http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/dean-jaensch/ Dean Jaensch is a political scientist and election analyst. He is an adjunct professor of politics at Flinders University, South Australia. He has been one of Australia’s foremost political commentators for several decades. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/money-thats-what-the-states-still-want/ It used to be called the Premiers’ Conference, and it was all about money. The Premiers attended, determined to screw as much cash out of the federal government as possible. When the Commonwealth took over income tax in 1942, they had no other real source of income. The meetings were essentially a theatre. The Premiers left their states with a farewell press conference, promising to extract a great deal out of Canberra. On the night before the meeting, the Commonwealth would slide its offer under the hotel door. In the morning, another series of press conferences, with each Premier deriding the meagre amount offered. When the meeting broke up, each Premier held yet another press conference, praising his or her magnificent effort in extracting a reasonable offer from the feds. End of another annual money carve-up. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Dean Jaensch) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/money-thats-what-the-states-still-want/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/money-thats-what-the-states-still-want/#item8268 Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:40:44 +0000 Dean Jaensch | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-isnt-the-first-time-labor-has-blown-up/ Over its 122-year history, the Labor party has suffered three major internal cataclysms. In 1917, the issue of conscription saw leader Billy Hughes take many Labor members with him across to the Liberal party. It took years for Labor to recover. In 1930, the depression saw Jack Lang leave the party, form his own, and wreak havoc with Labor support for a decade. In 1955, the issue of communism saw many Catholic members of the Labor party defect to the DLP. This kept Labor out of office for a generation. The Gillard versus Rudd affair reached a preliminary climax on Monday. The 71-31 vote appears conclusive. But the word “preliminary” is necessary, as some fundamental issues are left hanging. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Dean Jaensch) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-isnt-the-first-time-labor-has-blown-up/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-isnt-the-first-time-labor-has-blown-up/#item7881 Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:50:01 +0000 Dean Jaensch | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/donations-have-no-place-in-the-political-race/ Over the past few years, the rivers of private donations to political parties have grown into a flood of Queensland proportions. In the the past five years, including the 2007 and 2010 elections, the two major parties have enjoyed donations of over $700 million. Under the Electoral Act, large donors, and the parties they supported, have to be publicly reported through the Electoral Commission. But there are too many loopholes which seriously erode the transparency. The Rudd/Gillard governments have admitted reform is necessary, but it has apparently been put on the back burner. However, NSW Liberal Premier Barry O’Farrell has come to the party. His proposed reforms will pass the parliament, as the Greens have promised to support them. When the legislation comes into force, the NSW law on private donations to political parties will be the toughest in Australia. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Dean Jaensch) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/donations-have-no-place-in-the-political-race/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/donations-have-no-place-in-the-political-race/#item7833 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:35:51 +0000 Dean Jaensch | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-it-really-worth-propping-up-the-ailing-car-industry/ Australian governments have a long history of offering taxpayers’ money to private businesses in an effort to get them to come or stay. Liberal and Country League Premier Tom Playford elevated it to an art form after 1945 when he set out to build an industrial and manufacturing base in South Australia. Tax holidays, grants, cheap land, incentives, and cheap public housing for the industrial workforces through the Housing Trust. In fact, the use of public money to convince car-makers goes back even further. My attention was drawn to a question asked in the South Australian Legislative Council on 14 August 1935. The LCL government was asked “what steps has the government taken to encourage General Motors Holdens Limited to remain in South Australia?” The answer: “The government is much concerned about the possibility of losing that industry and is doing everything possible to retain it”. That question and answer could describe the current decision-making process concerning both GMH and Ford. The Federal, Victorian and South Australian governments are embroiled in trying to work out just how much taxpayer money will be needed to keep both functioning in Australia. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Dean Jaensch) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-it-really-worth-propping-up-the-ailing-car-industry/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/is-it-really-worth-propping-up-the-ailing-car-industry/#item7604 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:50:40 +0000 Dean Jaensch | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-well-deserved-pay-rise-for-these-upstanding-citizens/ Just when we thought that politics had started its summer holidays, and the “big questions” were put aside for a while, the Remuneration Tribunal released its report on Commonwealth parliamentary salaries and entitlements. The public reaction was immediate, and in the overwhelming majority, intensely negative. The cause of the anger was the proposal to lift the basic salary of a member of parliament from $141,000 to $185,000 per year. The Tribunal provided its justification: the need to “remunerate them sufficiently so as to attract and retain men and women of appropriate capacity”. No argument about the aim. We would all like our representatives to have the “appropriate capacity” to serve us. Currently many people who would be good parliamentarians could not tolerate the party apprenticeship demanded to win pre-selection, especially for a safe seat. In the Labor party, the gene pool of “capacity” seems increasingly restricted to those showing dedicated service to the party, a union and/or faction, and often service as a ministerial minder. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Dean Jaensch) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-well-deserved-pay-rise-for-these-upstanding-citizens/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-well-deserved-pay-rise-for-these-upstanding-citizens/#item7426 Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:50:39 +0000 Dean Jaensch | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Time-for-our-morning-constitutional-change/ It is likely that the 2013 federal election will be accompanied by three referendum questions. The last 110 years have not been very successful in terms of changing the Constitution; only eight of 44 referendum questions have received the required double majority. One likely question concerns local government - the third attempt! Referendums in 1974 and 1988, on whether local government should be recognised in the Constitution, were soundly defeated. The third attempt, planned to allow the Commonwealth to directly fund local government, deserves to be passed. It has bipartisan support, and unless state governments fight to retain their power over the local sector, it may be successful. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Dean Jaensch) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Time-for-our-morning-constitutional-change/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Time-for-our-morning-constitutional-change/#item7166 Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:55:57 +0000 Dean Jaensch | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Qantas-standoff-has-cleared-the-air-for-real-reform/ An industrial dispute has two sides – employer and employee. The Qantas dispute had a very important third side – the innocent travelling public. How they see the dispute, and which side they blame, will be important in the backwash. If they blame Qantas, the airline will have problems regaining, let alone improving, its share of the market. If they blame the unions, Qantas will have a strengthened bargaining position. Did Qantas have any alternative to the extraordinary decision to ground the fleet? It was facing continuous scattergun strikes, and the unions involved were not showing any intention to try to come to a compromise. The grounding tactic was clever, in that it forced the government to bring Fair Work Australia into the game, with the result that the guerilla strikes were ended. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Dean Jaensch) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Qantas-standoff-has-cleared-the-air-for-real-reform/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Qantas-standoff-has-cleared-the-air-for-real-reform/#item7061 Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:55:52 +0000 Dean Jaensch | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/in-politics-its-all-just-a-little-bit-of-history-repeating/ For SA Premier Mike Rann, “school” ends today, and from 9am tomorrow, he is on holidays. This is earlier than he wanted, but the right-wing “shoppies” union gave him no choice. No wonder he has spent much of his last days railing against factional influence in the Labor party. Mr Rann has had a long innings since taking over the Premier’s job on March 5, 2002. Not a record, by a long way. The Liberal and Country League government of Tom Playford set the record, from 1938 to 1965, a longevity which will probably never be beaten. Of course, he did have a heavily biased election system in his favour. That long Liberal reign was followed by a Labor domination. Of the 46 years from 1965 until now, Labor has been in office for 35. And that period has been dominated by three Labor Premiers: Don Dunstan (1967 – 79), John Bannon (1982 – 92), and Mike Rann (2002 – 11). In those data is one reason for the Rann angst at being pushed out of the job early – he could have achieved the record of being the longest serving Labor Premier. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Dean Jaensch) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/in-politics-its-all-just-a-little-bit-of-history-repeating/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/in-politics-its-all-just-a-little-bit-of-history-repeating/#item6964 Wed, 19 Oct 2011 19:40:19 +0000 Dean Jaensch | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/upper-houses-are-important-even-theyre-unrepresentative/ In his personal review of his legacy to South Australia, Premier Rann had two main regrets. The first was his inability to abolish the Legislative Council. This has been a key aim of the Labor party for over a hundred years. The passion flows from the fact that Labor has never won a majority of the seats in the Council. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Dean Jaensch) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/upper-houses-are-important-even-theyre-unrepresentative/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/upper-houses-are-important-even-theyre-unrepresentative/#item6856 Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:45:48 +0000 Dean Jaensch | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Disrespecting-pollies-is-as-Aussie-as-flies-at-a-barbie/ A small minority of people have expressed some concern with the ABC top-rating satire, At Home With Julia. The main complaint has been that the program does not show respect for the office of Prime Minister, nor for the incumbent. Satire about political leaders is nothing new in Australia. The Rubbery Figures series showed little respect for John Howard, and cartoonists regularly take the mickey out of almost any political leader. Respect for the office of Prime Minister has never been a strong theme in Australia. In America, the office of the President does carry strong respect. It has its own Seal, its own presidential anthem in Hail to the Chief, and the incumbent is referred to as Mr President, whether popular or not. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Dean Jaensch) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Disrespecting-pollies-is-as-Aussie-as-flies-at-a-barbie/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Disrespecting-pollies-is-as-Aussie-as-flies-at-a-barbie/#item6769 Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:00:25 +0000 Dean Jaensch | Author bios | The Punch