Australia’s refugee problem has attracted global attention. This from the New York Times.
Flint: The conservative coalition will be back
As the results of the 1999 referendum came in, Malcolm Turnbull said that if John Howard were to be remembered for anything, it would be as the man who “broke the heart of the nation”. But on the morning after, as I gazed across Bondi Beach, I could only see what was typical of any Australian Sunday morning, a nation at play, a nation at peace with itself. And so it was yesterday morning. I was reminded of an evening in Paris in 1979, watching the news on television. It showed Prime Minister James Callaghan leaving No 10 before the votes were fully counted to offer his resignation to The Queen. Soon after Margaret Thatcher was called to the Palace, kissed hands and was driven to Downing Street. The French presenter, astounded about the orderly transfer of power, the courtesy and propriety, said “Messieurs les anglais, I salute you.” We should never forget that we are also one of the few countries where transfers of power are peaceful, orderly and smooth. On 24 November, the Australian people did what many conservatives, including myself, believed they would never bring themselves to do - dismiss a government which on any economic indicator was not only the nation’s but probably the world’s most successful government. So Kevin Rudd assumes office with advantages none of his predecessors has ever enjoyed. As John Howard said, he is being handed a nation “stronger and prouder and more prosperous than it was eleven-and-a-half years ago.” Australians did not reject this conservative government to install one with a radical programme. Just before he was elected, Kevin Rudd seemed to be assuring Australians that not only was he the social and economic conservative he so often proclaimed in the campaign, he was in fact more Tory than the Tories. He would go further than John Howard, who was so criticised by the left for the “Pacific solution.” Like Dr. Mahathir he would turn the boats back, using the threat of detention and the nation’s close ties with Indonesia. Moreover neither the Aboriginal recognition nor a republican referendum, nor a separate Aboriginal treaty would proceed in his first term, “if at all.” If at all. In any event, this declared conservativism means Kevin Rudd has the clear duty to continue Howard’s successful economic policies, and to resist the temptation to answer problems with some new well funded bureaucracy. And if he would be a statesman, he would offer the nation some grand projects, the most important being watering the land with something as visionary as and larger than the Snowy. He could solve the problems of federalism by giving back the states their powers, and ending their present mendicant status. The American Founding Fathers warned that governments cannot function properly if they do not have to answer to the people for the taxes they themselves raise. There will be whole theses and conferences on why Howard lost. Among the reasons advanced will of course be the absence of adequate media scrutiny. On that it was amusing to hear Kerry O’Brien on Saturday evening referring to the “swing to the ABC.” Indeed. But most observers would give WorkChoices pride of place. Federalists were outraged by the extreme centralism displayed, and hoped that the High Court would find the legislation unconstitutional. Others criticised its complexity. Some suggested, often with the benefit of hindsight, that while flexibility was important, the “big bang” approach was questionable. It would have been better to have had a staged approach over years , repealing the so- called unfair dismissal law first, at least in relation to small business. It seems the Labor–Green alliance may not control the new Senate, the people having determined that the upper house again become a check and balance. Conservatives must accept Labor’s “very emphatic victory,” and the legitimacy of the Rudd government. They should continue their previous policy when in opposition of not opposing for the sake of opposing. This does not mean they should be a rubber stamp, only that legislation be judged on its merits and with due regard to whether it is sanctioned under a clear mandate. That said, the Coalition would be entitled to expect that any changes to WorkChoices should act neither as a disincentive to small business employing additional staff nor remove the sort of flexibility which has proved so attractive to both employees and employers, especially in WA. While Kyoto can be ratified without legislation, it is of little practical relevance, and the Kyoto2 policy has been corrected by taking Howard’s line that Australia s not adopt burdens unless all major emitters do. With no state or territory governments, the opposition parties is now significantly weakened organisationally and financially. But if there are any rules of inevitability in these things, one is that politics are cyclical. (Perhaps the other is Enoch Powell’s proposition that all political careers end in failure.) The normal cycle seems now to be about two or three terms, extended when the opposition is at war with itself or offers something which the electorate fears. The conservative coalition will be back. |
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19 Comments
Gold Gold GOLD to Flinty: Love the way Ruddie was the devil in the red dress last week and More John Howard that John Howard this week. Streets a head of the Chaser and Newstopia.
In a rare reflective moment on Saturday night, I wondered how David Flint was taking the news. Good to know he survived with most of his belligerence and all of his Howard adoration intact. This campaign just wouldn’t have been the same without him.
David Flint is a perfect example of the old, but very true saying,“ there are none so blind as those who will not see“!
I voted first in 1949 and saw my dream of a “fair go” disappear. Witnessed Menzies taking us into the Vietnam war on a lie. It seemed axiomatic that as having “Ming” as his hero John Howard would do the same; he did 2003. It’s over; well done Labour!!
Transfer of power have been smooth in spite of the attempts by the Liberal Govts to drive us into division of despair and deception, Flint. Dont even attempt to take any credit for it. If you or Howard had let rip we’d be on the streets with dogs after us
Monsieur Flint, since all of your analysis leading up to the election has now proven to be absolutely wrong, perhaps you should consider a new hobby. On the evidence of this article, I would suggest comedy. Droll, deadpan, straight-faced, absurdity.
David,
If you agree with Howard that he leaves the country ‘prouder’ than it was in 1996, could you possibly elaborate? This has to be one of the most contestable statements that Howard has ever made. The exact reverse is my opinion.
David, Get a life, preferrably not in journalism.
You do not,or cannot evoke even a dim spark of originality in your article.
You evoke the kind of thinking that has placed our country in the position it is on the world stage.
As I said to a few people on the Sunday, the world hasn’t come to an end. I still would like Australia to become a republic though, even if the only reason is that we should become citizens of Australia instead of subjects of the Crown.
Not in it’s present form it won’t. Most especially in the form of the high camp Alexander Downer. The time for such theatrics has long gone Mr Royalty Flint.
Could someone please take Mr Flint aside and tell him that his party was actually voted out. His comments have echos of Billy Snedden in 1974 memorably claiming that “while we didn’t win, we didn’t lose either”.
Poor old Dave, a delusional member of John Howard’s elite to the very end. And what is this about Howard’s (and Flint’s) conservatism? Far-right, misanthropic radicalism might be a better description.
There is much that could be said about David Flint’s delusional piece, but one comment leaps off the screen: the notion that Rudd should follow Howard in “giving back the states their powers, and ending their present mendicant status.” Pardon?
They will not be back as a conservatinve coalition. Their only hope is as a true liberal party. I don’t think you have any idea just how many peope really hated Howard and what he tried to do to this country. Alan Ramsay got it right.
Hope they come back, reconstructed, David. No more, (Children-Overboard) lies; indefinite incarceration of asylum seekers; rewarding lying ministers with sinecures overseas; politicization of the public service; dog whistling and fawning in front of Bush.
Dear David still has such a romantic view of the Howard legacy - I prefer Paul Keating’s observation that Costello has spent the past 11 years in a hammock
Totally agree Wayne.
When we do become a Republic we should boot out all the Silly old anglophiles who write pompous pieces of tripe for Crikey. No need to mention any names.
PS. Thank you to Labor voters in Bennelong. God bless you all.
Perhaps we could all now refer to David as “Comical Flinti” in recognition of his contribution to the delicate art of disinformation.
To paraphrase Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf:
The Australian press is all about lies! All they tell is lies, lies and more lies!
So the people have just dismissed “the world’s most (economically) successful government”! David, my apologies for being so stupid. Agree with you about ending the states’ “mendicant status”, however.