Look this is a waste of time, I know. it was clear from early yesterday morning that the mainstream media was pushing the line that (a) Gillard was selected by the “backroom boys” the “faceless men” (a phrase I haven’t seen used in over 40 years since Whitlam changed the Labor Party structure), and (b) that the “people didn’t vote for her as PM”. I’m not sure whether they were pushing these narratives out of ignorance or as a deliberate start to a campaign to de-legitimise a PM who will prevent the natural party of government coming back to power.
The public is being bamboozled, not being told that, whoever got things moving, all 115 Labor parliamentary members voted on the issue. These are people elected by their constituents, not backroom boys. In fact the only backroom boys playing a part seemed to be the PM’s staff, which I know doesn’t fit the MSM narrative.
People also need to understand that we have a parliamentary democracy not a presidential one. People vote for a local member, not a PM. The party with the most local members forms government. Those elected members choose the leader of the party, who becomes PM if the party is in government, Opposition leader if not. The “people” have no say, have never had any say, in who becomes PM (if Howard had won last time, and handed over to Costello, would the people have “chosen” Costello? If the Liberals had won, but Howard had still lost Bennelong, the Liberal Party would have chosen a new leader – the “people” except those of Bennelong” would have had no say in that process).
Oh and if you see Tony Abbott remind him that he, Tony, came to power after back-stabbing Malcolm, who in turn white-anted Nelson, and further back we had the whole sequence of Howard, Hewson, Downer, Peacock, Howard and so on. And before that Gorton, a PM, being shafted by his own (Liberal) Party
The biased nature of the reporting on what actually happened yesterday reached new depths. And if people don’t understand history, and their own political system, they are wide open to having their ideas massaged by those who do not have the public interest at heart.
You almost have it right. I am aware of what happens. Examples of “leaders” jockeying for position in opposition are one thing; respect for the office and standing of prime minister is another. You were right to quote McMahon shafting Gorton and the voters punished that.
Hi Ides of June. I am not sure that the voters would have “punished” the Liberals in 1972 if it hadn’t been McMahon who replaced Gorton, but a charismatic vigorous intelligent Liberal leader (if that isn’t an oxymoron). There was also, more importantly, the “It’s time” factor. Worth remembering too that the voters didn’t punish Keating for replacing the still popular Hawke; and it’s interesting to speculate whether they would have punished the Liberals if Costello had replaced Howard in that attempted coup. The fact remains though that in reality voters don’t choose PMs, members of their party do, for better or worse.
Good point. But … if we can flatter each other, some of us go deeper into all this. I realise that the PMs are chosen by their parties but I am addressing – once that is done, what respect do you then hold for that office. Hawke hung in there and reneged and sullied the position, so did Howard. I voted for Keating. Assassinations are another, I voted for Whitlam in 1972 and and 1975 with two different but related reasons to this idea playing part of my decisions. This present action is another assassination of a PM. If Julia, who I admire, was really a friend/deputy she would have spent a lot of effort to try to convince Rudd what he was doing wrong. She wanted the job first. The admiration has lessened.
Yeah, I dunno whether “respect” is quite the concept involved in this or other cases. If party members decide that their leader is no longer deliver the goods, and can no longer deliver victory, then what do they do? The closest analogy is the meetings that senior LIberals had in 2007 to contemplate forcing Howard to stand aside. There was no consideration of respect for the office. If Howard and Costello had been different people then we would have had a pretty exact analogy to what happened yesterday, and if Costello had gone on to win in 2007, against the odds, there would have been no talk by Abbott of backstabbing or respect for the office. In a sense being PM is a job like any other, its just that the criteria for unsatisfactory performance are a little different to say the CEO of a big company. The shareholders in the PM case are the members of parliament whose well-being depends on the performance of the leader.
I am also wary of the America style “Respect for the Office” idea (although it doesn’t, apparently, apply to Democratic presidents now). It seems to me that creating a kind of pseudo-king (or queen) of what is just a first among equals politician, is a recipe for loss of democratic process.
The MSM, for purely selfish reasons, will try to bring Julia down and get Howard’s clone, Abbot, elected.
This must be stopped otherwise democracy in Australia will die (assuming it’s not already dead).
Agreed David. I’m sure they thought that they had already set the skids under Rudd and the election was a formality. They will have to work quickly on Gillard. But the sound of numerous women on vox pops, even in Griffith electorate, saying “you go girl”, and the astonishing sound of Jessica Rowe absolutely delighted about Gillard being PM and telling David Koch she wanted to “talk about it some more”, makes me think the MSM might have a tough job.
When I first heard of the impending coup I thought it was a stupid tactic and would hand the election to ….it hurts to type the name, jeez the man is so offensive … Abbott.
Even tho’ I admire the personal qualities of Gillard, easily the most consumnate politician in Australia, I am extremely mindful that the coup was managed by ultra right turkeys and the culmination of a media campaign to smear a generally competent [by the low standards we employ in this country] government. Certainly far far superior to the prior govt and equally or more superior, particularly in an ethical sense, to the alternative Abbott [yuk, there's that name again] COALition.
Now will Gillard deliver the ‘goods’?
Before the election and, hopefully, after?
Of course not.
She/Rudd/the ALP can’t whilst vested interests, corporate Australia and MNCs and the Murdoch led MSM continue to run both the economy and the politics of this country.
Can she deliver a satisfactory [?] modicum of democracy and policy despite the lowered expectations that include the minimal power of any govt.?
Is she more likely to be able to do so than Rudd?
I think, I hope, the answer is ‘yes’.
Hi Fred, I have high hopes for her, but I have to say that backing down to the mining industry isn’t a great start, and it sets a terrible precedent for any government trying to govern that wants to take on some business group. All the group has to do is run a media campaign and hey presto – no tax increase, no regulation, no competition, no ceiling on executive salaries, no environmental concern, whatever. The mining industry has now established a benchmark by which business is beyond politics.
But I find it hard to imagine a descendant of Welsh miners is really pro mine owners.
The constant media comment about how she was given the job by Arbib and co seems to me bizarre. They couldn’t have given her the job if the great majority of the parliamentary Labor Party wasn’t in favour of the move. You can’t have a coup if nobody comes. I thought the most revealing interview before the vote was Kate Ellis – obviously upset, but she said that every Labor parliamentarian was being hammered in their electorates by unhappy constituents. This is why the change happened and so quickly, not because Mark Arbib was heavying people.
Gidday David,
Yes but …..
And so on.
I dunno, I’m hopeful, I think.
I’m not sure if I’m optimistic or pessimistic or realistic or cynicistic [just to continue the 'istic'].
I admire Julia, I don’t particularly admire the ALP.
I’m also suspicious of Julia, teacher bashing [who the hell got into her ear over the shambles of an idea of grading schools ..no need to tell me cos I know, it was rhetorical] for example.
On the other hand if anyone can steer the RSPT,ETS [of some sort] and others, through the swamp then she is the person.
I’ve got my fingers crossed.
Oh and re Ellis’s comments, I pay scant attention to the mail received by pollies, and so should they.
Firstly, it’s easily orchestrated. You have been a candidate and doubtless received stuff from some way out mobs, Festival of Light, Right to Life , Minchin and Bernadi bragging how they inundated the Libs with anti-Turnbull/climate denialism stuff.
Secondly its the job of the pollie to respond to such, to explain and educate, not to just throw their hands in the air and panic.
Thirdly, that stuff is not going to go away, its going to continue in one guise or another on this and other issues now and in the future.
The overriding characteristic of the ALP, in my experience, is fear.
Straight out of “Yes Minister’s” that’s a courageous decision” scenario type fear.
If they get rid of that fear maybe I’ll vote for them again.
Fred, the alternative to Julia is to vote for Abbot. That’s like being caught between a small sandstone boulder and an Everest-sized lump of titanium.
Julia is the goods!