Power attracts Talent
November 27th 2006 12:21
The re-election of the Bracks Labor Government on Saturday night has highlighted a problem for both major political parties. For the Liberals it has shown the absolute lack of talent and leadership of their State parliamentary and organisational members and for Labor it has reinforced the power of incumbency.
Why is this so? I believe it has shown a fundamental problem for both parties and that is people attracted to politics want to be where the power is. Sitting on the benches of a party in opposition is not that place.
Any Liberal would-be candidate doesn’t want to be stuck wandering around in the opposition side of the chamber unable to affect any change and unable to get anyone to listen to any ideas or opinions they may have. The talented ones want to be out being heard and implementing legislation.
Where can they do that? Federal politics of course. Did Malcom Turnball or Andrew Robb chose to run for state seats in their respective states? No! They went where the action was and that was federal politics leaving their state parties to select from a group of policy bereft and seat warming party hacks and wannabees to fill the seats of opposition.
Former Victorian liberal opposition leader Robert Doyle was quoted on the weekend as saying that some Liberal Shadow Ministers had spent only 10 hours in their four years in opposition in developing policy. is it any wonder they continue to get passed over election after election yet people are still prepared to vote Liberal when it comes to federal politics.
The same can be said for Labor. What does a talented and ambitious Labor candidate want? Do they opt for years of cold Canberra winters languishing on the opposition side of the chamber obsessed with petty factional carve ups of the few measly positions available or do they head to state politics with its smell of ministerial leather and the ability to put ones mark on areas of actual policy in progress.
Often names are put of labor state heavies (two that come to mind have been Carr and Beattie) being touted as being star recruits to Federal politics but the answer is always why would they bother. Victoria is a good example of this with star millionaire internet recruit Evan Thornley opting to go for an upper house seat in the Victorian parliament rather then running for a federal seat.
This is not just a parliamentarian belief but even the back room advisers and machine politics lackeys want to be wandering around in the corridors of power and not slinking around the dark and lonely back blocks of opposition.
For the Liberals it seems it will take a defeat federally to send much of its talent scurrying off to their respective state parliaments and organisations. For Labor it will probably take a Federal Labor Leader who will inspire its talent to believe that a change of Government is a real possibility and with Big Kim hanging round it certainly is not going to happen anytime soon.
Why is this so? I believe it has shown a fundamental problem for both parties and that is people attracted to politics want to be where the power is. Sitting on the benches of a party in opposition is not that place.
Any Liberal would-be candidate doesn’t want to be stuck wandering around in the opposition side of the chamber unable to affect any change and unable to get anyone to listen to any ideas or opinions they may have. The talented ones want to be out being heard and implementing legislation.
Where can they do that? Federal politics of course. Did Malcom Turnball or Andrew Robb chose to run for state seats in their respective states? No! They went where the action was and that was federal politics leaving their state parties to select from a group of policy bereft and seat warming party hacks and wannabees to fill the seats of opposition.
Former Victorian liberal opposition leader Robert Doyle was quoted on the weekend as saying that some Liberal Shadow Ministers had spent only 10 hours in their four years in opposition in developing policy. is it any wonder they continue to get passed over election after election yet people are still prepared to vote Liberal when it comes to federal politics.
The same can be said for Labor. What does a talented and ambitious Labor candidate want? Do they opt for years of cold Canberra winters languishing on the opposition side of the chamber obsessed with petty factional carve ups of the few measly positions available or do they head to state politics with its smell of ministerial leather and the ability to put ones mark on areas of actual policy in progress.
Often names are put of labor state heavies (two that come to mind have been Carr and Beattie) being touted as being star recruits to Federal politics but the answer is always why would they bother. Victoria is a good example of this with star millionaire internet recruit Evan Thornley opting to go for an upper house seat in the Victorian parliament rather then running for a federal seat.
This is not just a parliamentarian belief but even the back room advisers and machine politics lackeys want to be wandering around in the corridors of power and not slinking around the dark and lonely back blocks of opposition.
For the Liberals it seems it will take a defeat federally to send much of its talent scurrying off to their respective state parliaments and organisations. For Labor it will probably take a Federal Labor Leader who will inspire its talent to believe that a change of Government is a real possibility and with Big Kim hanging round it certainly is not going to happen anytime soon.
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