Firstly, well done to the Federal Nats for their sensible policy position of not bankrupting the country in the pursuit of net zero, and aiming to reduce emissions by following the rest of the world instead of charging off on our own little tangent, especially as we, as a country, can do nothing in real terms to affect global emissions.
The local Liberals, on the contrary, have not had a good week.
Let me start by saying that I like Leanne Castley and believe she would make a good Chief Minister if given the chance.
Let me also say, I can’t for the life of me see why the local Liberals voted to reduce the sitting weeks from 13 to 12. When I was in the Assembly, we sometimes had 15 sitting weeks — 13 was considered far too few. Indeed, the Liberals should have been the ones to introduce the motion to keep the sitting weeks at 13.
Elizabeth Lee and Peter Cain were right, in my view, to cross the floor, and as various commentators have noted, it’s hardly a hanging offence.
That said, I have spoken to Peter — now one of my local members — on a number of occasions and urged him, along with his colleague Elizabeth, to kiss and make up with Leanne and take on some serious shadow ministries. Both are very capable members, and Elizabeth was not far off being in a position to become Chief Minister after the last election.
I can understand her being bitterly disappointed at narrowly missing out on becoming Chief Minister last year — and if the count had gone differently, there could have been 10 Liberals, 10 Labor, three Independents and two Greens. But at the end of the day, you’re there to serve your electorate first and foremost, before personal ambition comes into it. Politics is also a rough game.
At present, I think the combination of Castley and Jeremy Hanson is fine. I’d have liked to have seen Mark Parton in the mix, but that was not to be. And at any rate, he is now the Speaker and doing a good job.
There are obviously things I don’t hear, but from what I see, the lessons from this week are:
1. Don’t vote for fewer sitting days — you’re on a hiding to nothing. The more sitting days you have, the greater your chance of holding this government to account.
2. Elizabeth and Peter, please come home. Leanne seems to genuinely want you to pick up portfolios again.
3. Over my nearly 20 years as a Liberal MLA, I don’t detect that the current Liberals are any less capable of getting along with each other than we were — and we had some difficult members at times. All parties do.
4. Don’t be afraid to vote with the Greens if they put up a good motion — it’s local government, for goodness’ sake. It’s not as though you’re being asked to get into bed with their more feral, anti-Semitic federal counterparts. At the end of the day, Shane Rattenbury, despite his party’s silly ideas on some things, is a decent human being.
5. Use this opportunity to turn a very negative week into a positive by ironing out your issues with each other behind closed doors — then get on with it. I, for one, am satisfied that you all mean well, bring many good personal attributes and experiences to the job, and do have the community’s interests at heart. You just need to show it.
