Petty Politics

I’ve been away from my posting station this past week, refocusing my Presidential ambitions and working (in a related matter) on my Presidential golf game. You’ll be pleased to know that both are well on track. I also stumbled across the enlightened writings of evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins – but more on that at a later date.

The first news I heard on returning to the real world (other than 60 minutes’ hard hitting Wolf Man report) was that my man Rudd had ‘slipped up’. According to media reports he was privy to an elaborate ploy to stage an Anzac Day service in Vietnam, an hour before dawn – to coincide with his Channel 7 Sunrise commitments. In response, he was getting the sharp side of his mate (Workplace Relations Minister) Joe Hockey’s tongue and John Howard was making every effort to use the controversy in his favour. Howard’s much quoted remark on the subject: "I think it will leave a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of people. Having read the stuff in the newspapers, and that is essentially my knowledge of it; it doesn't look as though Mr Rudd's original protestations were correct.” – showed that he didn’t let his ignorance on the matter stop him from issuing a condemnation. (I hope the PM doesn’t get all his info from the papers, or we’re in trouble.) Ultimately, both Rudd and Hockey have decided to quit their weekly Sunrise appearance, citing the difficulty in continuing in the current political climate.

I’ve got a few issues with all this. Firstly, given that I’m no fan of breakfast television or of Kochie in particular (though he is twenty of Karl Stefanovic) – the weekly political spot was watchable. Two senior politicians from opposing parties showed the maturity to appear on TV together to be reasonably fair dinkum and to try and convey their messages to the mainstream of society. They even walked the Kokoda Trail together. It was refreshing to say the least.

It’s an obvious shame then that it’s all got to end because of a technicality and because of the PM’s gut reaction to score cheap political points. For starters, its pitch dark an hour before dawn (by definition), making a ceremony hard to stage – while if it was possible, the extra viewers and raised awareness of a prime time ceremony could well have been worth changing the time for. Regular people might have learnt the significance of Long Tan. Is that really an insult to veterans? Aside from the ‘false dawn’ ceremony issue, it is growingly frustrating that every Rudd move is being hyper-scrutinized, as though we’re all waiting for him to explode and knock out a camera man/taxi driver. The reality is, Rudd is no Latham, and the poor Labor leadership of the recent past is no predictor for Rudd’s performance. This is the cost though of a healthy lead in the polls, and no obvious signs of implosion on the horizon.

Ultimately, what leaves a bad taste in my mouth is that it is so hard for two politicians like Rudd and Hockey to try and be good blokes. The baiting and word-slinging seems to be inescapable and the petty politics seems to be the price to be paid for trying. Howard is increasingly desperate to regain his former popularity, knowing all too well that an election called tomorrow would see him out of a job – but his recent behaviour has been juvenile. As we pause in thought for the diggers on the 25^th, perhaps we should also spare a thought for the passing of the Rudd-Hockey experiment in talking directly to the people.