Doug PollardIrretrievable breakdown of Labor
The Labor Party has now reached the end of the road.
The shameful and desperate attempt to cling to power by awarding itself totalitarian-style powers, trashing natural justice and riding rougshod over the courts,ripped whatever remaining rags of authority still fluttered about this already morally emaciated regime to nothing.
Gillards proposals would have given any Australian government power to dump refugees anywhere, on little more than a imperious whim.
With this reckless and cynical move the party stands revealed as no better that the Cronulla rednecks, Pauline Hansons and Alan Jones of this world. A shameful posture for a supposedly progressive and humane party I was once proud to support.
It reveals Labor as nakedly lusting after power for its own sake, at any cost, throwing any policy, any principle, and any leader on the bonfire to acheive it and hold it. The irony is, that by doing so, they have sealed their own demise.
Tragically, Tony Abbott isn't much different - but then again, we expect that kind of ruthless cynical pragmatism from parties of the right.
From Labor, we expect more. We expect at least some basic principles of fairness, honesty and compassion, even at the cost of fewer votes. We want to know that Labor stands for something, and we want it clearly stated.
But the party cannot tell us, because it does not know. And it does not know because it is split down the middle, into right-leaning, social conservatives wearing pink blusher and rosary beads, and socially progressive, left-leaning egalitarians with green wellies in their closets.
The former would fit comfortably in the boardroom of a Malcolm Turnbull Liberal party. The latter would happily sit round a campfire with Bob Brown. What they seem incapable of doing is sitting down amiably anywhere with one other. The relationship has irretrievably broken down.
Instead, each is dug in, determined to win. As a result, Labor sports compromised policies that neither side wholeheartedly supports and none that any can convincingly defend - and the voters know it.
Labor is now going down to a defeat entirely of its own making, followed by a messy divorce. The historic but ill-advised marriage between the ageing duenna and the handsome young tutor has finally fallen apart.
And that's a good thing, freeing Mr Labor from his closet to craft a civilised and respectful pre-nuptial arrangement with Mr Green, while La Donna contrives clandestine trysts with the leader of the Liberal Party over the Cardinals dinner-table.
Those two will eventually wed (at the Cathedral, of course), while our two progressives will live in sin for a few years before creating the kind of centre-left party Australia sadly lacks.
It makes sense. The Greens are young, romantic,enthusiastic and idealistic,but hopelessly impractical, while Labor has plenty of experience managing a large House and lots of (public) servants. The omens are good.
Since the combined left always outpolls the combined right, they would command the support of a majority of Australians.
In the meantime, the Greens need to get out more. And further. They spend too much time in the inner cities, when their natural ecological niche is in rural and regional Australia.
An alliance with Labor will free them to concentrate on siphoning off rural and regional votes from the right, emphasising their fundamentally conservative values in respect of landcare, agriculture and development - an approach that is paying dividends for the Greens in Germany.
Alas, such a scenario requires us to endure Tony Abbott as Prime Minister for a few years first. Oh well. We must fortify ourselves with the thought that at least the subsequent Lab-Green government will inherit a huge fund of goodwill!
In the meantime, Labor should be wooing enthusiastically, pushing ahead eagerly with emissions trading, a robust mining tax, reform of the press, and marriage equality.
It will give Julia a resounding legacy to go out on, and give the party a well-stocked dower-chest to present to its future (same-sex) spouse.
