Balance of power
ROWING, they say, is the ultimate team sport.
While maybe not immediately obvious to the casual observer, to be successful a crew needs to achieve one essential yet often elusive element — balance. Successful crews agree on a common goal and individuals accept technique changes for the greater good.
Without balance, each blade hitting the water cleanly and with roughly equal force, a crew cannot achieve the direction and speed they need.
Without balance, a boat can zigzag all over the course and potentially end up embedded in the Barwon’s reedy riverbank.
Balance takes time to develop and, even once achieved, always needs constant work and can never be taken for granted.
But when achieved, the crew becomes faster, more competitive and beautifully in-synch.
As the dust is settling on the spectacular Victorian election result, I’ve been considering the concept of balance. With Labor’s massive Lower House majority, it could well be argued that parliament will be anything but balanced for the next four years, with the voice of the opposition significantly weakened.
Like many others, I was not personally surprised that Labor was returned, although the swing’s seismic scale caught almost every commentator and politician by surprise — nay, shock. Locally, the extent of the swing against respected, longserving Liberal MP Andrew Katos was particularly surprising.
The multiple misdemeanours of some parliamentary Labor members and high-profile missteps by the government were seemingly overlooked for their bigger picture achievements and future plans.
Normally, a sitting government, even a popular one, can expect a small swing against it but there was little perceptible mood in the community for change.
And the State Coalition failed to build a comprehensive case for change, nor articulate an overarching vision, their message failing to resonate with a sceptical electorate and many disillusioned Coalition voters. But the enormity of the swing towards Labor suggested other issues were on electors’ minds.
Many federal Coalition parliamentarians still contend this election result was about Victorian issues. Yet, it’s as glowingly obvious as Geelong’s floating Christmas tree on a dark December evening that what happened to Malcolm Turnbull was a major influence for voters.
Apart from the Wentworth byelection, last weekend was the first wide-scale electoral opportunity for voters to express what they really thought about the unjustified, “reactionary right wing” (to quote Julia Banks) driven prime ministerial defrocking.
At that time, I wrote in this column that what happened to Malcolm Turnbull risked consigning the Coalition to the political wilderness for a decade. In the Victorian election result, we have now seen the first major harbinger of this potential reality.
Looking ahead to next year’s federal election, News Corp political editor James Campbell commented last week that any suggestion Victorians will turn their voting preferences ‘back’ to Liberal within six months is “fanciful”. And this could well be replicated throughout the country.
In its first term, the Andrewsled Labor government has largely proven to be a disciplined outfit. Their recent campaign was
equally tight.
The great risk ahead for Labor is that arrogance and hubris could easily take over, with arguably fewer checks and balances to hold back excesses. History has often shown that electoral landslides can readily reverse direction of equal force at the next opportunity.
Daniel Andrews has clearly been given a strong mandate. Yet, just because Labor has been given a ringing endorsement does not mean they can ‘do no wrong’ now, nor will the electorate agree with everything they do in future.
Drawing upon the rowing metaphor, Labor will need to create their own sense of balance, focus on the greater good, maintain internal discipline and manage egos to prevent zigzagging over the next four years.
Labor’s bank of electoral goodwill is currently flush but risks that balance being rapidly withdrawn unless constant attention is given to bringing the electorate with them.
Our community must offer commiserations to those unsuccessful candidates for our region who had the gumption to put themselves up for public office.
To those who were successful, congratulations. Your huge task of community representation is ahead. Politics is capricious and often tough but our democracy, for all its inconsistencies and failings, continues to work.