INTERNAL POLITICAL INFIGHTING IS DELIVERING UPPERCUTS FROM ELECTORATES AND KNOCKOUT BLOWS AT THE BALLOT BOX Pollies’ gloves are off
If you think of politics as a sport, then you’d have been on the edge of your seat these past few rounds, I mean weeks.
Like the Horn versus Mundine matchup, blow after blow has rained down on the hapless LNP.
There was the fallout from Turnbull’s knifing affecting the Wentworth by- election, fallout from the conservative right affecting the Victorian State election and the fallout from Julia Banks’ defection to the crossbench triggering a speech that was surely one for the ages.
Closer to home, our council has suffered an executive blowout that raises more questions than it answers.
Toxic relationships and overblown egos within elected members of government whether local, state or federal, result in outcomes that are of little benefit to the public.
Compromises to appease warring factions results in compromised outcomes, with internal politics now clearly being called out through the ballot box.
Always a swinging voter, I voted Democrats before they imploded, then Rudd in ’ 07.
I backed whoever was opposing Tony Abbott in 2013, but voted for Turnbull in 2015.
My criteria ranged from “the least worst” to “I like some of their policies” to “someone with a fresh outlook” ( Rudd) to “someone intelligent and centrist not in it for the money or perks” ( Turnbull).
They were all idealistic choices nobbled by internal angst.
With Left and Right factional dramas devouring the LNP from within, voters are demanding better representation.
They are sending their messages directly through the state polling booths, with anyone brave or stupid enough to ignore voter concerns facing demolition.
The latest example is the Feds’ plan to make kids unaccountable for their actions until they are 16 – so does anyone remember lobbying their local MP for that idiotic move?
The electoral climate is changing. Not only in Australia; the recent US mid- term elections and now the UK Brexit drama is seeing old- school ideals rejected.
Now with cities like ours populated by a majority of under- 30s, our youth- based demographic doesn’t relate to the tired approaches on offer.
The immediacy of social media has allowed voters to demand answers.
They can voice their disapproval and shift their support to those who listen rather than lecture.
Would it make better sense for parties to splinter into factions so we would know exactly who and what we are voting for?
Or will we see an increasingly crowded crossbench packed with independents voting for their constituents, rather than along party lines?
Whatever happens, politics are rarely as dramatic as right now.
Question Time is as enthralling as Survivor’s Tribal Council, the Canberra battleground where opposing tribes usually plot mergers, blindsides and evictions are now hostage to a rebellious and largely female crossbench playing jury.
With a political landscape as turbulent as our extreme weather, the next “immunity challenge” is the NSW state election. LNP Premier Gladys Berejiklian has already declined the offer of campaign assistance from her federal counterparts. “Yikes” is right. With only six parliamentary sitting days before the May general election, our part- time pollies have been called to account.
Who will survive, the fittest, or the factions?
Only the tribe will tell.