Victori spolia
We haven’t yet seen much indication yet of the policy line the Abbott government will take. On the one hand, their election commitments suggest that, with a handful of exceptions such as climate policy, Abbott will carry on the policies of the Labor government, including DisabilityCare, the Gonski reforms, and the NBN (in a cut-down version). On the other hand, historical precedent, recently reaffirmed at the state level by Campbell Newman, and the urgings of people like Bob Officer, who ran the Howard-Costello government’s Audit Commission, suggests the government will discover a spurious budget crisis, dump its promises and introduce big cuts to health and education. Even if they do this, it’s clear that they have no real ideas beyond scraping the barrel of the 1980s microeconomic reform agenda. The worthwhile parts of this agenda were pushed through long ago, and the failures in areas like financial deregulation, Workchoices, Public Private Partnerships and so on are now obvious. The only positive initiative associated with Abbott’s win, the Paid Parental Leave scheme, is directly opposed to the microeconomic reform agenda, and hated by Abbott’s big business agenda. So, beyond it’s three word slogans, I doubt that the government has much more idea about its plans for office, than I do.
We didn’t have to wait long, however, to see how the government would work in process terms. Julie Bishop’s sacking of Steve Bracks as consul-general in New York (rumored replacement, Nick Minchin) is the most notable example of a vindictive tribalism that is evident throughout the right. We’re already hearing talk of cuts aimed at right wing betes noires like the arts, and there is bound to be more of this. The contrast with the last change of government, when Rudd left LNP appointees in place, and even gave jobs to retired opponents, as well as playing down the culture wars, is striking. For the LNP, long accustomed to see itself as our natural rulers, it’s all about getting into office, and sharing out the spoils.
@crocodile
Hopefully the motoring party rep will be able to work out that the Federal govt doesn’t have the power to do that.
They can promise it though. Couldn’t get it through. Sorry fellas, we did try.
Angus Cameron,
I haven’t invented that he is on a mission (from his “god”), you can infer it from the text I linked or from this article: http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/33392.html I would be much less concerned if he was just a psychopathic ex-boxer longing for power just for the sake of seizing it. But he is not an empty shell. He really wants to change our society. He is not going to say “from tomorrow you can’t eat meat on Fridays”. He will use slightly more sophisticated methods, for example showing deep Christian compassion to unemployed once the austerity drives the unemployment rate to 10%. I also believe that he has a zero chance in the long term but I disagree with you about whether he is going to give it a go.
From the linked article:
“In his ambiguous inheritance of the Santamaria heritage, Abbott is actually much closer to Bob Katter and Barnaby Joyce and others in or formerly in the Queensland Nationals (into which large elements of the DLP and the National Civic Council moved in the 1970s) than to those Liberals for whom Catholicism is largely a private faith. BA Santamaria, by contrast, was not – in any meaningful sense – an advocate of the separation of church and state. And he was certainly opposed to the secularisation of Australian culture, an opposition which has some resonances in Tony Abbott’s writing about Pope Benedict and his closeness to Cardinal George Pell.”
My rather dire predictions about a looming “cultural war” for example about abortion (see what’s going on in the NSW now) and an attempt to reverse the process of secularisation are based on my own experience of living in another county where John Paul II prevailed and imposed his views upon the majority of the society. Abortion was legal in Poland in 1989. It is illegal now and the Church wants to limit the access to IVF because “unborn children” (embryos) are “murdered”. All is going on in an European country which is a member of the EU. The return to the situation from the 1950s or even 1930s is certainly possible, hopefully not in Australia but Tony Abbott is not a liberal or a libertarian. He is a staunch conservative just like Cardinal Pell. “A leopard cannot change its spots” says the Bible. Tony Abbott has never recanted his views expressed some time ago about abortion or other aspect of sexual life. Also – about the ideal social order where individuals are parts of an organism called the society or Christian Nation. Abbott has simply shut up (urged by his minders) and relentlessly pursued a small target strategy to get elected not because people trust him but because they are sick of the Labor who stand for nothing and are corrupt (at least in the NSW). When Tony Abbott will have to choose between the social teaching of pope Francis and requests made by Gina and Rupert to further “liberate” the economy we will see whether power spoils him and drives towards pure pragmatism or whether he is a man of principles. I hope he is not but if he is – he will be a big target on his own.
According to the AFR, Bishop made her position clear in May when Bracks’ appointment was announced. They write:
I have no doubt there will be plenty of vindictive tribalism to go around, but this probably isn’t much of an example. They extended Bomber Beasley’s gig as ambassador.
As an aside, I note that my prediction (not exactly nostradamus) about post-election ALP is spot on. Just like NSW and Qld, the federal ALP make no acknowledgment of the reasons they lost and make no effort to change at all. They are ideologically pro-empire ‘neo-cons’ with all the anti social democracy, anti environment, anti refugees, pro war etc… baggage that goes with it.
I cant imagine any lasting economic reforms an Abbott govt would try . They have basically adopted all Labors policy (but the mining tax) . The Libs prefer to let Labor do the reforming and get kicked out for it .I think Abbotts main mission may be to continue the culture wars so effectively perused by Howard (in the absence of economic reform, bar the GST). They appeal to fear and greed to move the populace to the right ,then anyone who wants to win an election must go there to have any chance. Handing out the benefits of reform will be harder for Abbott than Howard as the mining boom etc has subsided.