and the pollie that Rogers makes, that Price’s column is based on conversations with either Stott-Despoja or a source close to her.

Andrew Bartlett did a good job restoring some unity to the fractured Demos, and maintained a reasonable public profile in his time as leader. But Lyn Allison is a zero as a leader in an age where the Democrats need to market their message through a crowded media.

Natasha Stott-Despoja is both a principled politician and an excellent communicator, and is tragically wasted languishing in effect on the backbenches of the Senate.

In the spirit of my previous campaign at Troppo for Gilly to lead the ALP, I’m going to take up the gauntlet Matt Price throws down, and launch the LP campaign to bring back Nat! The Democrats occupy a necessary political space in Australian politics, but as well as refining their message and philosophy, need a big L Leader to get it across to have any chance of surviving. Much as it goes against the grain of their participative, member-centred ethos, their only hope is to return to Natasha.