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The Burke Labor Government

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The Burke Labor Government THE BURKE LABOR GOVERNMENT Dr Geoffrey Gallop, Murdoch University Paper delivered at 1984 APSA Conference, 27-29 August, Melbourne University I would like to thank the many people who helped in the preparation of this paper. ·. INTRODUCTION Labor came to power in Western Australia in February 1983 on the 1 basis of 54.4 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote. This amounted toa swing of 6.5 per cent. The largest swings were recorded in the north west (10.8 per cent) and in the outer metropolitan region (7 per cent). Nine Assembly seats fell to Labor: three in the metropolitan zone, five in the agricultural, mining and pastoral zone and one in the north. The Liberals gained one seat at the expense of the National Country Party. This left Labor with a clear majority in the Legislative Assembly and only three seats with a two-party-preferred vote of below 53 per cent. The Liberal Party has four seats in such a position, including Subiaco whose member, Dr Tom Dadour, has resigned from the party and now sits as an independent. Dadour has indicated that he intends to contest the seat as an independent at the next election. The Liberal Party preserved its clear majority in the Legislative Council - and its belief in the legitimacy of the currently constituted second chamber. On the basis of 52 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote Labor won 7 out of the 17 provinces. The Liberals lost North Metropolitan to Labor but won Lower Central and Central from the National Country Party. Labor would need to win a further five seats to gain a majority in the Council at the next election. On the basis of 1983 figures North Metropolitan would go to Labor. Should it gain a swing of 4 per cent at the next election it is conceivable that a further five seats could fall to Labor: South Central Metropolitan, West and three seats in the south-west corner of the State: South West, Lower West and Lower Central. Not surprisingly the Labor government has been active in the south-west and has set up a South West Development Authority to plan, promote and co-ordinate the region's economic and social development. As it stands, however, the Burke government, like all of its predecessors, 2 faces a conservative controlled upper house. Labor's run-up to the February election effectively began in September 1981 when Brian Burke and Mal Bryce became leader and deputy­ leader and changes were made to the shadow cabinet. The coup was arranged and organised by the younger generation of parliamentarians and extra-parliamentary leaders. Up to that point personal, and to a degree, ideological differences had prevented the party's "Young Turks" from acting as a united force against the "Old Guard". Bryce had been 2 the more senior of the two, having been on the party's national executive since 1973, national vice-president (1976-77), state president (1977-79) and deputy-leader of the opposition (1977-78). Bryce became a member of the shadow cabinet in 1974. Burke, who had entered parliament at a by­ election in 1973 - two years after Bryce - could list few such achievements. At the same time he was recognised as being to the right of centre in a state branch dominated by a "broad left consensus". His father, Tom, had been the federal member for Perth from 1942 to 1955. Considered a Catholic Grouper he was expelled from the party by Joe Chamberlain (WA state secretary 3 from 1949 to 1974) even though he opposed the formation of the DLP. Bryce and his supporters from .the broad left of the party reached the conclusion that Burke had the necessary skills and flair, personal and political, to take the party to power. A key figure in those developments was Michael Beahan, former director of the Trade Union Training Authority in WA, who had become state secretary earlier in the year. Sections of the traditional left expressed misgivings about the coup and the pragmatic and business-like approach adopted by Burke and his shadow cabinet. It quickly became clear, however, that the move had the support of the party 4 overall. Labor's approach to the election was precise and methodical. In the fifteen months following the change of leadership Burke and his parliamentary colleagues made personal contact with wide sections of the local business community. Funds were raised and Labor's policies explained. In the lead up to the election itself detailed policy documents in all areas of concern were released, including special policies for the Bunbury region ("Bunbury 2000 Development Strategy") and for the defence of WA ("Defence: Protecting the West"). Most emphasis was placed on Labor's approach to economic questions. It was argued that the government ought to take a wider view of economic potential, that it ought to encourage a wider view of what constituted a legitimate interest in the economy and that it ought to think more carefully and creatively about the management of the state's assets than had been the case in the Court-O'Connor years. At the same time Labor indicated that it planned to reform the state's health, education and welfare systems as well as the electoral systems for state and local government. Labor appropriated the "West is Best" ideology from the Liberals and argued that the time had arrived for a new approach to the development of the state within the federation. Increasingly, however, it was Burke himself who came to be the central part of Labor's strategy and the slogan "Brian Burke, best new leader in Australia" 3 -v was coined. Labor pursued its campaign to convince the middle ground of its plausibility with ruthless consistency, a large team of journalists 5 and public relations consultants being employed for the purpose. THE BURKE CABINET Only two members of the Burke cabinet - Ron Davies and Dave Evans - had been ministers in the Tonkin Labor government (1971-74). Ironically they were the leaders deposed by Burke and Bryce in 1981. The Attorney­ General, Joe Berinson, had been the federal member for Perth from 1969 to 1975 and the Minister for the Environment in the last four months of the Whitlam government. He was elected to the Legislative Council in 1980. All ministers, with the exception of Davies, Evans and former locomotive driver Ken McIver, had been elected to the parliament since 1970. All of the ministers were educated in WA: eleven in state schools, three in Catholic schools and one at a local private school. Nine of the fifteen ministers have bachelor's degrees from the University of Western Australia. Before entering parliament five were teachers, four union officials and three lawyers. The remaining three were a locomotive driver, Anglican clergyman and journalist (Brian Burke). On conling to power the average age of the 6 ministry was 45. All are men. In the new government Burke is Premier and Treasurer, ~1inister for economic and social development, and Minister for tourism, women's interests and forests. Mal Bryce took on the wide ranging portfolio of economic development and technology, including resources, industrial, commerical and export development. The inclusion of technology and women's interests represented new initiatives. Mines, fuel and energy were separated from resources development and given to Peter Dowding. They had all been allocated to NCP deputy leader Peter Jones in the Court and O'Connor govern­ ments. In other developments Labor created portfolios of intergovernment relations, defence liaison and parliamentary and electoral reform. The Rottnest Island Board was transferred to the tourism portfolio in a move that clearly indicated Burke's intention to upgrade the Island's role in the state's tourist economy. In December 1983 Burke engineered a major cabinet reshuffle. Bryce was relieved of resources development and it was added to mines, fuel and energy to create a new portfolio of minerals and energy. This job was given to the youngest minister, thirty-year old David Parker. At the same time a new budget management portfolio was created and given to Joe Berinson. This allowed Burke to transfer about two-thirds of his 4 treasury workload to Berinson. Intergovernmental relations was shifted from Berinson's to Burke's office and a director appointed to assist the Premier in the area. Arthur Tonkin, leader of the House, was relieved of the consumer affairs portfolio, apparently as a result of differences betw.eenthe two over how the portfolio ought to be handled. Earlier in the year Burke had criticised Tonkin for the antagonistic public image he was presenting to the business community. Early in 1984 Burke handed the defence of the America's Cup to the party's leader in the Legislative Counci1, Des Dans. THE MACHINERY OF GOVERNMENT The first,andthe most important administrative initiative of the Labor government, was the creation of the new Department of Premier and Cabinet, replacing the Premier's Department. The duties of the old Premier's Department - the Governorship, overseas representation for the state,and correspondence - are now dealt with by one arm of the new department. Two new secti.ons have been created: the Policy Secretariat which monitors all legislation and parliamentary affairs andliaises with ministers and their advisers, and the Cabinet Secretariat which co-ordinates and timetables all cabinet submissions.? Attached to the department are the Women's Interest Unit and the Media Monitoring Unit. For the first time the government's press secretaries have been grouped to form a press pool in a centralised office. The new government brought with it a team of advisers on special contracts.
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