NSW went to the polls on Saturday 26 March 2011. What is particularly distinctive is the number of Labor politicians who had seen the writing on the wall - about 22. Three words - total electoral annihilation. These politicians didn't have any clairvoyant capabilities, despite their numerous reasons. Number 21,the member for Shellharbour Lylea McMahon, said 'it was time to put her family first'. What Ms McMahon didn't mention was that her bid for reselection was uncertain. Others had their resignations accepted, usually with sadness, like police minister Matt Brown who admitted he behaved in a manner 'not befitting a minister.' What Mr Brown did after dancing around in his underwear was to straddle the breasts of his fellow MP Noreen Hay. Such boorish behaviour was enough in itself to bring his dismissal. But Mr Brown then called out to Noreen's daughter, 'Look at this, I'm titty-f---ing your mother!' The more conservative media described it as a 'simulated sex act.' Simulated? That's not to say there aren't sound reasons for describing as salacious activities by others who take the moral high ground.
Morals campaigner, Christian Democrat MP Fred Nile, had a good explanation for the Daily Telegraph after the Department of Parliamentary Services revealed Fred's computer had been used on about 200,000 occasions to access 'inappropriate behaviour.' Mr Nile was adamant that on none of the 200,000 times was there any perving of the pornographic sites accessed. Apparently one of his staff members had viewed online porn "for just a few seconds" for research purposes. Now where's the calculator. Right. 200,000 times by a few seconds is about 400,000 seconds. 400,000 seconds divided by 60 will give you - then divide that by 60 which gives you precisely 111.11111111111111 hours which is 4.6296296296333335 days. It's not the first time that one can becomes so preoccupied in one's research that you lose all sense of time. Then again by the time you navigate to the porn site you're researching 2 seconds would appear to be underestimating the time per look. No, he was definitely perving, Fred.
Paul McLeay, resigning as Ports Minister, told the press on September 1, 2010 'I accept I made a mistake and take this opportunity to spend more time with my family and my electorate.' What Mr McLeay had done was 'use the resources of office inappropriately.' If Mr McLeay had been a morals crusader he could have said he was accessing porn and gaming sites for research purposes, but you'd have been hard pressed to explain how pornography and gaming had anything to do with his portfolio as Ports Minister. In the days pornography was smuggled through the docks, he might have had a better opportunity to explain himself.
Mrs McLeay probably thinks her husband has a gambling problem and is a recidivist pervert. In this instance you'd need any number of experts to adjudicate the state of his mind, body and soul. The McLeay kids would be no doubt have been taunted about their father at school - the poor little bastards on the bus home with tears in their eyes. We think a lot of people would understand if Mrs McLeay and the kids wanted to start a new life, a journey in which Mr McLeay was not required to participate. Since 2007 the NSW Government has lost about 22 ministers for a variety of reasons. David Cambell, the NSW Transport Minister visited an intimate gay sex haunt, Ken's (at Kensington). Now before Borderline is accused of homophobia Mr Cambell's visit to Ken's Club is not what brought him undone. It had more to do with using a government car to drive himself to and from Ken's. He had given his driver the night off, which is understandable. Mr Cambell, who portrayed himself as a family man, had in fact been living with a secret about his sexuality over two decades. It might be well and good that in such circumstances you can hold a secret, but it seems someone at Ken's at Kensington was out to make mischief. We hope it wasn't Ken. If we were Mr Cambell we would be tempted to remit the expenses incurred with the Cambell's marriage councillor, the kids therapy sessions and other sundry expenses be remitted to Ken at Ken's at Kensington as a retribution for the indiscretion that emanated from Ken's establishment.
When the last Labor premier of NSW was elected - in NSW it pays to use such words as elected advisedly - outgoing Premier Rees accused Premier Kristina Keneally of being a puppet of Eddie Obeid and Joe Tribodi. It wasn't a case of sour grapes… Well, it probably was sour grapes that motivated Rees, but he was being perfectly accurate. If ever there were two scumbags who could be indicted for corrupting the democratic process in NSW it is Messrs Obeid and Tripodi, the rightwing powerbrokers. Control the branches and you control the party with a little something on the side. After all, power on its own is only half the equation. When you operate in the circles Eddie and Joe move in, it's nice to have a bit of dosh to show that you're equal amongst the very equal. Self made men (women are few and far in the NSW Labor Right) operate on a nod and a wink and it transcends political loyalty. In NSW it pays to use such words as allegiance, which suggests some instance of ethics and honour, advisedly. Like when Eddie bought a property in Clovelly for $875,000 and sold it the day after to the Department of Housing for $1.1 million.
The only thing that perhaps unsettles Eddie is any suggestion that fire has made a substantial input into his bottom line. Who says lightening doesn't strike twice. Eddie's properties seem particularly susceptible to flame with over four of them gone up in smoke over the years. The most spectacular instance was on Christmas Eve in 1993 when Offset Alpine Printing, in which he had a financial interest, burnt down. The investors made a packet when, rather reluctantly, the insurers had to make a $52 million payout divvied up between Eddie and his fellow investors. Shortly before Offset Alpine Printing went up in smoke, the place had been over-insured to the hilt. Nothing came of the seven-year investigation by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission. Graham Richardson, 'the fixer,' perhaps the NSW Right's most infamous powerbroker and head kicker, also had his finger in the pie. When Mr Richardson was hit with a tax assessment of $700,000 of the $1.44 million of his share of the spoils, he denied he ever had shares 'directly or indirectly' in Offset Alpine Printing. After considerable litigation he eventually settled with the ATO.
Tripodi (Number 15 in the sacked/resign list) also has a colourful career and has been hauled before the ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) on no less than three occasions. We'll resist the temptation to go into his long and distinguished career in branch stacking, political patronage and sheer bastardry, not to mention his tenures as Minister for Finance, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for Ports and Waterways, Minister for Housing, Minister for Roads, Minister for Energy and Minister for Small Business. Joe was on the nose and Ms Keneally, then Labor premier, told him to go. Joe denied he was pushed. No doubt he'll keep himself busy with all the contacts he has stockpiled over the years. When he turns 55 he'll be entitled to a $150,000 a year pension.
To best define the former NSW Labor Government - like the Wonthaggi desalination plant defines Labor in Victoria - is Labor's sale of NSW's electricity assets. It was Premier Carr who apparently got the idea. In those days it was considered NSW electricity privatisation would bolster the coffers of NSW to the tune $30 to $35 billion. However the 1997 party conference would have nothing of it. Obviously it still rankles Bob, as he stated in Thoughtlines with Bob Carr, December 13 2010: "Compared with the $5 billion expected at the end of the current process made necessary by the party policy. But no, the precious folk at the 1997 party conference had to stage their little demonstration for Fabian principle and the cob-webbed Socialist Objective. To repeat the gesture against Morris Iemma a decade later and turn him out of the Premier's job for good measure confirms the collective ill-judgment." Ouch.
Was Bob right to be livid at the lost opportunity - and in today's money? Carr wanted to spend the proceeds on good works that would make the people of NSW happy. Because Carr realises as a former journalist that making people happy by spin has its limitations. Sooner or later they'll want something a bit more substantial. What one may call a tactile experience - something with three dimensions - like a school. Was the then Carr treasurer Michael Egan right when he said, "The real question is not whether the industry is sold, rather it's a question of who sells it, under what conditions and when." Grand visions have a cost. Premier Iemma tried to resurrect the privatization and thought $15 billion was about right. $15 billion might not buy as much public works as $30-$35 billion in public works, but still… In May 2008 the New South Wales ALP's State Conference overwhelmingly rejected Iemma's plan. After that everything went pear shaped and it wasn't long before they turned on him. Obeid and Tripodi's fingerprints were all over the knife.
The midnight deal exposed the government's reliance on total hypocrisy to get an outcome that short-changed the people of NSW by billions of dollars. To lock in the deal they needed a cheap long-term secure energy source and the only cheap long term energy source in NSW is black coal - somewhat at odds with the state's green credentials and dire warnings from the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water that 'fossil fuels such as coal create greenhouse gas pollution and cause global warming and climate change.' Well, everyone knows that. It's just that it somewhat compromises the Labor Government's policy released in 2005 to put NSW on track to meet its targets of limiting 2025 emissions to 2000 levels, and reducing emissions by 60% by 2050. The then NSW treasurer Eric Roozendaal had his infamous electricity selloff and accepted $5.3 billion from Origin and TRU Energy.Talk about a bloody fire sale . Obviously $5.3doesn't buy as much public works as $15 billion and $15 billion buys less than $30-$35 billion. Still, if you're hard up and desperate to go to the polls with a Triple A credit rating the deal was just right. Origin and TRU must be giggling all the way to the bank.
It is interesting to note that Mr Barry O'Farrell in opposition was against privatisation of NSW electricity. Why did he compromise his laissez-faire credentials? He mostly did this to put the boot into Iemma and score a few cheap political points. That's the good thing about being the Leader of the Opposition in NSW. You can believe in anything or you can believe in nothing - it just doesn't matter. O'Farrell is allowed this kind of ideological dexterity because his shadow cabinet thinks he's a good bloke, a populist who understands you can have major reform without the slightest impost on the taxpayer. When you're in opposition, that is. O'Farrell's 5 Point Plan to make NSW number one again might be a bit short on detail, but as a motherhood statement it hits the spot - as long as you're in opposition. Now that Mr O'Farrell is Premier things are a little different. There might be a bit of loose change in the till, but that's not going to pay for all the Coalition's promises. GST disbursements won't either. The about turn has already begun with Mr O'Farrell introduced retrospective legislation to cut the solar feed-in tariff from 60 cents to 40 cents and cutting the scheme off entirely to new applicants. One would have thought the Coalition would find the mere suggestion of retrospectivity in legislation abhorrent, but apparently political ideology is the first thing that goes out the window when political reality sets in. It didn't matter anyhow. The whole plan was scuppered when Fred Nile and the Shooters Party decided to vote against it. The scheme however is closed to new applicants.
On the local level Greg Aplin the member for Albury and Bill Tilley member for Benambra would tell anyone who is prepared to listen that Albury and Wodonga are forever in the hearts and minds of Barry O'Farrel and Ted Baillieu. They're beaut blokes, Greg and Bill. Barry and Ted are beaut blokes too. Barry and Ted also know Greg and Bill are beaut custodians of their respective seats and that they don't have to worry about Albury and Benambra falling into enemy hands. Both would like to be ministers. Indeed, during the campaign Mr Aplin told everyone he was going to become a minister, which gave even more gravitas to his deliberation. "I'm right - and I know I'm right because I'm going to be a minister" was his mantra. Greg used to be shadow Minister for Mental Health and Aboriginal Affairs spokesman for the Coalition. Minister for Fair Trading might not be as important as mental health and Aboriginal affairs, but as long as he was a minister of anything he would have a seat on the Cabinet table and be able to look after Albury's interests. Alas, it wasn't to be. Mr Aplin, a member of the Right in the Coalition political spectrum, was a victim of Barry's balancing act between the Right and the Left of the NSW Liberal Party - although Mr O'Farrell would have preferred it to be seen as a balancing act between Metropolitan and Regional representation.
