Menzies, Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Keating, Howard & Costello! Love them or hate them, they were history making political figures of substantial political skills & calibre.
As polarising, single minded, self absorbed, arrogant & error prone as some of these people were at times or even throughout their political careers, they were a necessity for the health of our political system! Every nation needs legendary political statesmen & so does the international community, Statesmen such as the likes of Churchill, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, De Gaulle, Kennedy, Nixon, Kissinger, Kohl, Thatcher, Reagan, Brezhnev, Gorbachev and Putin!In Australia & indeed around the world, we have been fortunate to have real political junkies of great calibre in the past 50 years. Most of these leaders by definition are polarising, dedicated & focused. They arise passion in their supporters & foes alike.
Unfortunately however, Australia in particular is now going through a dry patch void of any true figures worthy of consideration as true political statesmen or women!Rudd, the consummate rhetoric spinning committee forming bureaucrat vs Abbott the right wing opportunistic populist? Both are full of populist rhetorics & meaningless spin without the statesman like political capability to implement any real policy!
Rudd Government's utter failure to negotiate any meaningful legislation through the Senate is a significant reflection of the rot that is setting in!
Don't get me wrong! I am not saying Rudd & Abbott are not intelligent or consummate politicians because they both are! But they are incapable of inspiring their followers & raising themselves to the levels some of the predecessors were able to.
We shall & will therefore miss the days of Keating vs Howard battles...and even Peter Costello's annoying grin! The departure of Malcolm Turnbull put an end to any politician in either houses of the parliament showing any real statesman like qualities.
Which brings me to one last current point which relates directly to one of my earlier blogs regarding the failure of "Party Based" governments of the Westminster system:
The unusual political situation that has come about as a result of the recent Tasmanian State election may be an opportunity for reform in our system of Government!
The incumbent Labour Government holding a mere 10 seats, has been given the task to form a Government in the 25 seat lower house. The Greens with their 5 seats have guaranteed not to block supply. Premier Bartlett is now considering offering the Greens ministerial positions without octal forming a coalition government!
The situation with the Tasmanian State Government will be an interesting test case to investigate whether it is possible for a governments in Australia to offer ministerial positions to independent Senators or MPs or minor parties without actually forming a coalition & still have a workable situation.
The best case scenario would be to support Noel Pearson to get elected as an independent Senator or MP, and the offer him to become the Federal Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, without interference from either major Party! Surely this is worth a try if the situation in Tasmania shows the slightest sign of workability in the coming months!
