Sad soap opera

YOU would think that, as a declared and rusted-on Labor voter, the past week has seen me celebrating like a group of dancing dervishes.

I should be sitting here with a wide smile and pouring myself a large single malt as I witness the very public, self-destruction of that old enemy, the Liberal Party.

But not so and, to be honest, the whole affair quite simply makes me feel sad as I shake my head and consider the appalling state of politics in this country.

If we the voters don’t let them know what we think of these latest shenanigans they will carry on playing their internal games as factional groups vie for the main prize, the leadership and hence control of the party’s direction and future.

It doesn’t really matter who the proponents are, but in this case of course it happens to be Malcolm Turnbull and Peter Dutton. They are arguing about who’s going to be the Prime Minister but only because the Liberals are worried that they are in danger of losing the next election.

In fairness to the challenger, Mr Turnbull has only himself to blame. This was the man that was held in horror by all Labor people, including me, as we saw him as the perfect PM. A person who was left of centre in the conservative world and a man who had charisma and potentially beliefs that would appeal to many swinging voters, even those with a Labor bent.

The trouble was, though, that the man Mr Turnbull was completely disappeare d the second he became PM. Suddenly we had an indecisive, vacillating noddy dog with no principles and no moral compass. With Faustian gusto he had sold his soul to the devil, in the form of the right wing of the party, to get the job.

History now tells us that his continual appeasement of the hard Liberals wasn’t enough and, with the help of Mr Abbott not so quietly stirring the pot from the back benches, the Right wingers are on the march. Mr Abbott, the man who when he was deposed by Mr Turnbull, declared at the time his commitment of “no wrecking, no undermining and no sniping.”

In fact Abbott has done nothing but wreck, undermine and snipe.

Mr Abbott just couldn’t accept the umpire’s decision. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by either the Libs or the National Party, with Liberal MP Warren Entsch calling out Mr Abbott on his previous commitment. Nationals MP Damian Drum issued a scathing assessment of people leaking and undermining the leadership, labelling them “a f---ing disgrace”. Michelle Landry and Ann Sudmalis, both Liberals, also expressed displeasure with Mr Abbott and said the government was currently its own worst enemy. Now we are getting down to the nitty gritty of it all, aren’t we? This is not about you or me. This is not about how best to run the country. This is not about energy, house prices, low wages or even health care and education. This is about a bunch of highly paid, privileged, out-of-touch-with-reality people, fighting among themselves to divvy up the prize of power, recognition and a lifestyle most of us can only dream of.

Just in case you’re wondering, yes, I thought the same thoughts when we had the Rudd-GillardRudd fiasco and we all know how that finished.

Mr Abbott easily took over from Kevin Rudd and, for a few days, the Labor Party faithful were still trying to justify their antics of the past few years and claim that the loss could have been worse. Even though Mr Turnbull is still there I’ll bet London to a brick that he won’t be there for long — he could possibly be gone by the time this article is published.

When Labor lost to Mr Abbott, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews made these comments: “Over the past six years sadly, the federal parliamentary Labor Party has resembled a toxic soap opera. Unable to unite behind one leader, unable to exercise the discipline and the focus that’s necessary.”

Just change the name of the party and these words can be said of the current Liberal “toxic soap opera”.

The unfortunate truth is that the Libs have forgotten who and what they are. They have forgotten they have a constituency and they’ve forgotten who and what that constituency is.

This in reality is a battle between puppet master Mr Abbott and Mr Turnbull and, whoever wins, it will be a pyrrhic victory — the devastating losses will be felt not by the pollies but by us, the voters, as whatever government stumbles and bumbles along as it protects its own interests and not ours.