BRW’s picks of the year: Clive, Julia, Tony and a big year in politics

There’s a new kid in Canberra – but what exactly does he want? Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Has there ever been a more exciting year in politics? As well as an election that brought with it a new Prime Minister, we’ve seen the implosion and slow rebuilding of the Labor Party and emergence of an unlikely political force in Clive Palmer.

As the year ends, the momentum has completely changed from January. After looking like romping to a historic landslide victory, Tony Abbott’s first three months in power has been characterised by a series of missteps. A hostile Senate looks certain to further weigh on the Coalition in the New Year.

After looking like a party in dire need of reform, Labor now has real momentum, albeit with a long time before they’ll get a chance to go the polls.

Here are BRW’s picks for the winners and losers of the year in politics:

The Burning Man Award for Political Suicide

With the polls suggesting Julia Gillard would lead Labor to electoral oblivion, it was a matter of when, and not if, Kevin Rudd would mount a challenge. But instead of letting Rudd decide the timing, party elder Simon Crean made his own move, shocking the party by calling on Gillard to call a leadership spill and throwing his support behind Rudd – for the good of the party, of course.

There was only one problem – Rudd wasn’t ready to challenge and announced he wouldn’t contest the ballot Gillard duly called. Crean would be forced to resign and everyone in politics was left shaking their head at the kamikaze move.

The At Least They’re Not Over Here Award for Political Stupidity

The US political system goes into meltdown every now and again over the size of the nation’s debt, or, more specifically, whether the world’s biggest spender can borrow a bit more cash.

Usually, the drama – which requires new laws to be passed to raise the debt ceiling – ends in lots of huffing and puffing, but some sort of deal. This time, however, Republicans in Congress were determined to make a point and dragged out negotiations so long that parts of the mighty US government had to be shut down for about 16 days.

Whatever pain Australia might have experienced from minority government, at least we never matched this stupidity.

The Upholsterers Award for Saving The Furniture

How will history judge Kevin Rudd? Not kindly, if it’s written by Mark Latham. But there is an argument to be made that by ending Julia Gillard’s political career, Rudd did save Labor from an epic landslide and kept the losing margin to a respectable 35 seats. He certainly regained some lost ground in Queensland and the losses in Victoria and NSW were not as bad as expected.

Of course, Rudd’s colleagues weren’t sad to see the back of him, which goes to show there can sometimes be a wide gap in how voters see a politician and how their party sees them.

The Sounds of Silence Award for Quiet Dignity

Julia Gillard deserves special mention for the way she completely withdrew from politics after losing the leadership, giving Kevin Rudd the clear run he never gave her. Many have remarked on how praise seems to increase the longer she’s been out of the Lodge – the manner of her exit must surely be a contributing factor.

The ‘Is This Thing On?’ Award for Shaky Starts

Tony Abbott’s tactics were perfect in the lead-up to the election: make yourself a small target, say soothing, obvious things, appeal to the middle class and, above all, criticise the opposition for absolutely everything.

After winning power comfortably (albeit with Senate determined to make life difficult for him), Abbott has tried to keep the strategy going. He’s promised calm, sensible government, kept his focus on the middle class and continued to blame Labor as much as possible.

But Abbott – and perhaps more particularly some of his front bench – have clearly struggled with the shift from opposition to government. The best example was clearly the off-again, on-again mess around the Coalition’s response to Labor’s Gonski education plan.

Abbott and his team are new and will surely improve. They have time but the electorate might not have lots of patience.

The New Kid in Town Award for This Year’s Big Winner

Political junkies are probably guilty of underestimating Clive Palmer but it’s not hard to understand why – the mining billionaire talks so much that it can be hard to sort fact from exaggeration.

However, not only did Palmer win the seat of Fairfax (just) but he led his Palmer United Party to at least two Senate seats, and a possible third seat in the botched Senate poll in Western Australia. He appears to have snaffled the balance of power by forming an alliance with Victorian Senator Ricky Muir from the Motoring Enthusiasts Party, who will join the Senate next July.

It’s not really clear what Palmer hopes to gain from his great Canberra experiment but he’s done better than anyone expected, against huge odds. If nothing else, he’ll be fun to watch.

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