Labor's Implosion
Can someone please tell the Labor party to quit its bickering?
It seems that since the beginning of the election campaign, Labor has slowly self destructed in front of the nation.
From the moment the faceless NSW powerbrokers instructed the first mate to plunge the knife into the Captain of the good ship Labor, the ALP has been a constant source of infighting, disunity and conflict.
From the leaks early on, to the elephant in the room that was Kevin Rudd, to the call for a citizens’ assembly and the insulting suggestion that finally the Western Sydney Epping – Paramatta rail link, which has been promised by Labor governments for years, would be constructed; we saw very little of anything that resembled clear, concise policy that would move Australia forward.
And yet Labor is currently the marginal favourite to form the minority government, with two of the three independents appearing to be leaning in Labor’s favor.
Despite this, the sharks are already circling Gillard and they are coming at her from her own party.
Reports this week suggest the son-in-law of Governor General Quentin Bryce and Trade Union Champion Bill Shorten is the man to watch in Labor circles with many touting him as Gillard’s replacement.
So while Julia Gillard is wooing the independent members, convincing them that she and the Labor party are ideally placed to continue governing Australia; at the same time factions of the party are already positioning her replacement.
In addition to all this, the mud-slinging match between NSW and QLD state premiers has reached boiling point.
QLD premier Anna Bligh likened the NSW Labor party to a ‘disease’ and said Queensland’s Labor government would not be affected by the ‘corrosion’ from NSW.
The comments attracted a swift response from her NSW counterpart, Kristina Keneally, who pointed out that the Labor party lost far more seats in Queensland than in NSW.
Surely this public spectacle is not helping Julia Gillard build her case for building a stable government with Labor.
Meanwhile, where has Tony Abbott been since the election besides taking out his recycling? The media frenzy surrounding Labor’s self-destruction has apparently become a hotter topic than Abbott’s gaffes – and his speedos, for that matter.
Is this what we are to expect from our politicians and potentially our government?
So much for Australians calling for a ‘change to the business of politics’, as Gillard herself put it; that call seems to be falling on deaf ears.
2 Comments on “Labor's Implosion”
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kevin of sydney says:
Where do you get this perceived view that the independants are leaning towards Labour.?
They would be lynched by their electorate considering the % vote labour reveived in those seats.
Steven Baker says:
I cannot work out how the election result indicates that Australians are calling for a change in the business of politics.
What the result tells us is which candidate the majority in each electorate voted for on a preferential basis. Any further interpretation is mere conjecture.