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O’Farrell presents a small target, Keneally flounders

Malcolm Farr

by Malcolm Farr

01 Feb 05:40am

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Filed under: Barry O Farrell, Election, Kristina Keneally, Nsw, Politics

36 comments

The basic thrust of the strategy for Labor to escape the March 26 NSW election with a respectable loss is to put the focus on the Opposition and away from the Government.

Illustration: John Tiedemann

Well, that’s coming along nicely, isn’t it?

On the day that MLC Tony Catanzariti revealed he would be the 22nd Labor MP to quit at the coming poll, and news reports rehashed charges against a senior public servant and minister’s husband for allegedly buying an illegal drug, it remained an academic exercise.

Liberal leader Barry O’Farrell wanders around doing uncomplicated community visits, keeping in touch with important electoral sectors like a political tourist travelling light. He is certainly unencumbered by weighty policy baggage.

O’Farrell simply refuses to commit himself on some substantial policy matters, such as privatisation of utilities.

Premier Kristina Keneally, meanwhile, can be enveloped in controversy and demands for answers before she gets out of bed.

This is triggering memories of the 1988 battle between Labor Premier Barrie Unsworth and Liberal Nick Greiner. Greiner had a plan for ICAC but little else in the way of policy detail.

Unsworth had to defend a Labor government that had been around a long time, and associated, damaging issues. He couldn’t, and Greiner was elected to deliver what turned out to be a vigorous overhaul of state spending.

O’Farrell worked in the Greiner administration.

The alternative strategy for a demise with dignity is for is for the Government to stop being careful and to effectively acknowledge it is in for a thumping by outlining what it would do to recover from defeat.

It’s a type of aggressive fatalism—``We know we’re going down, but here’s why we’ll get back up again.’‘

And according to some sources it’s catching on within the NSW Labor Party.

The movie Gladiator has a wrenching scene in which slaves line up to make their first—and fatal for most—appearance in an arena.

They are terrified, and the chap in front of Russell ``Maximum’’ Crowe wets himself copiously, much to the disgust of Rusty who takes a step back to avoid the flow.

One could imagine that this sense of terror, and dampness, is being experienced by the Labor candidates lining up to fight the March 26 election in NSW. It is an arena in which more than half of them might not survive.

However, the sense of resignation, and a need to get the political gores over with, is also taking hold. Some Labor MPs just want the ordeal to end so they can get a fight-back underway—or get out of politics.

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36 comments

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    • Peter Oataway, Hay, NSW says:

      05:15am | 01/02/11

      On the up side Tony Catanzariti wrote a ripper submission to the House of Reps Standing Committee on the Murray Darling Basin…..
      http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/ra/murraydarling/subs/sub249.pdf
      “The belief however that we should sit back, and passively allow ourselves to be
      administered; that our livelihood and aspirations should take a back seat to appease
      those who will never come to our regions, so they can feel better about their own
      resource and energy profligate lifestyles in their own horrifically degraded environments,
      is not something that should be informing or directing the activities of the Murray Darling
      Basin Authority.
      That the Authority frames its message for urban Australians, and has failed to bring the
      Basin’s communities along with it, is perhaps the largest indicator of its failure to date.”

      Reply

    • Against the Man says:

      05:42am | 01/02/11

      Maybe if KK would spend less time on her nails and more time doing a good job, she and her party would sail through the next election. The new ALP slogan should be - ‘Vote for us every time and get a substandard government every time.’

      Reply

    • iansand says:

      06:17am | 01/02/11

      There are around 70 Labor MLAs and MLCs.  Almost a third are not standing.

      Reply

    • rufus says:

      03:35pm | 01/02/11

      ...and few if any candidates replacing them will be elected. And of the remainder, at least half will not be re-elected.

      Keneally was promoted to Premier in the hope that she would prevent a landslide loss, and maybe in the party’s wildest dreams, pull off the impossible victory.

      The electoral suicide of the electricity assets sale at the last minute before Xmas has deservedly snuffed out those hopes. Keneally might not save her own seat, let alone many of her colleagues. Farewell Kristina, we hardly knew you.

      And Barry, while you are hiding somewhere, emerging only to jump on the bandwagon of criticism of the government, can you assure us sometime that you are using the time to come up with a plan to reverse the fortunes of NSW?

    • nossy says:

      06:43am | 01/02/11

      If it all wasnt so funny Malcolm I would be crying. Hhere we have - and lets be honest folks - a tired Labor government thats been in for 16 long years. However when we turn and look at what the Liberals have on offer we shuder ! O’Farrell will get in per medium of being the last man standing. Surely though in this day and age the Liberals would have you would think a better range of chices for Premier than tired old Barry ? Barry has been around since Noah was a lad - in the 90’s he had a beard and glasses but thanks to a Liberal Party “makeover” he now presents all svelte and young looking ! But dont be fooled voters - the same tired old Barry awaits you the day after the polls ! A big yawn or NSW - nothing much to look forward to there folks - move along !

      Reply

    • Labor Ruined NSW says:

      03:40pm | 01/02/11

      Keep voting Labor then smarty! Don’t let hopeless, utter incompetence get in the way of you voting for the party which is your birth-rite, passed down from generation to generation.

      Fair dinkum, people like Nossy are the reason this state is falling apart. Debnam could have fixed this state at the last election but the likes of you Nossy thought ” I don’t want a spiv, premier that wears budgie smugglers.”

      I would like to see an IQ test at polling booths to keep the “true Believers” from voting. Idiots!

    • tony says:

      01:46am | 02/02/11

      Yeah Nossy it’ll be boring.  At least we won’t have to put up with the tawdry likes of paedophiles, wife bashers, druggies, thieves, liars and fraudsters who wouldn’t know the meaning of the word govern..  Nothing much to look forward to if you approve of the above behaviour.  The likes of yourself should be castrated so you don’t contaminate the rest of the state.  I couldn’t care less if Barry walked around in a leopard skin leotard as long as he and his party don’t behave with the arrogance and stupidity of this labor government.  Barry do worse than this lot?  He could’nt even if he tried.  Nossy people are going to remember this labor government for a very long time.  So get used to boring for at least 3, hopefully a lot more terms from the liberals.

    • Tedd says:

      06:57am | 01/02/11

      The sense of resignation has infused the public too, Mal.  the inability of State govts, especially NSWs, to deliver on medium to long-term planing and projects is paralysing.  They have done education very well in recent years, but not much else.

      Reply

    • Sherlock says:

      08:50am | 01/02/11

      If by “They have done education very well in recent years” you mean that have made the public education system so bad that people are fleeing it in droves as they turn to the private system thus saving the NSW State Government money, then I agree with you completely. They have done an excellent job

    • MarK says:

      07:02am | 01/02/11

      Look out Mal.

      KK is furious don’t you know. That should fix it.

      Reply

    • Michael says:

      08:26am | 01/02/11

      kk’s not furious that her colleagues are a bunch of criminals and corrupt theives - she’s just angry that they are getting caught! Just run through the list of offensences during labor’s 16 run - corruption abounds (it’s the norm. We expect it), peadophillia, narcotics, possession of class-a substances. We have shoplifting, witness tampering, assault, battery… Then there’s driving in bus lanes, speeding, drink driving, “playing away” at gay sex clubs, and the sort of behaviour the NRL would not tolerate (“look! I’m t1tty-fu%$ing your mother!”)... and that from the minister for police! ...That list is just a short one, and only some of the one’s who got caught. We have had a bunch of utterly corrupt scumbags running our state for all these years. Certainly morally corrupt. Almost definitely criminally corrupt. These scum are completely out of control, above the law and unashamed. The words “I’m sorry” are delivered cynically. They dribble in fetid chunks from the lips of labor spokepersons as an unfinished sentence: “I’m sorry (I got caught)”. As the words dribble like a steak of s#1t down the lapels of puppet (or whoever), and falls with the “splat” like a cow turd on a dairy floor we all mutter in unison “No, we’re sorry. Very, very sorry.”

    • Adam Diver says:

      09:21am | 01/02/11

      @ Michael, so true and so devastatingly depressing smile

    • rufus says:

      03:40pm | 01/02/11

      It was the same in the final year of the last coalition government led by John Fahey. Several ministers and members resigned in disgrace, one was jailed, others had minor infringements. It was the same with the Labor government before that. It will eventually be the same with O’Farrell’s lot.

      It would be a huge mistake to believe that one party is inherently morally superior. Politicians have the same moral failings as the general community, but with greater opportunities to rort, and a belief in entitlement.

    • Seano says:

      07:06am | 01/02/11

      I’m looking forward to Labor being gone in NSW. There’s so much that needs to be fixed, particularly transport and roads in Sydney.

      My big concern is O’Farrell doesn’t seem to be offering any reasonable alternative. He’s taken the small target approach, knowing that he’ll be elected in March. But will he fix our problems? I hope so but I’m not convinced. The way he rolled over to the far right of the party on canning ethics classes does not bode well.

      We could well be in for another do nothing government only intrested in power for the sake of power.

      Reply

    • Futureproof says:

      06:43pm | 01/02/11

      Would you like O’Farrell to overpromise and under deliver like KRudd and Gillard?

    • Gerard says:

      09:42pm | 01/02/11

      “We could well be in for another do nothing government only intrested in power for the sake of power.”

      Of course we are. Both major parties exist solely for the purpose of acquiring power. Why the electorate insists on repeatedly assisting them is beyond me.

    • Seano says:

      10:19am | 02/02/11

      @Gerard - I’m giving O’Farrell a chance to win my vote. Some articulate policies and a sensible stance on allowing ethics classes to continue then I will give him a go.

      Assuming hell doesn’t freeze over, I’m going to look at the minor parties, probably the dems at this stage. Hopefully a rise of independents and minor parties will force the bastards to stay honest.

      @Foolproof - Yeah, yeah, yeah. Howard did nothing except try to screw the workers who voted for him with the help of Tony Abbott. Hardly a recommendation.

    • Daniel says:

      08:14am | 01/02/11

      Malcolm, Im hoping for a sprinkling of Greens in the new lower house and a Greens controlled upper house.

      Reply

    • Saint says:

      09:55am | 01/02/11

      Daniel, why on earth would you hope for that?

    • Macon Paine says:

      12:03pm | 01/02/11

      The greens may poll well in a few seats (so they may displace Labor as second in many) but the best the greens can hope to win is probably 2 seats according to Anthony Green’s election preview: http://www.abc.net.au/elections/nsw/2011/guide/preview.htm
      See this paragraph: ‘Geographically between these three seats lies the Green heartland of Sydney, where two of Labor’s most senior ministers are at risk. Education Minister Verity Firth in Balmain (ALP 3.7% v GRN) and Deputy Premier and Health Minister Carmel Tebbutt in Marrickville (ALP 7.5% v GRN) look certain to lose their seats to the Greens.”

      I think it will be ultimately be more interesting to see if the Nationals can actually win more seats than the ALP. There is an outside chance of this happening and I reckon it would be worth having a little flutter on this.

    • this is why says:

      02:43pm | 01/02/11

      Saint the answer is “Daniel…greens member of Marrickville Council!”

    • Labor Ruined NSW says:

      03:43pm | 01/02/11

      I’m hoping for a sprinkling of common sense in the lower house but we won’t get that with Greens.

    • Grambo says:

      05:01pm | 01/02/11

      I agree Daniel.  Ground up properly and sprinkled on top of a nice salad a few Greens can add colour and texture.

    • Daniel says:

      11:53am | 06/02/11

      I think the Piers Akerman crowd have moved in here?

    • Justin says:

      09:07am | 01/02/11

      Barry could announce a tax on the Tooth Fairy, & it wouldn’t matter. The public aren’t looking for alternative policy, they’re looking to chuck the ALP out because they realised they made a huge mistake last time (by letting themselves be conned), they’re ready to bash the ALP in any way they can.

      Political reporters always lament the small target approach, but history tells us that oppositions rarely win - it takes a government to lose. Oppositions would be stupid to overcommit, because they don’t know the real state of affairs until they get the blue book. If their strong policy stance can’t be supported by the actual budget circumstances, they can be accused of policy backflips.

      Sad, but true.

      Reply

    • Polywatcher says:

      10:11am | 01/02/11

      Well said Justin. The coalition will continue to be “bagged” until the blue book is passed to them. Barry is doing exactly what he should in not promising the world only to find out the day after the election the cupboard is even more deplete than expected. And another thing one of the scribes on this blog accused Barry O’Farrell of having been around for a long time quote: “Surely though in this day and age the Liberals would have you would think a better range of choices for Premier than tired old Barry ? Barry has been around since Noah was a lad ...etc. Unquote.  Isn’t it better to have a Premier who has such wide experience and knowledge? Sure thing!!

    • Gladys says:

      09:29am | 01/02/11

      22. Wow.

      Isn’t that half of the Tasmanian Parliament?

      Reply

    • Edward James says:

      09:38am | 01/02/11

      Every time i read ” I don’t like Labor but Liberal are no better” My blood pressure goes up. @ Michael says: 08:26am | 01/02/11 kk’s not furious that her colleagues are a bunch of criminals and corrupt theives - she’s just angry that they are getting caught! I have been running full page ads in my local paper for over a year identifying documented corruption and supplying photos evidence in support of my allegations. I have identified John Robertson and the states first law officer John Hazistergos for accommodating these sins against the people the Peninsula News and Gosford Central Community News ads can be read here
      http://bit.ly/EJ_PNewsAds
      Edward James 0243419140

      Reply

    • Rick says:

      02:35pm | 01/02/11

      WHAT IS   “The basic thrust of the strategy for Labor to escape the March 26 NSW election with a respectable loss is to put the focus on the Opposition and away from the Government.

      WHEN O’Farrell simply refuses to commit himself on some substantial policy matters, such as privatisation of utilities.

      The answer is simple for the the liebor or the liebiral is to establish a system of democracy a la Switzertland in which the people are sovereign and have the right to call a referendum to change their constitution and any laws who is out of tune with the will of the people.

      So far none the main political parties even the independents have attempted to suggested it .....WHY ?

      Is there a difference between the Egyptians corrupted autocratic system and the one we have in Australia when we can’t dismiss a corrupted autocratic government who is trying to sell all our assets without asking theirs contituents and makes laws according the the party political will without consultuing their constituents ???????

      Is casting a vote the signature of a constituent to abdicate all his democratic rights to the master servants and become a true slave ???????

      I wish to know.

      Reply

    • Marty says:

      05:32pm | 01/02/11

      Rick, Labor are so on the nose in this state that Barry O’Farrell doesn’t need to commit to policy. Why would he? That only makes him a target. As Bill Hayden once said “A drovers dog could lead this party to victory” ! and I am sure that this applies here as well. Secondly there actually are mechanisms in place to oust a corrupt government, however the government as a whole does have to be proven corrupt for the NSW Governor to enact on these powers.

    • Robert S McCormick says:

      06:42pm | 01/02/11

      Two Australian States have governments which the people loathe.
      Two governments which the people know are both dishonest & possibly corrupt.
      They are the Government’s of New South Wales & South Australia.
      The Premier of NSW panicked & prorogued the NSW Parliament. Obviously she did not realise that the Governor of NSW has every right to recall the NSW Parliament & may well do so.
      The Opposition in SA sits around doing nothing. They have the power to make SA ungovernable by shutting off Supply from the Upper House.
      That both th Governemtn of NSW & the Opposition in Sa are gutless wonders is now accepted.
      That the SA Opposition does nothing is hardly surprising as they have fully endorsed without a murmur massive increases in their own pay and perks, all of which add to their money-grab when they claim teir totally unjustified pensions. The SA Opposition said not a word of objection when the dishonest SA Government gave its own members & those of the Opposition massive increases in their Superannuation
      May be the people of NSW & SA should follow the example of the Tunisians & Egyptians and take to the streets demanding & forcing the end to these two dishonest & very possibly corrupt State governments.

      Reply

    • Mary Monica Roche says:

      07:02pm | 01/02/11

      There are over 60 hot steamy days and nights between February 1 ,2011 and March 26 2011. Amazingly Labor could still win the 2011 New South Wales State Election believe it or not.
      Forget the mass media and the Liberal Party!! ,
      The Liberals and the mass media offer potential Coalition voters little more than extreme overconfidence.
      The Liberal Party and the mass media offer nothing but expect to be rewarded with a dead certain huge victory

      Reply

    • nossy says:

      07:21pm | 01/02/11

      @Mary Monica Roche - well I have made Kristina a “nosthow surefire prediction” Mary so she is as good as over the line ! The last time Barry won something was measles way back in ‘64 hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

    • Mary Monica Roche says:

      07:07pm | 01/02/11

      If elected, the Liberals and the mass media will give voters absolutely nothing at all for their support but will take much from voters just as the Liberals Coalition did in their budgets since election in 2010.
      People who vote Liberal are brainless childish fools only who search for swank..Liberal goodness is a mass media illusion.

      Reply

    • tony says:

      02:02am | 02/02/11

      Is that so Mary.  Do tell me then what you got out of labor over the past 16 years besides paedophiles, drugies, wife bashers, thieves, liars and fraudsters?  People who vote labor just love seeing their own state and country sent broke and down the toilet.  As for the msm if they had done their job and actually scrutinsed their labor mates then the 16 years of absolute crap from these idiots running NSW could have been avoided.

      Reply

    • Graham The Great says:

      09:02pm | 02/02/11

      Hey Krissy girl, use the only thing you got left, get your gear off for all labor election posters!  Face it sweetheart its the only chance that might even hold your own seat.  You gone girl, gone, gone, gone!  Next state election should be one where you just don’t tun up!

      Reply
 
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