Australian Journal of Politics and History: Volume 54, Number 2, 2008, pp. 289-341.

Political Chronicles

Commonwealth of Australia July to December 2007

JOHN WANNA The Australian National University and Griffith University

The Stage, the Players and their Exits and Entrances

[…] All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; [William Shakespeare, As You Like It] In the months leading up to the 2007 general election, Prime Minister John Howard waited like Mr Micawber “in case anything turned up” that would restore the fortunes of the Coalition. The government’s attacks on the Opposition, and its new leader Kevin Rudd, had fallen flat, and a series of staged events designed to boost the government’s stocks had not translated into electoral support. So, as time went on and things did not improve, the Coalition government showed increasing signs of panic, desperation and abandonment. In July, John Howard had asked his party room “is it me” as he reflected on the low standing of the government (Australian, 17 July 2007). Labor held a commanding lead in opinion polls throughout most of 2007 — recording a primary support of between 47 and 51 per cent to the Coalition’s 39 to 42 per cent. The most remarkable feature of the polls was their consistency — regularly showing Labor holding a 15 percentage point lead on a two-party-preferred basis. Labor also seemed impervious to attack, and the government found it difficult to get traction on “its” core issues to narrow the gap. Although a number of scandals and embarrassing incidents emerged that could have hurt Labor (such as Labor’s legal spokesman having given a character reference to an convicted drug peddler, Rudd visiting a New York pole-dancing joint and getting intoxicated, and his millionaire wife getting rich on government contracts), they did not register any impact in the polls. The consistency of Labor’s unassailable lead eventually caused the government to lose its nerve on the brink of the election, causing them to behave like political novices and very much out of character. The World’s Stage — Sydney’s APEC and the “Crank Coup” Considerable planning and political calculation had gone into the arrangements for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting held in Sydney between 2–9 September 2008. John Howard wanted to strut the world’s stage as host leader mixing with other world leaders and foreign dignitaries. He had been holding off both the election and his

Journal Compilation © 2008 School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd. 290 Political Chronicles rival Peter Costello until a successful APEC was concluded. But not everything went according to plan. George W. Bush came without his wife for just a couple of days, and seemed absent-minded. It gave the impression it was all an unavoidable holiday for him, spending the first day dirt cycling before he cruised the harbour. In his formal address to delegates he made the mistake of calling APEC a meeting of “OPEC” and then thanking “you Austrians” for military support in Afghanistan! While the government milked every photo opportunity for press conferences and media releases, Kevin Rudd somewhat stole the show with a short address in Mandarin to the Chinese delegation. APEC ended as a farce; Sydney complained about the disruption; ministers were left arguing how many languages they could or couldn’t speak; meanwhile a comedy team from the Chaser’s War on Everything waltzed through the squadrons of security staff dressed as Osama bin Laden. But behind the scenes, Howard’s fate hung in the balance as his own cabinet members debated whether to oust him as the last visitor departed Australia. During the APEC talkfest, most of the cabinet (minus John Howard and his deputy Peter Costello) held a secret meeting at Quay Grand Hotel on Thursday 6 September. Howard had asked some of his senior ministers to “sound out” cabinet over their attitude to his remaining leader. At this meeting a majority of cabinet ministers expressed grave doubts Howard could win the forthcoming election due in only a matter of a few weeks, and urged him to consider resigning in favour of his deputy, Peter Costello (this was despite widespread fears that Costello was even less popular than Howard). A couple of senior ministers duly reported the ministry’s mood back to a resilient Howard who chose to disregard the amateurish revolt by his cabinet colleagues and instead stare them down (the final message back was not so unequivocal Howard later said). The PM did not want to appear a coward walking away from a fight, and personally believed he was most likely to win the pending election. This contradicted his stock answer to questions about how long he would remain leader, which was to assert he would remain only for as long as his party wished. But on election eve, his colleagues (and the “great pretender” Peter Costello) lacked the mettle to depose him and Howard refused to go of his own volition. A destabilising stalemate ensued. This “crank coup” as the journalist Matt Price dubbed it, merely gave the impression of a desperate government, floundering about and riven with internal disunity. Moreover, there was widespread disbelief that the Coalition had brought such misfortunes entirely on themselves. A temporary truce was arranged with a so-called “joint team” or diarchy of Howard and Costello ostensibly leading the party together into the election and making joint pronouncements. Howard then surprised everyone when he announced, in an unscripted TV interview, that he would consider retirement sometime late in the next term if he won the forthcoming election. Some of his colleagues doubted his sincerity, believing he was again buying time. In the days following the aborted “coup”, disaffected Costello supporters continued to spread rumours Howard might agree to step down if the polls did not improve. Such obvious signs of panic and disarray on the eve of the election appeared to undermine Howard’s core political strengths — his astuteness, credibility and leadership experience. His government was spectacularly imploding, caught in the pathology of a government in decline and unable to do anything about it. To buy more time, Howard chose to delay the announcement of the formal election allowing a “phoney campaign” to develop with both leaders extensively zigzagging the country Political Chronicles 291 pressing the flesh and shamelessly touting for votes. Opinion polls remained unmoved and decisively pro-Labor. Finally, the Onset of the Formal Campaign Howard delayed calling the election until virtually the last possible minute. Finally, he announced on Sunday, 14 October that Australians would go to the polls on 24 November (a longish campaign of six weeks). The government attempted to seize the initiative on the second day of the campaign with an audacious move that promised $34 billion in tax cuts over four years. Taken aback, Labor responded by the end of the first week copying the government’s proposed cuts almost line-by-line except it delayed cuts for very high income earners — committing $31.5 billion in tax cuts while diverting $3.4 billion toward a schooling bonus for parents to cover educational investments. Labor’s presidential-style campaign emphasised “New Leadership” under the theme of a “plan for the future”. Rudd claimed to be the man with “the plan”, and although much was aspirational rhetoric it was effective against a demoralised government. One of the main messages repeated by Labor was that “working families” faced severe difficulties and were finding it hard to make ends meet. This became a powerful message framed largely from focus group research, driven home at every opportunity, and backed by a $20 million union campaign on “Your Rights at Work”. The Opposition also trickled out a string of policy statements and platform commitments generally strong on rhetoric but short on detail (for example, to promote affordable housing Labor promised to release unused Defence land for private dwellings but omitted to include any specific commitments or actual figures). On almost all policy matters the Opposition’s tactics were to copy the government’s policy commitments — often announcing identical positions a day or so after the government had declared its position. This intentional “me-too” strategy was designed to minimise any differences between the two major protagonists — and also to reduce the government’s ability to criticise the Opposition’s policies as being unworkable or unaffordable (as policy commitments were virtually identical to those of the government). Such tactics non- plussed the government — leaving it to complain about Labor’s “setting the world record in being copycats” and asking what Labor would do when the government was not there initiating the decisions (The Weekend Australian 3-4 November 2007). There were indications Labor’s policy thinking was thin, as when the Shadow Treasurer, Wayne Swan, admitted Labor had no intention of formulating its own tax policy to go to the electorate with, but would accept the government’s tax system!). Kevin Rudd also emphasised his conservative credentials — to reassure the electorate that he offered continuity and was a safe bet. He stressed his austere upbringing and the importance of his religious faith. Above all he declared himself as a fiscal conservative who would extract $10 billion in spending cuts (“savings”) and wield a “meat axe” to a bloated public service in Canberra (including abolishing performance pay for bureaucrats). The only gaffes in Labor’s campaign came from the environment spokesperson, Peter Garrett, who developed a knack of putting his foot in his mouth. Responding to a jibe that Labor was no different from the government, he joked that Labor would act very differently once in government — against all the reassurances Rudd was then making; he further caused a major hiccup when he contradicted party policy on climate change stating that Australia would embrace emissions targets even if the developing countries such as India or China did not. He was forced to retract his statement, after which he was largely removed from the campaign. 292 Political Chronicles

The Coalition, by contrast, laid stress on the “Right Leadership” and offered the electorate a series of bribes and electoral sweeteners — tax cuts, increased social services, 30 per cent cut in childcare fees, education rebates, a $4 billion seniors package, a home-buyer savings scheme, plus spending commitments worth $8.5 billion in Howard’s formal campaign launch speech on 16 November. The Coalition’s previously successful tactic of warning that interest rates would rise more steeply under Labor was negated this time around because interest rates had risen six times under Howard since 2004. The Reserve Bank also further tightened rates by 0.25 per cent in early November during the campaign itself — and warned of additional increases in borrowing rates if spending and inflation did not abate. Interestingly, foreign affairs and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan hardly rated a mention in the campaign. One of the noticeable characteristics of the campaign was the heavy emphasis on negative advertising. Labor ran ads depicting Howard asleep on climate change; accusing him of being duplicitous for not telling the electorate about Work Choices in 2004; and that Howard had broken promises allowing interest rates to increase six times since the last election. Labor’s internet videos on YouTube stated “no offence Mr Howard but you have been there too long”. The Coalition targeted Labor’s unrepresentativeness, claiming trade unions and Labor lawyers made up 70 per cent of Rudd’s front bench and were anti-business. The fact that all state and territory governments were also Labor caused the Liberals to warn of “wall-to-wall Labor” using a map of Australia with the words “Labor debt” stamped over each jurisdiction. Coalition ads also painted the Rudd team as inexperienced and lacking the requisite depth of talent. Senior ministers kept asking how Labor would manage the economy or respond to a major economic downturn in the wake of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis. During the campaign, opinion polls hardly shifted in response to any announcement, policy commitment, staged event or political gaffe. But such polling consistency and absence of any volatility was misleading and hid substantial regional differences in party support — especially in Queensland where Labor enjoyed a huge lead and Western Australia where the Coalition was ahead. With the government looking tired and out of tune with the electorate, the polls held up for Labor — at one stage giving the party a 16 per cent lead. These were wildly optimistic projections for most of the campaign — indicating Labor would capture around 58 per cent of the two-party- preferred vote — perhaps translating into ninety to 100 seats. In the event, Labor finished nowhere near this high water mark. Results: Victory to “Kevin O7” — a Personal Loss for Howard Labor managed to win twenty-three seats net. It was a much narrower victory than had been predicted with many seats won by slender margins (with twenty-one seats won by under 5 per cent and ten held by 2 per cent or under). The overall two-party-preferred swing to Labor was 5.44 per cent, taking it to 52.7 per cent against the Coalition’s 47.3. Labor’s primary vote was just 43.38 per cent compared to the Coalition’s 42.09 per cent (its second lowest winning primary result since the war). Labor would not have formed government without the unexpectedly large number of seats captured in Queensland (nine net gains, giving it fifteen out of twenty-nine in the state). Over the rest of Australia, Labor managed a net gain of fourteen seats — two short of the number needed to form government (sixteen). In short, Queensland delivered government for Rudd with the “sunbelt swing” of 7.5 per cent. Queenslanders felt they were voting for one of “their own”. Political Chronicles 293

The Liberals lost twenty seats net and the Nationals two. Swings were not uniform across the country — as the Liberals won two seats in Western Australia (Cowan and Swan but lost Hasluck to Labor) and the Nationals regained a seat from the Independents (Calare). Behind its Queensland result, Labor won seven seats in New South Wales, but achieved small gains in the other states (Victoria just two seats, South Australia three, Tasmania two and one seat in the Northern Territory). Indeed, in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory and states of Western Australia, Tasmania and Victoria the swings to Labor were below the national swing of 5.31. By contrast, in Queensland and New South Wales, Labor often achieved primary vote increases well into double figures in the new seats won (Macquarie 17.13 per cent, Dawson 16.44 per cent, Forde 12.15 per cent, Leichhardt 12.08 per cent, Lindsay 11.68 per cent, and Longman 10.92 per cent). Two sitting Independents were returned (Bob Katter in Kennedy and Tony Windsor in New England). The biggest news of the election was the personal defeat of John Howard in his marginal New South Wales seat of Bennelong. Howard became only the second prime minister to lose his seat at a general election, suffering a 5.5 per cent swing against him to Labor’s “star candidate” and former ABC current affairs journalist, Maxine McKew. Howard narrowly won the primary vote in the seat (39,551 to the ALP’s 39,408) but lost on the final allocation of preferences with 42,251 votes to McKew’s 44,685 (or 48.6 per cent to 51.4 per cent). McKew achieved a massive increase in Labor’s primary vote of 16.18 per cent. The eventual composition of the new House of Representatives was Labor with eighty-three seats to the Coalition’s sixty-five, and two Independents (a sixteen-seat majority). Around forty of Labor’s seats were delivered courtesy of disciplined Green preferences that flowed overwhelmingly to Labor (80 per cent of Green preferences went to the ALP). In some seats Green candidates polled in excess of 10 per cent and were often the only sizeable minor party, meaning their preferences determined the final outcome in those seats. Australian Election 2007 — Main Parties, Primary Vote and Seats Won Political Party Votes Received % Primary Seats Won +/- % Vote Vote Change Aust Labor Party 5,388,147 43.38 83 +5.74 Liberal Party 4,506,236 36.28 55 -4.19 Nationals + CLP 722,722 5.81 10 -0.40 Greens 967,781 7.79 0 +0.60 Aust Democrats 89,810 0.72 0 -0.52 One Nation 32,650 0.26 0 -0.93 Family First 246,792 1.99 0 -0.02 CDP Christian 104,705 0.84 0 +0.22 Party Independents 275,135 2.22 2 -0.02 (total) Australian Election 2007 — Two-Party Preferred Result Party Group Total Votes Percentage % Net Swing % Aust Labor Party 6,545, 759 52.70 +5.44 Liberal-National 5,874, 104 47.30 -5.44 Coalition Source: Australian Electoral Commission, 2007 Election Facts and Figures/National Totals. 294 Political Chronicles

In the Senate the Coalition lost the majority it had held since 2005, dropping to 37 Senate seats out of 76 in the Chamber (enough to block the new Labor government but not enough to defeat it on its own). Labor secured four additional senators (one each from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania). The Greens lost one seat in New South Wales but held its seat in Tasmania (where the Greens leader Bob Brown was returned) and won two additional seats (in Western Australia and South Australia). The Liberals lost two seats — one each in South Australia and Tasmania. The big losers in the Senate were the Australian Democrats (a party that had often enjoyed holding the balance of power), which was wiped out after much internal discord and leadership problems. They had gone into the election with four sitting senators but finished with no senators in the new Senate that would commence sitting in July 2008. The final composition of the new Senate would be thirty-two senators to the Labor government, thirty-seven to the Opposition Coalition (thirty-three Liberal and four Nationals), with five Greens, one Family First and one non-aligned. The non-aligned senator was Nick Xenophon from South Australia, a former member of the state parliament who had long campaigned against poker machines and the evils of gambling. The new government would be able to pass legislation only if they could secure the support of the Greens plus Family First plus Nick Xenophon, but as this was an unlikely combination it was in for a rocky road with the realigned Senate. The Labor Ministry and Coalition Front Bench Rudd wasted no time crafting his first ministry — announcing the full line up on Thursday 29 November and with the ministry sworn in on 3 December. Rudd gave his deputy a mega portfolio of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, and kept Wayne Swan in Treasury. Rudd split the environment portfolio giving Climate Change and Water to Senator Penny Wong with Peter Garrett responsible for Environment, Heritage and the Arts. John Faulkner was made Special Minister of State and Cabinet Secretary (a senior political ministry without portfolio). Stephen Smith was promoted to Foreign Affairs; Robert McClelland was shifted to Attorney-General; Senator Chris Evans was appointed to Immigration and Citizenship; Martin Ferguson became minister for a new portfolio of Resources, Energy and Tourism; Joe Ludwig took Human Services and Tony Burke (the youngest cabinet minister at thirty-eight) was appointed to Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Most other ministers remained in the same portfolios they had served as shadow ministers. Rudd dropped six serving front- benchers from his ministry (Arch Bevis, Kerry O’Brien and Kate Lundy were dropped entirely, while Bob McMullan, Jan McLucas and Laurie Ferguson were demoted to parliamentary secretaries). Also promoted to parliamentary secretary posts were newcomers Maxine McKew (childhood and childcare), Mike Kelly (defence), Gary Gray (infrastructure and regions) Bill Shorten (families and indigenous affairs) and Greg Combet (defence procurement). The line-up of the new team was generally well received, and there was agreement that Rudd had picked “his” team rather than relied on factional ranking. The ministry consisted of twenty cabinet ministers, ten outer ministers, and twelve parliamentary secretaries (almost 37 per cent of caucus were in the ministry). Meanwhile, with many seats still undecided, the Liberal and National parties conducted leadership ballots for their new leadership. Among the Liberals, with Howard gone, Peter Costello announced the day following the election that he would not contest the leadership, as did Alexander Downer and Philip Ruddock. Three contenders emerged for the top job — Brendan Nelson, Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott. Lacking support and widely perceived as “too close to Howard”, Abbott Political Chronicles 295 withdrew his candidacy, leaving a two-horse race. At the party room vote Nelson won narrowly by forty-five votes to forty-two. It appeared Turnbull did not fully accept the outcome — implying he would challenge again before storming into Nelson’s office to demand the new leader put up more fight in defending the Coalition. Julie Bishop won the deputy’s position against challenger Andrew Robb. The Nationals were in an even more parlous situation. Mark Vaile refused to continue in the leadership role, leaving the party with no heir apparent and few anxious to take the top job. With only ten Nationals in the House, rumours circulated that if no serious contender emerged, Senator Barnaby Joyce or Peter McGauran would be drafted; but faced with this prospect Warren Truss put up his hand to become leader unopposed along with deputy Nigel Scullion. Nelson announced a thirty-eight member shadow ministry on 6 December. At their own request he excluded Costello, Downer and Ruddock, and demoted another former minister from his frontbench, Kevin Andrews, the former minister for Employment and Workplace Relations who was dropped entirely from the frontbench although given a job of commenting on federal-state relations. The former Minister for Ageing, Christopher Pyne, remained in the outer portfolios even though he had run for the deputy leadership position. Nelson promoted Turnbull to shadow Treasurer, Senator Nick Minchin to defence, Andrew Robb to foreign affairs, Peter Dutton to finance, Greg Hunt to climate change, environment and water, Senator George Brandis to legal affairs, Tony Smith to education, and re-promoted John Cobb to regional development. Ian MacFarlane from the Liberals was appointed shadow minister for trade, taking the prized portfolio from the Nationals for the first time since 1956. Off to Bali for a Climate Confab With senior representatives of the world’s powers congregating at the Bali climate conference, Rudd announced that his government would send not only one ministerial delegate but four (himself, Senator Wong, Wayne Swan and Peter Garrett). Australia indicated it would now sign the Kyoto protocol (the penultimate nation to so do with the US holding out as the last recalcitrant), and this announcement was widely welcomed by the Bali delegates. But within days of commencing this process the government indicated it opposed a medium-term extension of emission reduction targets to 2020. There was little consensus at the Bali meeting among the world’s main carbon-emitting nations — with Australia, the US, Russia, Japan and Canada holding out against new reduction targets. Australia’s position looked expedient and made up on the run — with the government providing the excuse it was awaiting economic analysis and recommendations from its own review headed by Professor Ross Garnaut (announced while in opposition). After the ministerial delegates departed there was still no agreed compromise, and so officials remained in Bali for up to fourteen days to hammer out an eventual compromise. Finally, on 15 December, the US capitulated and a deal of sorts was cobbled together (that nations would agree to a further two years of negotiations leading to emission cuts to be ratified at a Copenhagen conference in December 2009), although the US government then asserted its right to disregard the accord. Agreements were also reached on the necessity to reduce deforestation and to exchange know-how on clean energy technologies. Australian environmental critics have subsequently argued that Australia will not meet its Kyoto emission targets by 2012.

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Other Significant Developments Following the Glasgow airport bombing in the UK, an Indian doctor working on the Gold Coast, Dr Mohamed Haneef, was arrested at Brisbane airport on 2 July after it was claimed he had lent a mobile phone SIM card to one of the bombers (see Queensland Political Chronicle). Haneef’s detention led to a protracted civil rights scandal that raised questions about the government’s administration of justice — and especially to the role of the Australian Federal Police and to Immigration Minister Kevin Andrew’s judgement. Haneef became a person of interest due to this link to the bombers, but a Queensland court ordered his release from detention on 15 July (with $10,000 bail set). Immediately following this decision the minister cancelled Haneef’s visa and re-imprisoned him under the immigration laws (failing the “character test” citing secret police information that he was a terror suspect). Under a secret deal, the minister allowed Haneef to leave the country on 29 July, and he was later granted the right to return by the federal count in December. Meanwhile on 29 December another convicted terrorist, David Hicks, was finally released from Yatala gaol in Adelaide after serving over six years in detention, mostly at Guantanamo Bay before his military trial. He was released on condition he reported to police three times a week and did not breach the US-imposed ban on his speaking to the media about his ordeal. His release unleashed a media circus — with various media outlets vying for exclusives from Hicks or various family members. Hicks did not oblige. In August Justice Ian Callinan retired from the High Court (approaching seventy years of age) and was replaced by another Queensland Supreme Court Judge, Susan Kiefel. She became only the third female judge appointed to the court in its history and the second currently sitting woman among the seven member bench. Her appointment led to two debates taking place — one among some lawyers complaining that judges had to retire at seventy; and another among the judiciary more generally about the appointment process of judges to senior courts. While the appointment process remained in the hands of politicians (the Attorney-General’s recommendation to cabinet and then to the Governor-General), lawyers argued the case for various judicial selection processes. Finally, one of the most celebrated political stoushes of the year concerned the approval process to allow Tasmanian timber firm Gunns Ltd to proceed with a timber pulp mill on the Tamar River north of Launceston (see Tasmanian Political Chronicle). Things became interesting when one of John Howard’s close business friends and Telstra director, Geoff Cousins, with his own land interests in the vicinity, decided to launch a personal campaign against both the environment minister Malcolm Turnbull and his counterpart Peter Garrett. Cousins used emotive advertising in local papers to question “is Malcolm Turnbull the Minister for Environment or the minister against the environment?”, and referred to Garrett as a “lost cause” and a “weak man”. As the campaign turned bitter, Turnbull lost his cool and had the temerity to accuse Cousins of being a “rich bully” — to which Cousins said “in terms of rich, Malcolm could buy and sell me before breakfast, and in terms of the bully stakes I think Malcolm ranks pretty high”. Turnbull followed the advice of his scientific assessment team based in CSIRO and approved the project in early October. Subsequently, a campaign was run against the ANZ bank as the main financier of Gunns. But, while creating much enmity, the campaign did not impact on the political fortunes of the two political protagonists in the election — both held their seats comfortably.

Political Chronicles 297

New South Wales LLOYD COX Politics and International Relations, Macquarie University

By July 2007, the glow of Labor’s March election victory had dimmed. Prior to the election, the New South Wales Premier, Morris Iemma, had tempted fate by stating that if there was another Sydney rail breakdown “we will deserve the condemnation and a shellacking from the electorate” (15 March). Several breakdowns later, his government received the condemnation and shellacking the Premier had anticipated. On 5 July, the first of several public transport incidents brought much of the rail system to a standstill. A metal maintenance hatch blew off the top of a train crossing the Harbour Bridge, snagging in power lines, and bringing rail and some road traffic to a halt. Shortly after, the northern line was closed because of fallen trees, which blocked the tracks for approximately five hours. The thirty-six replacement buses were woefully inadequate for the more than 30,000 stranded rail commuters, some of whom chose to walk rather than wait (Sydney Morning Herald, 6 July 2007). When it was revealed that the hatch blew off because of the absence of a cheap split- pin that was meant to secure it, the response of those in positions of authority was predictable if not edifying — take no responsibility and be quick to place the blame on others. As the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald opined: The Transport Minister, John Watkins, blames the Railcorp chief, Vince Graham. Mr Graham blames Railcorp maintenance workers. Union leaders blame Mr Graham (Sydney Morning Herald, 13 July 2007). But everyone else, it seemed — from commuters, to the media, to Opposition leader Barry O’Farrell — blamed the state government. Back from holiday, Premier Iemma met with Railcorp and union officials, presumably trying to evoke the impression that many of the rail problems could be put down to fractiousness between the two parties which he, the neutral mediator, would put his mind to resolving (Sydney Morning Herald, 16 July 2007). But the very next day, the Transport Minister, John Watkins, removed one of Iemma’s main bargaining chips with the unions when he unilaterally ruled out any outsourcing of railway maintenance (Sydney Morning Herald, 17 July 2007). Such bold action on the part of the Deputy Premier further fuelled speculation that Watkins could take over from Iemma at some point before the next state election, a proposition that Iemma has previously ruled out. As if its rail problems were not enough, July also saw the New South Wales government dogged by other difficulties. An investigation of Sydney’s ferry services revealed spiralling costs and dwindling patronage, which has raised the prospect of privatisation (Sydney Morning Herald, 11 July 2007). Further, the selling of wilderness areas at a fraction of market value, and the government’s addiction to coal-fired power stations, put its green credentials in doubt (Sydney Morning Herald, 2, 14 July 2007). Finally, the government reneged on an earlier promise to refuse clubs licences to place poker machines outside in smoking areas, a decision that was greeted with glee by the hospitality industry (Sydney Morning Herald, 23 July 2007). The state branch of the Liberal Party had its own tribulations in July. These centred on the pre-selection of right candidate Michael Towke in the federal seat of Cook, based in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire. Having apparently secured the pre-selection in mid-July over more experienced candidates, and having been congratulated by Prime 298 Political Chronicles

Minister Howard for his victory, questions began to be asked about Towke’s path to victory (Sydney Morning Herald, 16 July 2007). His position quickly began to unravel. A number of declarations by new Liberal Party members alleged that Towke had paid for their membership in October of the previous year. The clear expectation was that they would vote for Towke in the looming pre-selection battle (Sydney Morning Herald, 19, 20, 26 July 2007). By late July up to thirteen members had made the same claim. Liberal Party President Geoff Selig considered taking the matter to the federal executive, which split the state executive, with even some of the right distancing themselves from Towke. By early August, the pre-selection controversy had come to a head. The Liberal Party’s state director, Graham Jaeschke, demanded that the state executive refuse to endorse Towke’s pre-selection. There was a suggestion that if it did not refuse, he would resign; something that Jaeschke would not confirm. The matter was eventually resolved when the Prime Minister himself intervened to ensure that Towke’s pre- selection was not endorsed by the party’s state executive (Sydney Morning Herald, 2, 4-5 August 2007). The cross-factional figure Scott Morrison was eventually pre- selected for the safe Liberal seat at the end of the month. Power, Ticketing, and Liquor Licensing, As if to assuage critics of the government’s dependence on coal, in early August Morris Iemma flagged that New South Wales’s next power station might be gas- powered. He also made it clear, however, that this would depend on the federal government getting its house in order with respect to a carbon trading scheme (Sydney Morning Herald, 1, 2 August 2007). The absence of clear details about the scheme, Iemma suggested, made it impossible for state governments and potential investors to forward plan effectively: […] proponents who commit billions of dollars to power stations over the next three years need certainty that they will not be disadvantaged by the start-up of the scheme and its rules. Get the rules out there to provide the certainty that it needs [Iemma demanded] (Sydney Morning Herald, 2 August 2007). While there was certainly some truth in what Iemma was saying, there was also good political capital to be gained in adopting this posture. The state government’s own delay in taking a decision could be explained away as being necessitated by Canberra’s incompetence, while confrontation with strong supporters of the coal industry within his own cabinet — such as Treasurer, Michael Costa — could be averted until some time in the future. What could not be averted in August was more scrutiny of the state’s reliance on private capital in the public transport sector, and the problems that have bedevilled these public-private partnerships. On 3 August, the government awoke to the front- page headlines, “OFF THE RAILS: Train company crisis, ticketing debacle” (Sydney Morning Herald, 3 August 2007). Just seven months after the private operator of the Cross City Tunnel was placed into receivership, with the tax-payer to pick up the bill, the story went on to detail both the financial difficulties of the engineering company contracted to oversee the development of Sydney’s next generation of trains, and the failings of the company charged with implementing an integrated ticketing system on Sydney’s public transport. The latter is already seven years overdue, and has been a continuing source of embarrassment for the state government since it promised, but failed to deliver, an integrated ticketing system for the 2000 Olympics. The deadline for the commuter trials of the ticketing system was then moved to November 2004, and Political Chronicles 299 then moved again to 2006 — both dates coming and going without completion of the trials (Sydney Morning Herald, 24, 27 August 2007). More recently, the $20 million trial, involving tens of thousands of school students, all but collapsed. Thousands of students, many bus drivers and the bus companies all rejected the technology. Ministry of Transport figures quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald revealed that of the 285,000 “Tcards” issued to students, only around 12 per cent were actually used (27 August 2007). The other issue to excite politicians, media commentators, and beer drinkers in August was the effort by Sydney’s Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, to overhaul New South Wales’s liquor licensing laws (Sydney Morning Herald, 23 24, 25-26 August 2007). “The complex and expensive licensing process in New South Wales”, Moore suggested, “is preventing smaller, intimate venues from opening in Sydney.” She continued: Sydney deserves better and I am currently drafting a bill to reform New South Wales liquor laws, allowing for a vibrant and diverse late-night economy with lower impact premises. This needs to be publicly debated in the next session of Parliament so our laws are more in line with current community standards (Sydney Morning Herald, 23 August 2007). What she has in mind, it seems, is a drinking and dining culture more in line with that prevalent in Melbourne, with its greater diversity of small and medium sized bars. This is a vision that both the state Opposition and the New South Wales representatives of the Australian Hotels Association reject. The former warned that it was a vision which, if implemented, would leave Sydney “awash with alcohol”. The Opposition’s gambling and racing spokesman, George Souris, argued that Moore’s proposal was untenable: “Alcohol-related problems like binge-drinking, antisocial behaviour, domestic violence and youth alcoholism would potentially be exacerbated by a streetscape lined with alcohol outlets” (Sydney Morning Herald, 24 August 2007). The New South Wales President of the Australian Hotels Association, John “Thorpie” Thorpe, also condemned the plan, insisting that Sydney-siders did not “want to sit in a hole and drink Chardonnay and read a book [...] That’s not what Sydney wants” (Sydney Morning Herald, 25-26 August 2007). At the time, the government took a more agnostic view. A spokesman for the Minister for Racing and Gaming said that Moore had not spoken to the Minister, but that “the Iemma Government expects to bring a new liquor act to Parliament soon” (Sydney Morning Herald, 24 August 2007). Given that Australian Electoral Commission figures show that the Hotels Association had donated $705,996 to New South Wales Labor in the previous eight years, it was understandable that Moore was pessimistic about the prospects of her private member’s bill being passed in anything like the form that she had intended. One hotelier wryly commented of the $705,996 Hotels Association donations to Labor: “You got that figure completely wrong. We give much more money to the Labor Government than that” (Sydney Morning Herald, 24 August 2007). But Moore needn’t have been so pessimistic: by November her proposal would have the support of both the Government and the Opposition. August ended with Sydney gearing up for the APEC conference in early September. Special legislation was passed on 30 August giving police sweeping powers to exclude people from Sydney’s CBD and to lock people up for the duration of the conference (Sydney Morning Herald, 30, 31 August 2007).

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APEC, Electricity Privatisation and Health Costing $330 million, and with over 4,000 international officials, 5,000 police and intelligence agents, and 1,000 foreign media descending on the city, Sydney’s CBD was in full lockdown by 2 September. The state government’s Transport Minister, John Watkins, all but warned workers in the city to stay home or get out of town, promising that things would be “50 times worse” than when US Vice President Dick Cheney visited Sydney earlier in the year. “There will be an increase in disruption as every day passes through this week leading up to APEC proper”, Watkins said (Sydney Morning Herald, 3, 4 September 2007). Although offering his apologies for being “a pain”, US President George Bush’s motorcade was perhaps the single biggest cause of disruption, in more ways than one. Transported to Australia in three huge C-17 Globemaster planes and two modified 747- 200Bs, the President’s entourage included twenty vehicles, two helicopters, 150 national security advisors, and 250 Secret Service Agents (Sydney Morning Herald, 3, 6 September 2007). Not only was this display of imperial muscle a burden for Sydney’s quarantined streets, it was also a key irritant to protestors who had converged on Sydney. In anticipation of the urban warfare that has attended the forums of global capitalism in recent years, 4,500 state police had been mobilised for the event. They promised to target student protestors who skipped school, and to take a non-compromising attitude with all demonstrators who violated the exclusion zone. On 4 September, the Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, took legal action to prevent the “Stop the Bush Coalition” from marching on their preferred route between the Town Hall and Hyde Park. On 5 September, the New South Wales Supreme Court was told that Sydney faced “unprecedented violence” and “full-scale riots” if the protestors were allowed to use the route. Chief Superintendent Stephen Cullen warned of “horrendous consequences” and said that he had “absolutely no doubt that minority groups will engage in a level of violence not previously experienced in Sydney” (Sydney Morning Herald, 5, 6 September 2007). In the face of such apocalyptic scenarios, the Court duly granted the Police’s application to stop the protestors using the route. As the event unfolded, the reality did not match the police hyperbole. The anticipated violence was largely absent, except for the occasional high-profile incident involving what was, prima facie, police misuse of powers. For example, a middle-aged accountant was crash-tackled by police when crossing a road on his way to lunch with his son, and was then held in jail for twenty-two hours. Similarly, a freelance photographer was arrested and charged after refusing to stop filming police. In one of the defining images of police tactics during the event, photographer Paula Bronstein was filmed being deliberately knocked to the ground by police, from which she received bruising and a broken camera lens (Sydney Morning Herald, 10, 11 September 2007). Needless to say, Morris Iemma congratulated police on the “outstanding job” that they had done throughout the conference. On 11 September, the much-anticipated Owen Report into the future of state-owned electricity was released. Predictably, the Report recommended the privatization of the state’s retail electricity arm, and the private construction of a new base load power station. At the time of the state election in March, the government had fudged the issue of electricity privatization, but was now, with the authority of the good Professor’s Report lending support, willing to concede that electricity privatisation was its preferred option (Australian Financial Review, 4 September 2007; Sydney Morning Herald, 5, 11, 12 September 2007). Political Chronicles 301

While the government’s plans were enthusiastically supported by energy companies, financiers and the New South Wales Opposition, the Greens and the unions roundly condemned the possibility of privatisation. New South Wales Greens MP John Kaye argued that privatization of electricity would have damaging consequences for the environment and for greenhouse gas reduction targets: “Privately owned retailers will need to sell more energy to make more profits”, Kaye said. The New South Wales United Services Union head, Ben Kruse, suggested that the sale of the industry “will mean insecure jobs as employees are pushed into the private sector and it will mean increased electricity prices” (Sydney Morning Herald, 5 September 2007). Resistance by the unions presented something of a problem for the Iemma government. With the federal election just around the corner, the Premier did not want to provoke a fight with one of Labor’s core constituencies. Hence, he took a conciliatory approach: “The union issues and their concerns will form part of our deliberations. I’ve had some preliminary discussions. [But] In the end […] the Government will be making a decision in the best interests of the people of New South Wales” (Sydney Morning Herald, 11 September 2007). In the last week of September, a political storm broke out around the state’s hospitals, which would put the state government even more on the defensive. When the story broke that a woman, Jana Horska, had miscarried her baby in the toilets of the Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) on 25 September, after having waited for hours in acute pain to be treated, more women came forward to relate similar experiences at RNSH. Moreover, health professionals added their voice to a chorus claiming that the problems at RNSH were systemic and derived from a funding formula that left many, if not most, hospitals under-resourced relative to the demands placed on them. Linda Dayan, a former doctor at the hospital, was told that RNSH “didn’t need as much funding as other hospitals” because “people on the North Shore had money and could pay to go to private health care”. An embattled Health Minister, Reba Meagher, rejected this: “We utterly reject the claim. We are bound by the Australian Health Care Agreement to provide equal access to services regardless of where people live” (Sydney Morning Herald, 28 September 2007). Hospital Crisis Deepens What began as a supposedly isolated incident at RNSH in September had been generalised into a veritable political tsunami in the first weeks of October. The government had to weather a cyclone of public and media criticism about long patient waiting lists, the over-stretching of medical professionals, and the lack of adequate resources in the state’s hospitals (Sydney Morning Herald, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-7, 10, 12, 17, 18 October 2007). The initial obdurate stance taken by the government began to give way to more appeasing language — along with a public relations, feel-good campaign — as it came to realize the depth of the disaffection with which it was dealing. To reassure the public, the Health Minister and the Premier were photographed visiting Mums and babies at Westmead Hospital — a stunt that partially back-fired when it was revealed that the photograph appearing in the Sydney Morning Herald was with a Mum and baby in a private room paid for by health insurance (5 October 2007). Moreover, the Health Minister admitted that there were serious problems with the New South Wales health system and, contradicting statements that she had made previously, conceded that rates of private health insurance are factored in when calculating the distribution of funds to hospital areas (Sydney Morning Herald, 10 October 2007). 302 Political Chronicles

But one thing that the government would not back down on was its refusal to countenance a broader inquiry into the state’s hospitals, as argued for by the conservative Opposition and by the Greens. Instead, Premier Iemma lobbied the leader of the Christian Democrats, the Reverend Fred Nile, to lead a government-dominated inquiry whose terms of reference would be limited to the investigation of the RNSH (Sydney Morning Herald, 17 October 2007). While the tumult around the hospital crisis played itself out, the government quietly moved to extend the prospects of gambling operators in the state. Premier Iemma pushed for the granting of an online betting license to the gambling company Betfair, which is half owned by James Packer’s PBL. Simultaneously, it was announced that Star City Casino would be the beneficiary of 140 extra gaming tables, as part of a $100 million deal with the state government (Sydney Morning Herald, 29, 31 October 2007). On 5 November, Clover Moore’s small bars proposal, discussed above, got the green light from the Government, and also received bi-partisan support from the Opposition, sending the Hotels Association into paroxysms of outrage (Sydney Morning Herald, 6, 7 Nov 2007). The scandal surrounding hospitals also continued to simmer in November, though pushed off the front pages by the looming Federal election (Sydney Morning Herald, 8, 13, 15 November 2007). But not even the election could keep the tragic death of a child off the front pages of the state’s newspapers. On 3 November, seven-year-old Shellay Ward was found dead in her bed in Newcastle, apparently having starved to death. When it was revealed that the autistic child’s family was known to the Department of Community Services, the state government had yet another crisis to contend with. Kevin Greene, the Community Services Minister, accepted that “the system has let this child down.” Yet it was not just an impersonal “system” that had let the child down. It was also conscious political decisions. A report by the New South Wales Auditor-General, tabled in Parliament on 28 November, revealed that government spending on children at risk had almost halved over the previous five years (Sydney Morning Herald, 28 November 2007). In the weeks immediately before Christmas, the main issue exercising the government was preparing the way for the electricity sell-off. With the federal election over, the Premier could now begin staring down the unions and begin preparing public opinion. His main strategy in selling the proposal was to link the sale, and the projected $15 billion revenue generated, to the renewal of New South Wales’s ailing infrastructure, especially public transport (Sydney Morning Herald, 8-9, 11 December 2007; The Financial Review, 11 December 2007). The broad media support that the Iemma Government received for this policy was in sharp contrast to the scandals that were about to engulf his government in the New Year.

Victoria July to December 2007

NICK ECONOMOU Monash University

A car accident involving twenty-year-old Nicholas Bracks, the son of the then Victorian Premier Steve Bracks, was to be the catalyst for a major change in Victorian Political Chronicles 303 politics. Young Nick Bracks had come back to the family home in Williamstown after a night out with university friends when, in the early hours of 13 July, he and a friend ventured out in the family Saab. The car, which Nick Bracks had been driving, crashed into a tree at 4:00 a.m. and the passenger in the car was injured. Police attending the scene took the obligatory test for alcohol consumption where it was revealed that young Bracks had a blood alcohol reading of 1.2 per cent — well over the 0.05 per cent permissible under Victorian law (news.com.au, 13 July 2007). Steve Bracks and his wife Terri were holidaying at Wye River on the Victorian west coast at the time of the accident and learned about the incident later that morning. The incident precipitated a short period of intense media scrutiny of the case, driven by reference to the extensive anti-drink-diving campaign undertaken by successive Victorian governments, with a secondary debate about the extent to which the political father was culpable for the sins of the son. Then, two weeks later, Steve Bracks shocked the state by announcing his resignation as Labor leader and premier and also declared his intention to leave politics altogether. Bracks was not the only Labor leader to have been under pressure over the intersection of his family life with the demands of politics. Deputy leader John Thwaites had also been the subject of criticism and attack over allegations that, as tourism minister, he and his family had enjoyed free accommodation at a ski resort in the Mt Buller National Park as well as some free holiday time at the Tidal River resort at the Wilson’s Promontory National Park (Herald Sun, 6 July 2007). The deputy premier refuted these allegations of misuse of public resources, arguing that he had been at these places to attend management meetings in his capacity as the responsible minister. This matter was one of the few to have been seized upon by the Liberal opposition and its leader, Ted Baillieu, and used against a government that had otherwise appeared to be in the political ascendancy and enjoying high levels of public support as measured by newspaper opinion polls. Thwaites was clearly upset by the attack on his family, however, and the resignation of his premier provided the deputy leader with the opportunity to announce his retirement from politics as well (The Age, 27 July 2007). These announcements meant that the Labor party would have to elect a new leader and premier as well as undertaking a major re-shuffle of the ministry, and that by-elections would be needed to fill the casual vacancies that now occurred in the former premier’s seat of Williamstown, and the former deputy’s seat of Albert Park. From Bracks to Brumby The election of a new parliamentary Labor leader was the first priority. Here the former treasurer and one-time leader during the lean years of opposition between 1992 and 1999, John Brumby, was elected unopposed (Age, 30 July 2008). Brumby’s ascendancy to the premiership was more or less assured by the lack of any obvious alternative leadership candidate and by the fact that, like Bracks, Brumby was from the dominant right Labor Unity faction. Indeed, Brumby had been thought of as being the second most important person in the Bracks government after the premier himself, and was considered to have been the driving force behind the government’s approach to economic policy. He seemed to be the natural choice as Bracks’ replacement. The positions of deputy leader and treasurer were more keenly contested, however. The press reported that Attorney-General and Racing Minister Rob Hulls was the most likely to be elected by Caucus to the deputy leadership, but that Health Minister Bronwyn Pike and Transport Minister Lynne Kosky were also said to be canvassing support (Age, 30 July 2007) The candidature of Pike and Kosky may also have been driven by comments made by Brumby that he wished to see a larger proportion of 304 Political Chronicles cabinet positions held by women. Pike, however, had two disadvantages in comparison with Hulls; firstly, unlike the Attorney-General who held his electorate of Niddrie with a comfortable majority, Pike had been under siege from the Greens in her electorate of Melbourne in both the 2002 and 2006 contests and there was a feeling that her efforts would be more wisely dedicated to defending her seat. Secondly, Hulls was also of the same factional alignment as Bracks and Brumby whereas Pike — recruited as a “star candidate” by Bracks ahead of the 1999 election — did not have as sound a factional association with Labor Unity. Kosky, of course, is from the socialist left faction whose reduced influence in Victorian Labor politics meant that the Transport Minister was unable to press her claim beyond some preliminary canvassing. In the end, Hulls was elected as deputy unopposed. The battle for the position of treasurer in the Brumby government was between two members of the right faction. Former Police Minister and, later, Finance and Tourism Minister Tim Holding indicated his interest in the position, while Education Minister and upper house leader John Lenders was also discussed in the press as a contender. Lenders had once held the finance portfolio and was the minister who shepherded government reforms to public liability laws through the parliament during the public liability insurance crisis that hit soon after the 2002 election. Holding, meanwhile, had figured in a series of controversies over his management of the police and emergency services portfolio, including a controversy over a departmental memo he approved without actually reading that was to find its way to the Melbourne press. Holding had been close to Bracks and his apparent success in avoiding censure for the police memo affair suggested that he also enjoyed the premier’s protection. Brumby was clearly less inclined to support the upward trajectory of Holding’s career, however, and threw his support behind Lenders, notwithstanding the fact that Lenders is located in the Legislative Council where, of course, the government does not have a majority. Brumby then caused a minor uproar when he suggested Lenders got the nod because he was married and had a family while Holding was still single — a commentary, presumably, on the life experiences one had to have in order to be treasurer. Later in the year the problems of having his treasurer in the upper house became clear when a show-down with the opposition-controlled Legislative Council occurred over a subsequently convened inquiry into government tendering for gaming licenses. In response to the demand from the Legislative Council committee that tender documents be submitted for review, Lenders declared these to be cabinet documents and refused to table them. The upper house disciplined the Treasurer by suspending him from the services of the house of twenty-four hours (The Age, 21 November 2007). There were some other changes to the Victorian ministry arising from the Brumby ascendancy, including the promotion of Tony Robinson, a Brumby loyalist who had been left out of the ministry over a series of years during Bracks’ tenure, and Lisa Neville and Maxine Morand who had successfully defended marginal seats in the 2006 election. The new government is now John Brumby (Premier, veterans affairs, multicultural affairs); Rob Hulls (Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, industrial relations and racing); John Lenders (Treasurer); Daniel Andrews (health); Tim Holding (water, finance and tourism); Bob Cameron (police, emergency services, corrections); Theo Theophanous (industry, trade, major projects); Peter Batchelor (energy and resources, community development); Joe Helper (agriculture, small business); Richard Wynne (housing, local government, aboriginal affairs); Tony Robinson (gaming, consumer affairs); Maxine Morand (children and early childhood development); Bronwyn Pike (education); Lynne Kosky (public transport); Gavin Jennings Political Chronicles 305

(environment, climate change and innovation); Justin Madden (planning); Tim Pallas (roads and ports); Jacinta Allan (skills and workplace relations and regional and rural development); Lisa Neville (mental health, community health and senior citizens); and James Merlino (sport and recreation, youth affairs) (The Age, 3 August 2007). Liberal opposition leader Ted Baillieu took the government reshuffle to reorganise the shadow ministry. In this change Richard Della-Riva, the Legislative Councillor who was involved in a minor sex scandal, was returned to the shadow ministry as spokesman on community development, innovation and freedom of information, Martin Dixon was appointed shadow education minister, and Andrea Coote was given the shadow environment and climate change portfolio (The Age, 17 August 2007). The By-Elections Baillieu’s more immediate challenge, however, was to deal with the by-elections for Albert Park and Williamstown caused by the Thwaites and Bracks retirements, but here the opposition leader’s difficult relationship with the Victorian Liberal party organisation was to intervene. The Victorian Liberal party has long been considered to have been subject to quite substantial factionalism with the party divided between the so-called “Costello-Kroger” group on the one hand, and the “Kennett group” on the other. These labels have more to do with the timing at which adherents joined the party rather than the role played by Kroger, Costello and Kennett. The Kroger-Costello group tend to be made up of more recently elected Liberals whereas the Kennett group tends to be made up of those who came into the party either as officials or members of parliament at or around the time Jeff Kennett was Victorian premier. Both factions have about equal distribution within the state parliamentary wing, but the Kroger- Costello group currently dominates the state division’s organisation. Meanwhile, opposition leader Baillieu is considered to be closer to the Kennett group. The tension in the relationship between the parliamentary leader and the party organisation emerged in full public view following the issuing of writs for the two by- elections — a process that required the parties to consider whom they would nominate as candidates. Opposition leader Baillieu was to later indicate to the press that it was his hope that the Liberal party would contest at least Albert Park, if not both vacant seats. However, state party director Julian Sheezel announced that the Liberal party would not be contesting in either seat — presumably in a bid to bolster the chances of the Greens in both contests but especially in Albert Park where a substantial Green primary vote had been cast in both the 2002 and 2006 general elections. The media assessed the decision as a victory for the Kroger-Costello dominated party executive over the parliamentary leader — a low point for Baillieu (The Age, 3 August 2007). The opposition leader was not alone in being embarrassed by his party over the question of pre-selection, however. The two by-elections were going to be an early electoral test for newly installed Premier Brumby, who clearly thought that his party’s chances would be bolstered if “star” candidates could be found. Ahead of the deadline for nominations rumours emerged that the Labor party was on the verge of preselecting ABC Melbourne television sport presenter Angela Pippos for Williamstown. This caused a flurry of controversy; firstly, the move to pre-select anyone anointed by the parliamentary leader represented a potential denial of the seat to a candidate backed by the Labor Unity faction — in this case, former Transport Workers Union secretary Wade Noonan. The second minor skirmish occurred at the ABC itself where Pippos’ political aspirations and sympathies — hitherto unknown — became the basis for yet another round of allegations of left-wing bias at the national broadcaster. Amid the 306 Political Chronicles furore, Pippos announced that she was not going to seek pre-selection after all (Herald Sun, 16 August 2007). Later in the year she was to resign from the ABC as well. The strategic absence of the Liberal party did help boost the Greens primary vote in both contests, but Labor was able to hold both seats quite comfortably (see table 1). Although not polling anywhere near the vote won by Steve Bracks at the general election, Wade Noonan was able to secure 55.7 per cent of the primary vote and a two- party vote of 64.1 per cent. The two-party vote in Albert Park was 57 per cent — slightly down on the result in the general election but a comfortable win nevertheless. Interestingly, Martin Foley’s primary vote was marginally up on that won by John Thwaites at the general election. In short, the threat that the Greens might pinch one or both of these seats did not materialise, and though he had been slightly embarrassed by the Pippos pre-selection matter, John Brumby comfortably passed his first electoral test. Table 1: By-election results for Albert Park Candidate (party) Primary vote % two party vote % John Middleton (Greens) 28.5 42.9 Prodos Marinakis 4.8 John Dobinson 1.0 Nigel Strauss 5.7 Paul Kavanagh (Democrats) 5.7 Shane McCarthy (DLP) 1.7 Adrian Jackson 1.2 Cameron Eastman (Family First) 4.4 Martin Foley (ALP) 46.8 57.1 (elected)

Informal 7.4 Participation 70.6 By-Election Results for Williamstown Candidate (party) Primary vote % two party vote % Catherine Cumming 8.9 Janice Rossiter 2.1 Janet Rice (Greens) 21.9 35.9 Wade Noonan (ALP) 55.7 64.1 (elected) Vern Hughes (DLP) 2.5 Wajde Assaf 1.0 Veronica Hayes (Family First) 4.8 Nathan Tavandale 1.1 Vivienne Millington 1.6

Informal 6.7 Participation 84.9 Source: 3 October 2007. Policy Matters Before leaving the premiership, Steve Bracks oversaw the completion of three major policy decisions that would be left over to his successor to expedite. With the drought refusing to break and a federal election looming in which water resource policy was a major issue, Bracks continued to resist overtures from the then federal water minister, Political Chronicles 307

Malcolm Turnbull, to sign on to a national water plan for the Murray-Darling Basin. Instead, Bracks announced that Melbourne’s water storages would be augmented by water from the Goulburn River in the state’s north east. Residents in the north east signalled their displeasure at having their water resource diverted to Melbourne, and began mobilising a local opposition campaign. Meanwhile, a locally based protest campaign to oppose the construction of the Wonthaggi desalination plant was also gaining momentum. Back in the city, locals living in the southern reaches of Port Phillip had formed the Blue Wedges Coalition to campaign against the Bracks government’s decision to proceed with dredging of the Port Phillip shipping channel. These three issues were to bubble away as the premiership passed from Bracks to Brumby especially when the new premier made it clear that it was his intention to get these projects completed. There were other policy problems brewing for the new premier. The government announced that a new ticketing system for the Melbourne public transport system — the “myki” ticket — intended for utilisation by Christmas would be delayed (Herald Sun, 23 August 2007). After musing about the possibility of the government utilising the “public-private partnership” model of infrastructure provision to help build new state schools, Brumby was also under siege from education lobbyists accusing the new premier of privatising state education (Herald Sun, 26 September 2007). In the meantime, public sector workers began agitating for wage increases starting with nurses who undertook a series of work bans in support of their log of claims. This was to lead to an ugly dispute between nurses and hospital administrators over the docking of pay in retaliation for the bans. With a federal election looming, the Brumby government sought to blame all of this on the federal government’s industrial relations laws (Australian, 1 August 2007). Also indicating their intention to institute bans as part of their campaign for higher pay were the Victoria police and the Police Association under the leadership of its secretary, Paul Mullet. Whereas Steve Bracks had been quite accommodating of the Association and Mullet over the years, a decided chill in relations between the police union and the government occurred with Brumby’s ascendancy. Tensions over an investigation into the leaking of classified police information that compromised a murder trial by the Office of Police Integrity (OPI) came to a head in November and would be very significant to this deteriorating relationship. Following a period of pressure from the opposition and the press advocating the establishment of a permanent commission to investigate police and government corruption, the OPI hearing revealed the existence of secretly taped telephone conversations between the Police Association, the Deputy Commissioner of Police Noel Ashby, and the Victoria Police media manager Stephen Linnell in which a range of internal matters mainly to do with seeking ways to bring down the Chief Commissioner, Christine Nixon, were discussed (The Australian, 10 November 2007). Both Ashby and Linnell tendered their resignation, while the Chief Commissioner indicated that she and police command would no longer deal with the Police Association while Mullet was secretary. The OPI, meanwhile, indicated that it might level charges of misconduct against Ashby and Mullett. The government stood quietly by as this power struggle at the upper echelons of the police played itself out although it was the case that, in this battle, the government was supporting Chief Commissioner Nixon. Conclusion Victorian politics underwent a somewhat unexpected upheaval with the resignation of the very popular and successful Steve Bracks as premier. In tending his resignation and 308 Political Chronicles throwing his support behind his eventual successor, Bracks claimed that it was his hope that the leadership transition in Victoria would be as seamless as possible. Within weeks Brumby had successfully weathered two by-elections and appeared to have survived controversies associated with the behaviour of the Victoria police and the commencement of some contentious projects such as the dredging of the Port Phillip shipping channel. On 24 November, the federal Labor party won nearly 54 per cent of the two-party vote cast by Victorians in the federal election, and two Victorian seats were won from the Liberal party by the ALP. The transition did appear to have been seamless and Victoria’s reputation as a strong Labor state was enhanced by the federal election result. However, a change in the demeanour of the premiership of Victoria was discernible. The former premier had the reputation for being a genial sort of man who somehow gave the impression that not a great deal was being done. The new man, however, had earned the reputation for being a pro-development, business-friendly can-do treasurer. It was now time to see if this very different persona would be as suitable in the role of premier.

Queensland July to December 2007

PAUL D. WILLIAMS Griffith University

Overview The second half of 2007 saw many earlier patterns repeated: a squabbling Liberal- National Coalition Opposition directionless and changing leaders yet again in the face of a commanding Labor government; public policy problems in child safety; and gaffes from ill-disciplined ministers and MPs. But this period will be best remembered for the departure, after more than nine years in office, of Premier Peter Douglas Beattie and the ascension of Anna Bligh as Queensland’s first female Premier. July By mid-year, one question dominated political commentary: will Premier Peter Beattie stay or will he go, and, if so, when? Speculation as to Beattie’s future was always intense but never more so than after the annual state Labor conference at which the Premier remarked that, “sometime in the new year, before we meet again at conference, I will have to make a decision as to whether I lead the party at the next election” (Courier Mail, 2 July 2007). Many were incredulous the self-confessed “media tart” could so easily surrender the media spotlight, with some — such as AWU powerbroker Bill Ludwig — imploring the Premier to stay on. Also in July, Indian-born Gold Coast doctor Mohamed Haneef was arrested on terror charges following unsuccessful bombing attempts the previous week in London and Glasgow. While again raising the question of overseas-trained medicos in Queensland public hospitals (soon to be followed in August by the dismissal of Mohammed Asif Ali for falsifying his curriculum vitae), the issue proved an explosive problem not for Queensland but for the federal Coalition, especially when Australian Federal Police were forced to release Haneef when no evidence of an al-Qaeda link Political Chronicles 309 was forthcoming. A war of words then broke out between Beattie and John Howard, with the Prime Minister castigating Beattie for not screening more thoroughly Queensland’s health staff, and with Beattie reminding Howard that Haneef’s 457 employment visa had been approved by federal authorities. The Queensland government found its own embarrassment when Beattie was forced to stand down Emergency Services Minister Pat Purcell — announced at a hastily convened late afternoon press conference — allegedly for “family reasons”. It was soon leaked, however, that Purcell — a physically imposing yet avuncular MP for the safe seat of Bulimba — had struck two senior public servants. Purcell denied the allegation, insisting he merely administered a “verbal bollocking” (Courier Mail, 5 July 2007). Purcell soon became the third minister to suffer criminal charges in the space of nine months, although he later saw his assault charges dropped, following mediation, when he admitted the offence (see next chronicle). Neil Roberts (Nudgee), an unsuccessful ministerial aspirant on two previous occasions, was then elevated to Cabinet. Invariably, Beattie faced his own criticism for not “coming clean” with the public over Purcell but responded he was merely protecting the two public servants. The Coalition was preoccupied with its own crises both within and between the Liberal and National parties. The Nationals’ organisational wing warned that, should the hapless Dr Bruce Flegg remain Liberal leader, the Coalition would be dissolved. When Nationals’ Leader Jeff Seeney lobbied Liberal MPs for a leadership spill, questions of interfering in the internal affairs of a sister party were raised. Federal Liberals then cited internal polling that allegedly proved Flegg’s leadership was suppressing federal Liberal support in Brisbane (Courier Mail, 10 July 2007). Flegg and State Liberal President Warwick Parer denied the existence of the poll, but numerous others attested to statistics indicating Flegg’s leadership produced a net deficit of up to 30 points on the federal Liberal vote (Courier Mail, 21-22 July 2007). But the Liberals’ woes only drew attention to Seeney’s own lacklustre leadership as comparable Labor polling allegedly found more than half of Brisbane, Gold and Sunshine Coast electors unable to identify the Nationals’ leader. Seeney, in typically robust style, dismissed the alleged polling as “bulls..t” (Courier Mail, 12 July 2007). At the feet of a booming economy, Beattie then found yet more good news in announcing gas producer Santos’s construction, at Gladstone, of Australia’s first liquid natural gas plant. Valued at $7 billion, it represented Queensland’s largest yet industrial project, boasting 3,000 construction jobs and 200 operational positions by 2014. By month’s end, Coalition harmony had reached melting point when Seeney, at the Nationals’ annual conference, said he would “throw down the gauntlet to the organisations of both parties” in the name of unity. It was an appropriate juncture: only then did deputy leader Fiona Simpson settle her feud with Seeney, and was granted the staff entitlement awarded previous deputies (Courier Mail, 28-29 July 2007). The Nationals would soon appoint Michael O’Dwyer, a Gold Coast marketing expert, as the party’s state director and new urban face. Labor bore its own sorrows, none greater than when Barcaldine’s iconic “Tree of Knowledge” was pronounced dead months after its deliberate poisoning by an unknown assailant. August Rural protests continued over forced council amalgamations where the number of Queensland local councils would be reduced from 157 to seventy-two. At least Beattie had relented and allowed wards to exist within super-councils. But the Premier still insisted local referenda on amalgamations were a “waste of ratepayers’ money”. 310 Political Chronicles

Regional councils responded with full page newspaper advertisements warning that “Amalgamations kills outback towns” (Courier Mail, 3 August 2007). When 8,000 protestors — led by Noosa Mayor Bob Abbot — marched on Parliament House in Brisbane, federal Opposition leader Kevin Rudd promised to “look carefully” at the merger plan. But the issue got even hotter when Beattie amended the original legislation to fine and dismiss mayors who defied the government and held independent referenda. Prime Minister Howard intervened and claimed Beattie was “ripping the heart out of local democracy”, and he pledged the Commonwealth would override Beattie’s laws, and pay for the plebiscites. Flo Bjelke-Petersen, widow of former strongman premier Joh, somewhat ironically labelled Beattie a “dictator”. (Courier Mail, 16 August 2007). The premier soon relented and permitted the referenda, but would not budge on amalgamations. Indeed, he soon proclaimed the “merger war” over, reporting that 73 per cent of Queenslanders — according to a government-commissioned AC Nielsen poll — supported amalgamations. The Opposition subsequently accused Labor of distorting the result through “push polling” (Courier Mail, 20 August 2007). But Beattie’s arrogance was perhaps no better illustrated than by his statement to the House: “If I waited for [the state opposition] to get rid of me, I would be here for 100 years” (Courier Mail, 8 August 2007). Changes to parliamentary procedure were also bold: the practice of two-minute Opposition addresses before Question Time was replaced by a single, weekly thirty-minute Wednesday debate. But when Infrastructure Minister Anna Bligh proudly held aloft in the House the state’s first bottle of recycled water, she refused to drink despite Opposition “beer hall” cries of “Down, down, down!” Perhaps arrogance was understandable given the Opposition’s own lack of direction. Rather than capitalise on rural voter angst, Liberal leader Flegg blunted Opposition attacks with a press release commemorating his first year in office. The Nationals were furious, with Burnett MP Rob Messenger allegedly verbally attacking Flegg during a joint party meeting. Federal politics continued to permeate. Firstly, Beattie predictably called for a Queenslander to replace retiring High Court Justice Ian Callinan. Later, the Queensland government ordered all state school principals to “list” any federal MP or candidate requesting a school visit. The Liberals cried foul. Around the same time, Beattie’s political future became a topic of national discussion when the strained nature of the Beattie-Rudd relationship was exposed and also when Howard declared that everyone — including Beattie’s dog Rusty — knew the Queensland Premier was about to retire. At least the first question was answered when Queenslander Susan Kiefel was appointed the third female Justice in the High Court’s 104-year history. The state government then suffered a couple of other distractions when, firstly, Beattie was rebuked for commissioning historian Ross Fitzgerald to write — on a $900,000 stipend offered without tender — a new history of Queensland and, secondly, when a Senate committee handed down a report indicating “serious concerns” over the planned Traveston Dam near Gympie. An independent Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation report, however, soon found no problem with the dam. The month closed with disastrous news of an outbreak at Warwick of Equine Influenza severe enough to threaten the state’s billion dollar racing industry. Within weeks, racing would be cancelled until year’s end at Brisbane’s Doomben and Eagle Farm tracks. September September began shakily for Labor as yet another MP, Karen Struthers (Algester), earned Beattie’s wrath, this time for a drink-driving charge. Embarrassingly, she Political Chronicles 311 wouldn’t be the last, and three other MPs would soon be involved in similar traffic incidents: also in September, Paul Lucas, the then Transport Minister, admitted to a speeding offence despite his driver paying the fine; in October, Michael Choi (Capalaba) faced his third licence suspension from accumulated points; and, in November, Gary Fenlon (Greenslopes) revealed he had been involved, in 2004, in a serious road accident. Legal matters remained topical as Attorney-General Kerry Shine defended judicial selection standards by publicly expressing confidence in new Supreme Court Chief Justice Glen Martin. But this, too, paled when veteran Beaudesert Nationals MPs Kev Lingard was pilloried for a nine-day excursion to France — during parliamentary days — ostensibly to watch rugby union matches. Later, Lingard would defend his absence as a fundraising tour for the Starlight Children’s Foundation — a claim others dismissed. Seeney declared he didn’t care that Lingard may have deceived him (Courier Mail, 24 September 2007), but when Labor mocked the Opposition daily with calls to “Come back, Kev”, it seemed real damage had been sustained. Beattie’s departure In early September, The Sunday Mail led with a curious front page revealing Beattie’s wife, Heather, had implored her husband to retire soon given he was a “tired, exhausted man with bags under his eyes” (Sunday Mail, 9 September 2007). More speculation emerged when, the same day, the Premier skipped his usual Sunday afternoon press conference. But all mystery was removed the following day when Beattie still managed to surprise observers with his decision to retire as Queensland’s thirty-sixth premier, effective from 13 September, and as MP for Brisbane Central, effective from 14 September. Beattie, from the Labor Unity faction, remarked: “You get to a stage in your life when you get over [politics] — and I am well and truly over it” (Courier Mail, 11 September 2007). Anna Bligh (South Brisbane, Left faction) was elected unopposed on 12 September, with Paul Lucas (Lytton, Labor Forum faction) elected unopposed as Deputy Premier when fellow Labor Forum member, John Mickel (Logan) failed to marshal the numbers. Other senior appointments included Andrew Fraser, aged thirty, as Treasurer; Lucas as Minister for Infrastructure; and Mickel as Minister for Transport and Trade, Employment and Industrial relations. Bligh was determined to make a splash in her new role when, lamenting previous abuse of Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, she announced a review, headed by Dr David Solomon, of FOI provisions. The goodwill seemed short-lived, however, when it appeared ministers resumed the dubious practice of taking briefing notes into cabinet, thereby guaranteeing their secrecy for thirty years. But even her own party couldn’t be appeased as they criticised Bligh for allegedly denying grassroots ALP members in Brisbane Central input into pre-selection. The party’s twenty-member Administrative Committee instead unilaterally selected Queensland Council of Unions head Grace Grace — a practice State Secretary Milton Dick defended as having precedent in the 2005 Redcliffe and Chatsworth by-elections. But at least it appeared public opinion was behind Bligh. A Galaxy Poll, for example, found 36 per cent of Queenslanders felt Bligh would make a “better premier” than Beattie, with 39 per cent “the same”, nine per cent suggesting “not as good”, and with 16 per cent “undecided”. That same poll found Labor enjoying a two-party- preferred vote (2PPV) of 57 per cent to the Coalition’s 43 per cent. Neither the Nationals’ Seeney nor the Liberals’ Flegg could compete, with 49 per cent and 55 per cent dissatisfaction ratings respectively (Courier Mail, 22-23 September 2007). Newspoll was even more generous: a July to September summary found Labor enjoying 50 per cent of the primary vote, the Liberals 21 per cent, and the Nationals 312 Political Chronicles just 12 per cent — equating to a Labor 2PPV of 59 per cent to the Coalition’s 41 per cent . More Coalition indignity followed when Flegg announced, without organisational authority, that the Liberals would field a candidate in the forthcoming 13 October Brisbane Central by-election. Flegg then departed for Germany and, in his absence, the party’s State Council decided against fielding a candidate on the spurious rationale of not wishing to distract attention from the looming federal campaign. It was a decision almost universally condemned, with the real reason undoubtedly being to avoid a “train wreck” result. The Nationals were perhaps the most disappointed and, although hopeful of fielding their own candidate, failed to do so before the close of nominations on 25 September. The month closed with the first Bligh back-flip when the new Premier — after being labelled “cold and heartless” — reversed an earlier decision not to award $20 million in compensation to victims of the Equine Influenza epidemic (Courier Mail, 26 September 2007). Indeed, the Coalition soon adopted the “cold and heartless” tag in parliament and in press releases as a deliberate bid to target Bligh as impersonal, and in contrast to a more benign Beattie. October The issue of daylight saving began the month, with a Galaxy poll revealing 51 per cent majority support across the state — equating to 63 per cent in the Southeast and 31 per cent elsewhere. Cabinet released its own research showing an even greater 59 per cent support, with just 30 per cent opposed. Despite this, Bligh demonstrated her regional sensitivities and unilaterally announced daylight saving “dead”. There would be no referendum despite Beattie’s previous commitment. A couple of other developments embarrassed Labor in the by-election’s lead up: allegations Police had faked Random Breath Tests to meet quotas (a charge investigated by the CMC); and Currumbin Liberal MP Jann Stuckey’s revelation that intravenous drug users were paid $110 to learn how to inject safely (Courier Mail, 10, 11 October 2007). But a degree of dignity returned to the House when the parties granted their MPs a conscience vote on a bill to permit the cloning of embryonic stem cells for scientific research. After numerous passionate speeches, the bill passed 48 votes to 39, with some interesting sources of support: where Jeff Seeney supported the bill, medical practitioner Dr Bruce Flegg did not. Table One: Per cent Primary Vote, Brisbane Central By-election, 13 October, 2007, by Party. Candidate Party Primary Vote Swing from 2006 (%) General Election (%) Erik ERIKSEN Independent 3.18 +3.18 Mark WHITE Family First 7.78 +7.78 Ian NELSON One Nation 2.57 +2.57 Anne BOCCABELLA Greens 33.11 +14.87 Ronald DAVY Independent 3.02 +3.02 Grace GRACE Labor 50.35 -0.13

Source: Political Chronicles 313

Labor scored 57.85 per cent of the 2PPV to produce a negative swing against the Government of 6.92 per cent, or only slightly above the usual by-election drift. The Greens won a record 42.15 per cent of the 2PPV, almost entirely due to the absence of the Liberals’ 2006 primary vote of 28.84 per cent. But deeper analysis is further compromised by the extremely low voter turnout of just 67.67 per cent of enrolees. November Bligh began November with her first Community Cabinet: the 107th since Beattie’s first in 1998. But media attention was more focussed on the health and safety of children. The previous month, a toddler died in the care of his biological father after being sent there by the Department of Children’s Services. Now it was revealed the same department had allowed a serial child sex offender to reside on a street heavily populated with children. And, before month’s end, a two-year-old boy would die in Rockhampton Base Hospital after waiting some thirty hours for a diagnosis. Bligh soon backflipped and provided Queensland Health with an additional $50 million to help extinguish emergency “spot fires”. Queensland also suffered its own “sports rorts” affair when Sports Minister Judy Spence was accused of pork-barrelling Labor electorates with grants from the Regional Tennis Program. But few could have anticipated the public furore over cabinet’s decision to cull up to 10,000 wild brumbies in regional Queensland — a harvest all the more cynically received after government obfuscation only uncovered after FOI requests. The Coalition’s leadership woes closed the month. Firstly, when former Nationals leader Lawrence Springborg ended his self-imposed exile with an attack on Queensland crime statistics, most assumed Springborg was positioning for a return. It seemed party president Bruce McIver angered Seeney more with calls for underperforming MPs to lift their game or face disendorsement. But it was the Liberals’ dilemma — one brought to a head after the Liberals’ federal election loss — which caused most angst as leadership aspirant Tim Nicholls (Clayfield) — from the Santo Santoro faction — demanded Flegg step aside for him, with John-Paul Langbroek (Surfers Paradise) proposed as Nicholls’s deputy. Flegg, supported by Mark McArdle (Caloundra) accused Nicholls of “treachery”. A parliamentary meeting was called but the result was deadlocked, four to four, among the eight MPs. Ray Stevens (Robina) and Glen Elmes (Noosa) lined up behind Flegg and McArdle; Jann Stuckey (Currumbin) and Steve Dickson (Kawana) continued to support Nicholls and Langbroek. Despite State President Warwick Parer calling on Flegg to do the “honourable” thing, Flegg wouldn’t budge. Parer then called upon the forty-one- member State Council to grant the president a casting vote in all parliamentary leadership ballots — an unthinkable organisational incursion that was rejected outright. But Council nonetheless decreed secret parliamentary ballots and a requirement to meet until a result was forthcoming, with a deadline of 8 December. Flegg then said he would stand down if Nicholls would do the same, and offered McArdle as a compromise leader. But when Ray Stevens went to the media — undoubtedly as a deliberate ploy to shock his colleagues into action — and spoke of a Liberal “plan” of a holding a “lucky dip” to resolve the deadlock, the party relented and elected, on 6 December, McArdle as leader and Nicholls as deputy. This avoided the ignominy, in Stevens’s words, of a Nicholls soubriquet of “Toss Up Tim” (Courier Mail, 6 December 2007). It wasn’t long before merger talks were back on the table, this time with wild calls to include independent MPs and even One Nation.

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December The month again began poorly for the government when the Nuttall affair (see previous chronicle) embroiled Workcover director Harold Shand who was also charged with receiving a $60,000 “secret commission” via his links with Macarthur Coal CEO Ken Talbot and former Health Minister Gordon Nuttall. Bligh then announced Mike Kaiser, the former Woodridge MP forced to resign following the Shepherdson Inquiry, would return in early 2008 as her Chief of Staff. Child safety issues in Queensland then assumed national prominence when it was revealed a North Queensland judge failed to jail nine men found guilty of raping a ten-year-old girl. Bligh appointed Peter Davis QC to review all sixty-four sex cases brought before Cape York courts over the past two years. But justice matters also affected the police, with the CMC recommending charges against former Police Union president Gary Wilkinson over the purchase of a service vehicle for his wife at around $10,000 below market value. The government continued to suffer aftershocks from council amalgamations as the results of eighty- five referenda were published. Ilfracombe Shire recorded a 99 per cent “No” vote, with 95 per cent of Noosa similarly rejecting council mergers. Only one council recorded a majority “Yes” vote (Courier Mail, 21 December 2007). On 16 December, former Labor Lord Mayor and the “Father of Brisbane” Clem Jones died peacefully aged eighty-nine years and was mourned by both sides of politics. It was a rare moment of bipartisanship.

Western Australia July to December 2007

HARRY C.J. PHILLIPS Parliamentary Fellow, Western Australian Parliament; Honorary Professor, Edith Cowan University; Adjunct Professor Curtin University of Technology

LIZ KERR Sergeant-at-Arms, Legislative Assembly, Parliament of Western Australia

Western Australians will remember the second half of 2007 as a period characterised by sustained economic growth, the opening of the new southern rail project, and continuing revelations from the ongoing investigation into public officers with connections to the lobbyist and former state premier Brian Burke. The boom in employment and investment in the north-west contributed to significant labour and skills shortages across the state, whilst the 23 December opening of the controversial Mandurah to Perth railway line was labelled as a “Christmas Gift” for Western Australians, muting criticism about the year long delay in its opening. In parliament too, some historic events arose as a result of its Privileges Committees’ investigations, and those of the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC). The 24 November federal election campaign had an impact in Western Australia, with the Liberal party performing better than elsewhere in Australia. Parliament As resolved by the Legislative Assembly in June, on 14 August 2007 former Burke government minister and prominent lobbyist Julian Grill, became the first citizen to be Political Chronicles 315 summoned to the Bar of the House, in this case to apologise for his role in leaking a confidential parliamentary committee report. Grill’s appearance was pure political theatre, as he was led to the Bar before a hushed gallery of media representatives, supporters and members of the public. Before his scheduled appearance Grill had urged all members of the Assembly to grant him leave to give a wider explanation of his actions to the parliament. However, before rendering his apology, which Grill said was undertaken with “a heavy heart”, he unsuccessfully sought the permission of Speaker Fred Riebeling to speak on the substantive matters. The historic occasion concluded with Liberal Matt Birney’s failed motion to permit Grill to explain his actions. Birney, himself familiar with the processes of the Privileges Committee, considered this “level of natural justice […] vital in maintaining the good standing and integrity” of the parliament. Of perhaps greater moment were the findings and recommendations of the Legislative Council’s Select Committee of Privilege, which had been established to inquire into whether there had been any unauthorised disclosure of deliberations of its Standing Committee on Estimates and Financial Relations Operations (SCEFO). The alleged leak related to a proposed inquiry by the SCEFO into the state’s iron ore industry. Once again, the influence of former MLAs Brian Burke and Julian Grill on government members of parliamentary committees was under scrutiny. Further to these, former Senator Noel Crichton-Browne was also alleged to have been involved in attempts to persuade particular members of the SCEFO to undertake the inquiry. The Select Committee conducted its inquiry over almost eight months, tabling its final report of some 500 pages on 13 November 2007. The Select Committee found that three members of the SCEFO — Shelley Archer MLC, Anthony Fels MLC and Giz Watson MLC — had disclosed committee proceedings without the committee’s authorisation. Whilst Watson’s disclosure was considered by the committee to be of a minor nature, the committee found that Archer and Fels’ disclosures constituted a contempt of the House and recommended that they apologise to the House for their actions, that they be disqualified from membership of any parliamentary committee for the remainder of the session, and that they undergo further induction training from the Clerk of the House in relation to parliamentary privilege. These recommendations were endorsed by the Legislative Council, and both members apologised to the House on 5 December 2007. The Select Committee further found that Burke, Grill and Crichton-Browne had disclosed details of the SCEFO’s proceedings to other parties, and accordingly were guilty of contempt of the House. The Legislative Council resolved to accept these recommendations, along with a direction for each of these persons to submit a written apology to the House within seven days. Correspondence was received from each of the three persons, and will be considered when the House resumes in February. The Select Committee also found that Archer, Fels, Burke, Crichton-Browne and Nathan McMahon (Director of Cazaly Resources, a major stakeholder in the mining industry) were guilty of giving false evidence to the Select Committee during the course of its inquiry, and recommended that the Attorney-General, pursuant to section 15 of the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1891, assess whether to prosecute these persons under section 57 of The Criminal Code. The House agreed to this recommendation in an amended form, resolving to refer these matters to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for his action, rather than the Attorney-General. Accordingly, these matters are currently before the DPP. 316 Political Chronicles

Amongst the remainder of its thirty-five recommendations, the Select Committee found “the unclear and inadequate” penalties of the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1891 “frustrating”, and recommended that the Attorney-General give consideration to the appropriateness of amending the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1891 so as to provide a second head of power to both Houses of Parliament with the express power to fine, suspend without pay or imprison for any breach of privilege or contempt, and that the Attorney-General report back to both Houses. This recommendation was adopted by the House, as were other recommendations relating to members training, matters to be reviewed by the Council’s Procedure and Privileges Committee, and other administrative arrangements. Following unanimously supported motions in the Lower House that Archer and Fels were not fit and proper persons to be members of parliament, the Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council, Kim Chance MLC, moved on 29 November to seek their expulsion from Parliament. Whilst that motion was defeated in the House, Chance moved a similar motion as part of the House’s consideration of the Select Committee’s report on 4 December, but this was again rejected amidst complaints from the Liberal party members that valuable legislative time was being wasted. Redistribution and Parties The release of the final Western Australian Electoral Commission boundaries for the next State election took place on 29 October. Some modifications to district names and boundaries were made without altering the fact that the Liberal party needed a swing of some 5 per cent to win government with the new one-vote, one-value law in the Legislative Assembly. Liberal leader Paul Omodei, when compared with Premier Carpenter, was being confronted with very poor “best premier” polls. Some comfort for the Liberal party could be drawn from its federal House of Representatives and Senate performance in the Federal election on 24 November. In gaining eleven of the fifteen Lower House seats the two-party preferred figure for the Liberal party of 53.46 per cent, was compared to Labor’s disappointing but slightly improved 46.74 per cent. After the exacting experience of chairing the Legislative Council Select Committee of Privilege, in addition to fifteen years in parliament including three years as Transport Minister, Murray Criddle MLC, announced his intention to resign early in 2008, in all likelihood leaving his seat to Wendy Duncan, second on the National party’s Agricultural Region ticket at the last election in 2005. Earlier, Liberal Brian Ellis had been duly elected to take Margaret Rowe’s Agricultural Region seat. On 26 November history was made when a citizen of Vietnamese origin, Batong Vu Pham, was sworn in as the new Labor Member to fill the seat vacated by Louise Pratt, the former East Metropolitan Region MLC who had resigned to (successfully) seek a Senate seat for Western Australia. Justice To add to its busy program of inquiries, on 31 July the CCC began what was expected to be several months of public hearings and deliberations over the wrongful conviction and imprisonment of Andrew Mallard for the 1994 murder of Mosman Park jeweler Pamela Lawrence. Mallard had twice unsuccessfully appealed against his conviction in the Western Australian Courts before it was quashed by the High Court in September 2005. At least five senior police officers, parliamentarian John Quigley MLA (who led the Mallard fight for justice), and officers from the DPP went under the CCC microscope. Apparently frustrated at the direction of the inquiry, John Quigley (under the protection of parliamentary privilege) named and shamed the undercover police Political Chronicles 317 officers he claimed had contributed to Mallard’s wrongful arrest and further claimed that their silence on their knowledge of the matter during a Royal Commission had extended Mallard’s prison term. In a surprising approach given the range of recently alleged miscarriages of justice in the state, police publicly named barrister Lloyd Rayney as the prime suspect for the August murder of his wife Corryn Rayney, the well respected Supreme Court Registrar whose body was found in a bush grave in King’s Park. It was widely considered that Lloyd Rayney was being denied the presumption of innocence and at year’s end no formal charges had been laid. On another front, inadequate procedures were admitted by the Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan in a review of the case against Dante Arthurs who was found guilty of the 2006 murder of young school girl Sofia Rodriguez-Urrutia-Shu. Then, in a nightmare finish to the year, the Commissioner was forced to issue a humbling pre-Christmas apology to the Mickelberg brothers who were seeking an ex-gratia payment over their wrongful imprisonment for the 1982 Perth- Mint swindle. There was much public discussion about the merits of a Human Rights Act which Attorney-General Jim McGinty had drafted, providing scope for public submissions to an Advisory Committee headed by Fred Chaney, a former federal parliamentarian. Opposition leader Paul Omodei called for a referendum on the Bill, an approach favoured by a public Westpoll (12 November 2008). According to a submission by the Aboriginal Legal Service the proposed draft provided grossly inadequate protection to Indigenous people. Further, constitutionalist and commentator Greg Craven warned that a parliamentary committee which had recommended that the CCC be given extended powers to investigate serious and organised crime would have their reform hamstrung if the Rights Act was implemented. Indigenous Affairs The Federal Government’s intervention to address “the national emergency” in the Northern Territory continued to cause friction between the tiers of government. On the first day of hearings on 4 October into at least twenty-three drug and alcohol-related deaths in the Kimberley, district State Coroner Alistair Hope agreed that many indigenous people were continuing to live in atrocious conditions with poor health and high imprisonment rates. Prominent lawyer John Hammond regarded the situation as an indictment of the state government and statements by Hope and Hammond helped force the parliamentary tabling of a functional review of the State Department of Indigenous Affairs by Dr Dawn Casey, and three reports by former Governor John Sanderson, Special Advisor on Indigenous Affairs. Sanderson believed the federal government should formally apologise to the Indigenous community and as their plight was getting worse, Sanderson sought changes in the Department of Indigenous Affairs and a form of regional government to ensure that Indigenous Australians were included in developing and implementing polices. Former Acting ATSIC Chairman Lionel Quartermaine threw his support behind Sanderson as did Nyoongar leader Ted Wilkes. Premier Carpenter was cool on the regional government concept but appeared surprised that one of the most successful Indigenous business leaders, namely Barry Taylor, Chairman of the Ngarda Ngarli Yarndu Foundation, urged a boycott of the 30 November Aboriginal Unemployment Summit, which was conducted with mixed reviews. Another documented controversial issue was the call for an inquiry into why poor Indigenous communities had been denied any hotel profits from the Fitzroy Crossing Trust in which they had a stake. Football legend Percy Johnson and Lionel 318 Political Chronicles

Quartermaine were also reported as experiencing frustration that Health Minister Jim McGinty had not responded adequately to their serious concerns about child sex abuse and domestic violence at Fitzroy Crossing. Mining and Pastoral MLC Shelley Archer and Labor MLA Tom Stephens both called for a research project to assess the impact of a six-month state government ban on almost all take-away alcohol at Fitzroy Crossing. Local Government and Stadium The 2007 local government elections were conducted on the third Saturday in October (instead of May) and there was much conjecture about whether the change from plurality voting to the preference (alternative) vote in single wards and proportional representation in multi-member wards would create confusion. The low informal rate of 1.2 per cent indicated that electors recognised the similarity of the formulas with state and federal elections. The state-wide turnout was 33.8 per cent, with higher figures in country elections. Postal voting again proved popular. One mayoral contest which created particular interest was for the City of Perth, where Lisa Scaffidi, who had strong business connections, made history by becoming the first woman to gain the post. After twelve years with Peter Nattrass as Lord Mayor, Scaffidi was keen to erase the capital’s tag as “Dullsville”. Debate about the construction of a world class 60,000 seat stadium at either Kitchener Park or East Perth was given focus in a day long summit on 18 December with a team of government officials and football executives, including Australian Football League Chief Executive Officer Andrew Demetriou. With Sport and Recreation Minister John Kobelke keen to achieve an outcome, it was initially reported that a “deal” had been made whereby the Western Australian Football Commission (Football) gave in-principle approval to hand back the lease on Subiaco Oval; the state government would underwrite Football’s income at the new stadium in return of the lease; and the new stadium would be governed by an independent trust appointed by the state to ensure the interests of all sports were maintained, with Football as the priority tenant. Within a few days doubts about the deal were circulated and the process stalled. Education, Health and Environment Grave concerns about the chronic shortage of teachers led to calls for increased salaries, particularly for those with experience. Retiring and influential Australian Business Council President, Michael Chaney, spoke of a $100,000 per annum performance-based package and Education and Training Minister, Mark McGowan, in the midst of tense salary negotiations with the State School Teachers Union (SSTU) also signalled a range of rises. Opposition spokesperson Peter Collier sought a new scale of rewards, particularly for established teachers. The government conducted a recruitment drive in the eastern states but was critical of the SSTU leadership when it warned the Australian Education Union and its branches to be “exceptionally careful” when responding to the marketing campaign. Towards the end of the school term there was evidence of further friction between the SSTU and the government following an announcement that teachers who had not paid their $70 dollar Western Australian College of Teaching fee could face fines and denial of registration. Conjecture continued about the literacy and numeracy performance of students across the state with new federal Education Minister Julia Gillard contending that a national school curriculum covering Years 11 to 12 would be completed by 2010. Political Chronicles 319

Health matters were a central issue in the federal election campaign, with the Howard government pledging to fund 40 per cent of each state’s health system in return for their agreement to establish community boards for each of the country’s 750 public hospitals. Labor’s plan was to seek state co-operation with the possibility of a referendum to gain health powers for the federal government if their objectives, particularly with emergency clinics, were not achieved. The state’s flagship Fiona Stanley Hospital, originally due for completion in 2010, was reported to be $700 million above budget and a further two years from completion. Environmental matters, particularly climate change, figured prominently in the federal election campaign. In July Water Resources Minister John Kobelke limited Perth’s 165,000 backyard bore owners’ use of sprinklers to three times a week and in August the Geraldton Iron Ore Alliance expressed concern that the state government had set a precedent which placed flora before mining, potentially leading to widespread bans in the Mid-West. On the other hand, in late December, much to the chagrin of environmentalists, the government announced that it had underwritten a new $500 million dollar coal fired power station in Collie. On 6 September the Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Education and Health tabled its extensive report on “The Cause and Extent of Lead Pollution in the Esperance Area”. The keen level of public interest in the matter, initially arising from the death of hundreds of birds earlier in the year, prompted a detailed government response by November, with consideration being given to whether environmental approval should be given for lead to be exported through Fremantle. The Committee was satisfied that the lead pollution was substantially caused by the transport of Magellan Metal’s lead concentration to, and handling through the Port of Esperance, and was particularly mindful that the lead pollution had found its way into the blood of some Esperance community members, including children. The Committee identified major failings in the Department of Environment’s industry regulation function and shortcomings in other regulatory agencies, and found “that these regularity failures combined with the irresponsible and possibly unlawful conduct of the Esperance Port Authority, Magellan Metals and BIS Industrial Logistics, exposed workers and the community to unacceptable and avoidable health and environmental risks”. Accountability Agencies Concerns about the claims of declining standards of accountability led Greens (WA) MLC Giz Watson to seek the creation of a second Commission on Government. On 25 October after an extensive debate the motion was supported by Liberal and National party members. However, Labor MLCs broadly rejected the initiative claiming that the CCC was enough to ensure good governance. A raft of criticisms were directed at the government over its refusal to release a number of reports and its plans to give Freedom of Information (FOI) decision powers to the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT). It was made publicly clear that Darryl Wookey, the Acting FOI Commissioner for four years, did not support the move as it would add another layer to the FOI process, delay decisions and be more costly for applicants. In November Wookey was somewhat controversially replaced by John Lightowers, a career public servant from the Department of Premier and Cabinet. Of some comfort for the government was the confidential report in late November of the Auditor-General, Colin Murphy, that due process had been followed when Alan Piper (a former Director-General of Justice) was awarded a multi-million dollar contract to oversee the Fiona Stanley Hospital project. Murphy’s findings followed the revelation that Health Director-General, Neale Fong, had asked the CCC to investigate 320 Political Chronicles how The West Australian newspaper became aware of revised upward budget estimates for the Fiona Stanley Hospital. Of continuing concern to the Under-Treasurer Tim Marney, highlighted by the Auditor-General in June, were the budget blow-outs and delays associated with the Office of Shared Services. One widely praised initiative was the late December announcement of a massive $73 million dollar injection into arts sector funding. The period also witnessed the passing of some well respected Western Australians. In October Kim Beazley senior was mourned as was respected journalist, Matt Price, who died the day after the November Federal election following a brief battle with cancer. On 22 December Sir Charles Court, former Premier of Western Australia (1974-1982), and driving force in the state’s industrial boom from the 1960s, died at the age of 96.

South Australia July to December 2007

ANDREW PARKIN Flinders University

South Australian Premier Mike Rann described 2007 as a “difficult year” characterised by “tough decisions” and indeed by “unpopular decisions” (Advertiser, 1 January 2008). The period under review, from July when awkward water management issues were coming to a head until December when opinion polls suggested some shift in popular sentiment towards the Liberal Opposition, bears out this observation. Nonetheless the period ended with the Rann Labor government, not yet at the mid- point of a four-year term scheduled to finish in March 2010, still comfortably in office and ahead in the opinion polls. Water Management It is not often that the availability of a basic commodity is the principal focus of politics, but water provision was the most contentious and difficult issue for the South Australian government during the period under review. Ongoing drought compounded the perennial difficulties of South Australia being a downstream state dependent, not simply for irrigation purposes but also for a significant proportion of metropolitan Adelaide’s reticulated water supply, on an increasingly unreliable River Murray flow. This required the imposition of continuing water-use restrictions on both rural irrigators and urban householders. Earlier in the year, South Australia had been willing to accept Prime Minister Howard’s proposal to reform the management of the Murray Darling Basin via a new basin-wide authority, a reform stymied by Victoria’s unwillingness to cede the necessary state powers to the Commonwealth. Whatever the merits of this position from a Victorian perspective, it looked from the South Australian end like an upstream state blocking a catchment-wide approach in order to preserve local prerogatives. According to Premier Rann, the Victorian government had taken an “uncompromising position not in the national interest” (Australian, 26 September 2007). Dealing with Murray Region irrigators restricted to just a fraction of their normal water entitlements was difficult enough politically, though the partisan ramifications Political Chronicles 321 for the Rann Labor government in this quarter continued to be interestingly mediated through the National Party affiliation and Murray Region electoral constituency of the responsible Minister, Karlene Maywald. The issue of Adelaide’s domestic water supply—affecting a huge number of voters in Labor’s electoral heartland—was potentially even more difficult. The government faced growing criticism, not necessarily over the principle of domestic watering restrictions during a crisis period but rather over some of the details of the compliance regime and over what seemed to be an insufficiently elaborated longer-term water management plan designed to minimise future shortages. Evidently stung by this criticism, the government proceeded to fast-track a number of proposals. By September, it was able to announce “the biggest infrastructure project in South Australia’s history” intended to produce an enhanced Adelaide Hills reservoir capacity and a metropolitan seawater desalination plant (Australian, 12 September 2007). Tinpot Triumph A proposed piece of infrastructure of quite a different nature provoked one of the strangest local political altercations of recent times. Development proposals affecting Adelaide’s renowned “parklands”—the 700-hectare swathe of open land that engirdles the City of Adelaide proper, beyond which Adelaide suburbia stretches in all directions—have long been a sensitive matter, probably since the parklands were first promulgated in the celebrated Adelaide town plan of 1837. Likewise of longstanding contention is the appropriate role of the Adelaide City Council, the municipal overseer of the City of Adelaide and of the parklands, in managing a jurisdiction that affects many more South Australians than just the relatively small number of people who, as City residents and ratepayers, are eligible to participate in Council elections. Ever since the first Australian Formula One Grand Prix event was held in 1985, now replaced each March by the Clipsal 500 V8 “supercar” race, the City of Adelaide street circuit has incorporated a deviation through the Victoria Park racecourse in the eastern parklands. Making this deviation race-ready necessitates the laborious deployment of temporary grandstands and other paraphernalia. The state government had proposed in December 2006 a $55 million redevelopment of the Victoria Park venue to realign the car-racing and horse-racing tracks and to build a new permanent grandstand, replete with corporate boxes, to accommodate the needs of both major sports. The Adelaide City Council had already rejected an initial version of the proposal, and the merit of the latest adaptation was a keen issue in the council election held in October 2007. This election returned a clear anti-proposal majority. State Treasurer Kevin Foley declared himself unimpressed by the prospect of “a handful of people in a small tinpot council” determining the fate of a major infrastructure development. “We are not going to tolerate a small, narrowly elected group of people to support no more than a few hundred people who have nothing better to do than complain about motor racing in the parklands” (Advertiser, 10 November 2007). The new council was not moved; it duly rejected the proposal by a decisive 9-2 margin (Advertiser, 13 November 2007). The Corporation of the City of Adelaide being, in legal terms, a creature of state parliament, new legislation (which in this case would have been likely to pass with Opposition support in the Legislative Council) can override the City Council’s position. Notwithstanding Treasurer Foley’s “we are not going to tolerate” bluster of early November, the state government declined to pursue this remedy. Instead, Foley announced that the demise of the $55 million initiative in favour of a new $20 million portable grandstand. For the Lord Mayor, the welcome decision promised to “preserve 322 Political Chronicles the wonderful parklands view in Victoria Park” (Advertiser, 7 December 2007). For Opposition Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith, however, the state government had ceded to “the worst possible outcome for South Australia” (Advertiser, 10 December 2007). There are two particularly odd aspects to this story. The first revolves around the fact that the MP for Adelaide is the Rann government’s Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith. Earlier in the year, Lomax-Smith had been accorded the extraordinary latitude of being permitted publicly to criticise her own government’s support for the Victoria Park redevelopment without resigning from cabinet, a worrying departure from Westminster conventions about collective ministerial responsibility. The state government capitulation in December therefore produced understandable speculation that Lomax-Smith’s opposition to the redevelopment proposal had prevailed, and even that she had threatened to resign from the ministry if the government continued to press for the permanent grandstand. It took some days for Lomax-Smith to explicitly deny the suggestion: “There is no substance to this, it is not true” (Advertiser, 12 December 2007). The second oddity is that the Adelaide City Council majority which finally voted down the Victoria Park proposal included newly-elected Councillor Ralph Clarke. Clarke had been Mike Rann’s deputy leader in the state parliamentary Labor party from 1994 until 1998 when he was forced to quit, later losing party pre-selection, over domestic violence allegations that he vehemently denied. After the election of the Rann Labor government, Clarke came back into public focus as a private citizen via allegations that he had been offered inducements to drop defamation action against Attorney-General Michael Atkinson. The Victoria Park decision once again put Clarke in the spotlight. For him, the compromise demountable grandstand was a good outcome: “Now 30,000 people will get shade rather than a few toffs from the top end of town”, he declared (Advertiser, 15 December 2007). Economy In August, a furious Treasurer Kevin Foley denounced a claim from an ANZ Bank economist that South Australia had been “technically in recession”, a conclusion that seemed to depend on an unconventional calculation of economic growth rates (Australian Financial Review, 15 August 2007). Later, more conventional, ABS figures were only moderately reassuring, revealing that South Australia’s economic growth over the twelve months to September 2007 had been just 1.3 per cent, by some margin the worst performance of any state (Australian Financial Review, 6 December 2007). The state economy is shifting significantly towards increased reliance on the mining sector. Capital expenditure on mining in the year to September 2007 exceeded that on manufacturing, an outcome that probably last happened about seventy years ago during the early years of the Playford government before the industrialisation of the South Australian economy began in earnest (Advertiser, 7 December 2007). When BHP Billiton announced in September a major upscaling of the estimated mineral resources at its Olympic Dam site, Premier Rann was moved to describe this rhapsodically as “the best news economically that this state has ever received”. The Premier was less impressed by BHP Billiton’s preference to export raw rather than processed ore. “This resource is not owned by BHP Billiton”, the Premier reminded the company, “it is owned by the people of SA, and our job is to leverage as many jobs as possible for SA” (Advertiser, 27 September 2007). Two months later, the rhetoric had been toned down a little, with Acting Premier Kevin Foley politely explaining that “we Political Chronicles 323 want as much refining undertaken in Australia as possible and practical” (Advertiser, 15 December 2007). Federal Election Complications Federal elections typically have a disruptive or diversionary effect on state politics, but the federal election of 24 November featured a couple of particularly unusual intersections with the state level. There was an unprecedented mid-campaign public debate between Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and State Transport Minister Patrick Conlon. Conlon had challenged Downer to a debate in response to Coalition campaign advertisements that had targeted the allegedly poor management of public transport in South Australia, and Downer had accepted the challenge. Downer tried hard to justify the claimed connection between the federal and state arenas: “My point is, imagine running a country like that — running a country in the way the SA minister runs the transport system in SA”. Conlon for his part thought it “bizarre” that he had been “dragged into the campaign” (Advertiser, 15 November 2007). The federal election also induced the translocation from state to federal politics of the remarkable Independent “No Pokies” politician Nick Xenophon. Xenophon had entered the South Australian Legislative Council in 1997 as a surprise victor, and had subsequently developed a strong public and media profile on a range of issues. He had been re-elected to the Council in March 2006 on the basis of an extraordinary personal vote (21 per cent of all first preference votes cast state-wide) that was sufficient not only to return him but also to elect, to her shock and even alarm, the second candidate on his ticket, anti-drugs campaigner Ann Bressington. Now, barely eighteen months into his second eight-year term, Xenophon chose to resign from the Legislative Council to run for the Senate. His move produced unexpected complications. Constitutional questions were raised about how Xenophon should be replaced in the Legislative Council. Under Section 13(5) of the South Australian Constitution Act, casual vacancies in the Council caused by the departure of a member “publicly recognised by a particular political party” are to be filled by a member of the same political party. Xenophon accordingly proposed that he should be replaced by the third candidate on his 2006 ticket, anti-land tax campaigner (and former South Australian Valuer-General) John Darley. The problem was that the Xenophon grouping had not registered itself as a political party, and indeed Xenophon had made something of a career out of his non-party and even anti-party status. Impishly, Premier Rann quoted Xenophon as having declared at one stage that “I will never join any party” to demonstrate that Xenophon now wanted “to have his cake and eat it too” in relation to party status (Hansard House of Assembly, 24 October 2007). According to Rann, what was required was for “Nick Xenophon to sign the form saying that Mr Darley is the person who is their party’s candidate” (Hansard House of Assembly, 25 October 2007). Rann nonetheless offered the reassurance that “I will not be doing a Joh Bjelke- Petersen”, invoking the spectre of the then Queensland Premier’s notorious role in shaping the so-called “tainted Senate”, via the unconventional filling of a casual vacancy, that had such dramatic national consequences in 1975. “I will neither provoke nor aid nor abet a constitutional crisis in this state”, he said (Australian Financial Review, 27-28 October 2007). Consistent with this reassurance, Rann eventually accepted that common sense dictated acceptance of Darley’s nomination. Darley’s elevation to the Legislative Council was duly ratified in a state parliament joint sitting on 21 November. 324 Political Chronicles

Succession in the Legislative Council was in some ways the least of Xenophon’s concerns at the time. His erstwhile colleague, Ann Bressington, used the parliamentary debate over the casual vacancy — conducted just a few days before the 24 November election at which Xenophon was offering himself for the Senate — to mount an extraordinary attack on Xenophon’s character and image. Bressington described Xenophon as a “chameleon” and an “illusionist”. According to Bressington, Xenophon had been “built up […] to be the hero of all South Australians — our very own Robin Hood” and yet he had allegedly timed his move to maximise his parliamentary pension. Bressington claimed that Xenophon had unfairly demanded a substantial personal financial contribution from her towards the expenses of the 2006 campaign that had unexpectedly elected her (Australian, 22 November 2007). Xenophon declared himself “deeply upset” and “deeply offended” by Bressington’s “gross distortion” of his actions (Australian, 22 November 2007; Advertiser, 22, 23 November 2007). If Bressington’s attack was intended to hurt Xenophon’s Senate election chances — and from its timing, notwithstanding her denials, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that it must have been — then it was ineffective. The offensive might even perversely have helped the Xenophon campaign, giving the Independent candidate a burst of front-page publicity on election eve. He duly won a Senate seat on the basis of garnering nearly 15 per cent of first-preference votes state-wide, well in excess of the quota required. Senator Xenophon is likely to exercise a considerable, and well practiced, balance-of-power influence in the post-June 2008 Senate. Leaders and Opinion Polls Martin Hamilton-Smith had become Leader of the Opposition in April 2007 in contentious circumstances. He proved to be an energetic choice, as even Premier Rann grudgingly conceded in a backhanded manner: “I think he has made a lot of noise and there has been a lot more bluster” (Advertiser, 1 January 2008). Hamilton-Smith marked one hundred days in office in July by describing senior Rann government ministers as “bullies and boofheads” (Advertiser, 29 July 2007). These remarks, he helpfully explained, were specifically directed at Premier Mike Rann, Treasurer Kevin Foley, Transport Minister Patrick Conlon and Attorney-General Michael Atkinson. But it was Agriculture and Forests Minister Rory McEwen, the Independent who had been guaranteed a continuing cabinet position in the Rann government in a pre-election deal, who in practice became a primary target. McEwen was accused of not only accepting campaign donations from companies associated with his portfolio interests but also of failing to declare these donations as required by the Members of Parliament (Pecuniary Interests) Act (Advertiser, 5 July 2007). Premier Rann, relying on the Deputy Crown Solicitor’s “narrower reading” of the Act, found that McEwen had breached no legal obligations (Advertiser, 6 July 2007). Some weeks later, McEwen suffered a heart attack, necessitating a six-week period of sick leave. Upon his return to work, he told ABC News (16 October 2007, ) that “the stress and pressure of politics could have been partly to blame”, but in relation to the allegations of impropriety he was adamant that “I was not stressed by it; I was angered by it” (Australian, 13-14 October 2007). Hamilton-Smith must have been surprised to awake to a September front-page “I’D LIKE TO BE PREMIER” headline in Adelaide’s daily newspaper. The accompanying story purported to indicate Foreign Minister Alexander Downer’s consideration of a switch to state politics to lead the Liberal Opposition, the job that Hamilton-Smith had himself only recently acquired (Advertiser, 20 September 2007). A subsequent sheepish Political Chronicles 325 clarification from Mr Downer explained that he had in fact no intention of making such a move. He had merely been speaking “hypothetically” while, as the Australian (21 September 2007) put it, “dining with journalists in the nation’s capital […] over a dinner of chargrilled wagyu beef”. The Newspoll covering the October-December 2007 period suggested that Hamilton-Smith’s energetic leadership was beginning to be noticed in the electorate. It reported a Labor/Liberal two-party preferred split of 54/46. In most circumstances, this could reasonably be interpreted as a healthy margin for Labor, but it needs to be read in the context of a 61/39 Newspoll split for the January-March 2007 period and a 57/43 split at the March 2006 election. Thus the trend seems to be in the Liberals’ direction. While Premier Rann had become — due to the departures of Victoria’s Steve Bracks (January 2007), Queensland’s Peter Beattie (September 2007), the Northern Territory’s Clare Martin (November 2007) and Prime Minister John Howard (November 2007) — Australia’s most experienced state/territory or federal governmental leader, he could no longer claim to be the most popular. That status fell victim to Rann’s own falling rating (down to 51 per cent on Newspoll’s satisfaction scale) and to the advent of the popular Anna Bligh in Queensland (Australian, 28 December 2007). Mike Rann evidently has no intention of emulating the spate of state/territory Labor leaders who have stepped down voluntarily mid-term in recent years. “I want to keep going”, he declared, “I don’t want to jump ship now that the ship is sailing. I love it” (Advertiser, 1 January 2008). With Opposition Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith hitting his straps and likewise seeming to be loving it, South Australian politics looks to be entering a lively phase.

Tasmania July to December 2007

RICHARD HERR University of Tasmania

Two local issues and one national concern dominated the Tasmanian media for the period from July 2007 through December 2007. The overriding state issue was the Gunns Corporation’s proposed kraft pulp mill for construction in the Tamar Valley in northern Tasmania. This controversy occupied virtually the whole of the political agenda of 2007 and only lost some intensity after the 2007 federal election when it was overtaken by the re-invigorated TCC affair. The scandal of the Tasmanian Compliance Corporation’s (TCC) monopoly control of builders’ accreditation, which had peaked as a public issue by the end of 2006 re-appeared in public debate late in 2007 when the matter went to court. Federal electioneering produced a number of local repercussions as both sides jockeyed for advantage in Tasmania’s two marginal seats. The Mill Controversy Continues The Pulp Mill Assessment Act passed by the parliament in April 2007 required an independent assessment of the Gunn’s proposal. A report by the Finnish consultancy firm SWECO PIC Oy was presented to members during July 2007 in compliance with this requirement. Controversially, the report was delivered to Gunns before it was passed on to the parliament, as was the report by ITS Global on the social and 326 Political Chronicles economic impact of the mill (Mercury, 3 July 2007). The Lennon government treated the two reports as strong positive endorsement for the mill since both endorsed the project despite some qualifications, which the government deemed minor. Critics pointed to the mill’s failure to meet all the environmental guidelines required by the legislation and some adverse economic impacts as evidence that the government was determined to force the permit for the mill through the parliament regardless of its defects (Mercury, 5 July 2007). A government decision to embark on a $300,000 media campaign in support of the mill in the weeks subsequently leading up to the parliamentary vote only confirmed these suspicions. The media campaign heightened tensions inside the parliament when Doug Parkinson, Leader of Government Business in the Legislative Council, attacked fellow MLC Terry Martin for his criticism of the expenditure of public money in this fashion. The attack backfired on the government as Martin, who had been expelled from Labor’s PLP in May for voting against the mill, was a popular local politician with many on all sides of the partisan divide. The strain extended then to the House of Assembly when ALP backbencher Lisa Singh asked the Premier to allow a conscience vote on the mill permit. The letter caused an uproar when it became public and was used by critics along with the treatment of Martin to allege a serious rift in the government ranks over the mill (Mercury, 19 July 2007). As specified by the Act, when both Houses resumed sitting in late August 2007, they were given five sitting days to accept or reject the pulp mill permit, which the government tabled for resolution by both houses at this time. The debate was acrimonious as the Greens attempted to point to changes in the permit conditions to prove that Gunns had induced the government to water down the “world’s best practice”. The joint resolution passed the Legislative Council on 30 August with a vote of ten in favour with four, including Martin, against, although the President of the Council, Don Wing, publicly expressed his disappointment that his position had prevented him from taking part in the debate and voting against the resolution. A few hours later, as expected, the House of Assembly supported the project, with only the four Greens MPs voting against the resolution. However, Labor backbencher Lisa Singh was allowed to abstain from the vote despite a lame Opposition attempt to claim the arrangement was illegal (Mercury, 31 August 2007). However, this was not the end of the process. Initially the Commonwealth had agreed to accept the state’s Resource Planning and Development Commission (RPDC) assessment but, with the collapse of the RPDC process, the Commonwealth had to make its own independent assessment. The day before the Tasmanian parliament issued the pulp mill permit, the then federal Environment Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, announced a delay in his decision on whether to approve the pulp mill in part due to the extraordinary number of submissions made to the minister during the period of public comment. The Lennon government objected strenuously to the delay, claiming that it would allow the mill to become a point of electoral contention when a federal election was eventually called. A bare week before the federal election was announced, Turnbull extended Commonwealth approval to the mill as expected. With Chief Scientist Jim Peacock at his side, he attempted to take some of the political heat out of his decision by adding twenty-four further conditions to the permit, which made for forty-eight in total (Mercury, 5 October 2007). Significantly, the federal approval did allow administrative and legal appeals, which the state process attempted to prevent. Gunns immediately announced that they would be able to meet the new conditions and that the project would proceed. The Premier expressed his pleasure at the “victory Political Chronicles 327 of science and common sense” but said he would embark on healing the divisions within the community caused by the mill debate. The Premier’s Address a few weeks later was billed as an important first step in meeting this resolve. However, critics suggested that the Premier’s sincerity was in question as he absented himself from the chamber when Opposition Leader, Will Hodgman, offered his address in reply which included criticism of the handling of the mill dispute (Mercury, 18 October 2007). The Federal Election in Tasmania As elsewhere across Australia, federal electoral manoeuvrings impacted on the state politics and this proved the case even before the election was formally called. Two early events set the tone for the approach both sides were to take to campaigning in Tasmania. The emphasis would be entirely on the two marginal seats — Bass and Braddon — both in the north of the state and both held by the Liberal party. Labor leader Kevin Rudd paid a late July visit to the state to lay to rest one of the ghosts of the previous election. He repudiated Mark Latham’s forestry policy in the seat of Braddon and ensured he was photographed shaking hands on the policy back-flip with the CFMEU’s state secretary, Scott McLean, to erase the image of the CFMEU’s public support for John Howard at the 2004 election (Mercury, 24 July 2007). A week later, the Prime Minister made a flying visit to the same marginal seat to announce a $45 million federal intervention into the Mersey Hospital. The announcement apparently was made without consulting either his cabinet or the state government. The Lennon government was outraged at the interference in the State’s rationalisation plan for the state’s hospitals and called it a “pork-barrelling stunt” (Mercury, 2 August 2007). The dramatic gesture had repercussions beyond Tasmania, provoking a debate about state-federal responsibilities across Australia. The southern electorates were not entirely without interest both before and during the campaign. Franklin ALP candidate, Kevin Harkins, was embattled regarding his pre-selection on two fronts. The sitting Member, Harry Quick, publicly denounced Harkins as an unsuitable replacement and later legal action was taken against the Electrical Trades Union official for leading an allegedly illegal strike. When Harkins decided to stand aside, Liberal Senator Eric Abetz subsequently suggested Harkins was offered a “bribe” to make way for a less controversial candidate. The affair made a casualty of Harry Quick as well as Kevin Harkins. Disciplinary action was sought against Quick for his undermining of Harkins with expulsion the objective. Intriguingly, a discovery that Quick had failed to pay his membership fees led to a ruling that he was no longer a member of the ALP and therefore beyond disciplinary action. Typically in recent years there is a specific suite of promises by both parties aimed at Tasmania as a whole. The 2007 election was unusual in that neither Labor nor the Coalition offered a “Tasmanian package”. Despite a pretence of an interest in all five electorates, electioneering by the government and the ALP leadership focused on the two northern marginal seats. Both the Tasmanian seats held by the Liberals fell to Labor in the election, as predicted by the polls, with former incumbent Sid Sidebottom reclaiming Braddon for Labor from Mark Baker and Michael Ferguson losing to Jodie Campbell in Bass. Yet the margins in both cases were surprisingly narrow and seemed in doubt for some time well into the count. The marginal seats strategy of the Coalition seemed to have greater effect than on the mainland. Critics within the ALP believed that the local candidates relied too much on the national campaign for success and therefore did not counter the sitting Liberal members’ electorate-specific promises. 328 Political Chronicles

The results elsewhere went pretty much according to the polls. The Liberals’ Vanessa Godwin put up a creditable showing in Franklin but Julie Collins won despite the Harkins fracas. Duncan Kerr retained Denison and went on to be appointed the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs under the new Rudd government. Dick Adams retained Lyons from his Liberal challenger, Geoff Page, aided by an internal party brawl that saw Ben Quin, the candidate originally pre-selected, resign to stand as an independent opposed to the Gunns pulp mill. Quin did particularly well as an independent and may even have won the seat had he held on to Liberal selection since his and Page’s combined vote nearly equalled Adams’ first preferences. Green preferences could have been expected to have flowed strongly to the anti-mill Quin rather than the pro-mill Adams. The Senate balance tipped in Labor’s favour when the Liberals lost one seat to the ALP. Catryna Bilyk joined sitting senators Nick Sherry and Carol Brown for the ALP. Bob Brown won with more than a quota in his own right but was unable to bring Andrew Wilkie with him although some pre-election polls suggested this was a possibility. Richard Colbeck and David Bushby were returned for the Liberals. Bushby had replaced the popular Paul Calvert, who retired as President of the Senate and as a senator in August. The TCC Affair A secret agreement was made prior to the March 2006 state election between a government minister and the Tasmanian Compliance Corporation (TCC) to give the corporation a monopoly to control the accreditation and registration of those working in the building industry. Tim Ellis, the Director of Public Prosecutions, laid criminal charges against three individuals for their parts in the affair in late October 2006. Bryan Green, his electorate officer, Guy Nicholson, and John White, a former ALP minister and a director of the TCC, were accused of conspiracy while Green and White were also charged with interfering with an executive officer in carrying out his duties. As the Crown prepared to prosecute the case in October 2007, DPP Ellis announced the dropping of the conspiracy charge, which reduced the number of defendants by one since Nicholson was not included in the second charge. It was reported then that Nicholson was expected to appear as a prosecution witness against Green and White (Mercury, 10 October 2007). The case went to trial in November 2007 and John White delivered the first of several shocks to beset the case when he changed his plea to guilty (Mercury, 21 November 2007). Consequently, Bryan Green stood alone in the dock. The trial provided a rare insight into both Labor party internal politics and the relationships between ministers and their advisers. The prosecution case included evidence that White felt the party owed him something for his service and at one time he had his eyes on Government House. The coaching of a witness, dissembling and a loss of memory by a number of key governmental or ALP witnesses marked the two-week trial, reaching their apex when the DPP felt obliged to request that the Premier himself be treated as an “unfavourable witness” under the laws of evidence. A concession to allow the prosecution to ask leading question obviated the need to proceed with the request (Mercury, 24 November 2007). In the end, the jury was unable to reach a majority verdict and the prosecution decided that Green should stand trial again before a fresh jury in the Supreme Court in February 2008. The bizarre twists in this case did not end with the hung jury. In early December 2007, a few days after the trial of Green collapsed, just as John White was due to appear before Chief Justice Peter Underwood for sentencing, the Mercury revealed Political Chronicles 329 another secret TCC deal. This was an arrangement by the TCC directors to pay White’s legal fees on the condition that he not be convicted of any crime. The revelation so embarrassed White’s counsel that he sought a special recall of the Supreme Court to explain that he was unaware of the agreement when he had pleaded with the Court not to record a conviction. Subsequently, to the ire of the TCC’s many victims, and despite the embarrassing revelation, no conviction was recorded against White. The Chief Justice surprisingly threatened the Mercury with contempt of court for having published news of the secret deal as he considered it could be seen as an attempt to influence the sentence (Mercury, 10 December 2007). No action was taken against investigative reporter Sue Neales or the Mercury. The sentencing of White raised questions as to the prudence of pursuing Green. If there was no more than a slap on the wrist awaiting Green, was another trial worth the cost to the community? When White pleaded guilty to the same charge for which Green was accused, government concern reached a level that it reportedly sought advice as to whether Green would be obliged to resign his Braddon seat if convicted. Initially, it was suggested that only a sentence of more than a year would force a resignation but more careful legal interpretation of the Constitution Act (1934) held that because he was “subject to” such a sentence he would automatically lose his seat. Although the Chief Justice castigated the media for a misplaced interest in the possible twenty-one-year sentence that the alleged crime could bring, there was a genuine constitutional basis for what the consequences could be if a conviction were recorded. Health Issues Health was a constant headache for the Tasmanian government as for other states throughout the period under review. The Lennon government’s rationalisation of health services through its Clinical Services Plan reached national prominence when the then Prime Minister John Howard announced that the Commonwealth would throw a financial lifeline to the embattled Mersey Hospital in order to keep open all its services. Weeks of negotiations followed on how to secure the proffered lifeline. In the end, the state government ratcheted up the pressure on the Commonwealth by agreeing to sell the hospital for the peppercorn charge of one dollar provided the Commonwealth completed the deal in a matter of weeks. The Premier said an early resolution of Commonwealth’s intervention was necessary to remove any public uncertainty about its future and to conclude arrangements before an election was called and the caretaker conventions took over (Mercury, 21 August 2007). The Commonwealth was unable to complete the transaction and embarrassingly at a National Press Club debate with his opposite number, Nicola Roxon, during the election campaign, federal Health Minister Tony Abbott had to admit the handover had been put on hold the day before it was due to be implemented. Prime Ministerial intervention allowed the completion of the deal in November. The state’s restructuring of health costs was not limited to the hospitals. In his June 2007 Budget, Treasurer Michael Aird announced an Ambulance Service fee would be imposed on a “user pays” principle from 2008. However he was unable to say how the new tax would be imposed and what its effects would be in rural areas far from medical facilities. Ambiguously, Aird simply asserting that an appropriate model would be developed before the charge came into force. By year’s end this model was not yet forthcoming. In November, the state’s nurses began industrial action that resulted in closing hospital beds and stopping elective surgery early in pursuit of a log of claims including pay parity with their mainland colleagues (Mercury, 1 November 2007). The 330 Political Chronicles negotiations dragged on until Premier Lennon stepped in directly to end the dispute. The nurses did not get full parity but they did win substantial pay increases and improved conditions. The appearance of possible equine flu in September proved the health crisis in the state was not limited to humans. The state government responded immediately with a “standstill” (no movement of horses allowed) to contain the risk with good effect. However, Greens MP, Kim Booth, raised allegations that the Premier himself had violated a biosecurity barrier to see his horse, Hot Soky, after it won a race at Elwick (Mercury, 23 November 2007). The photographic evidence was destroyed despite Booth’s attempts to secure it and the matter lapsed. Hot Soky had to be destroyed several weeks later after an accident. Noted in Passing The long serving head of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Linda Hornsey, resigned without warning in August and was replaced in September by Evan Rolley who had been the chief executive officer of Forestry Tasmania for sixteen years (Mercury, 18 September 2007). The $100 million Direct Factory Outlet proposed for the Hobart Airport was abandoned only hours after receiving federal approval because the conditions imposed by the Commonwealth were deemed by the developer, Austexx, to have compromised its economic viability (Mercury, 10 October 2007). In November 2007, the Parliament passed legislation to permit therapeutic cloning, which will allow for the creation of embryos to provide stem cells in scientific research. House of Assembly members were allowed a conscience vote and it passed with fifteen supporting the bill and nine opposing. The Legislative Council passed it by an eleven to three majority. The government sold the Hobart airport for a reported $350 million in December, nearly triple the June budget forecast when the sale was announced.

Northern Territory July to December 2007

MICKEY DEWAR Mickey Dewar Historical Research & Consulting

Introduction The second half of 2007 consolidated the effects of the federal intervention into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory and by the end of the year would indirectly usher in a new federal Labor government and directly lead to the resignation of the first Labor Chief Minister of the Territory, Clare Martin. Federal Intervention Although there was a notional bipartisan support for the intervention, there was a difference in federal and Territory priorities. The Territory pushed for additional resources for remote housing and policing, support for Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) and was divided on the issue of the permit system to enter Aboriginal land. On 7 August there was a cabinet reshuffle and the Chief Political Chronicles 331

Minister added Police to her portfolio. Health Minister Chris Burns picked up Substance Abuse including the roll-out of alcohol management plans across the Territory. Marion Scrymgour resumed the portfolio of Family and Community Services — with an additional Special Responsibility for Child Protection. On 24 August Indigenous backbencher Alison Anderson expressed public support for federal intervention including abolition of the permit system. Only days later, the Prime Minister John Howard made his first visit to a remote Aboriginal community since the federal intervention. He travelled to Hermannsburg community west of Alice Springs and told the Ntaria Council their future lay within the “mainstream Australia community” (ABC Radio National, 28 August 2007). While in the Territory, the Prime Minister met with Chief Minister Clare Martin and told her that her government has “failed the people of the Northern Territory” (ABC Radio National, 29 August 2007). On 14 and 15 September Aboriginal protests at the intervention were held in front of the council offices in Alice Springs and Raintree Park in Darwin. The alcohol restrictions brought in hastily by the federal government proved cumbersome and unpopular. Four days before they were enacted the federal government announced changes providing exemption for tourist operators in Kakadu and Uluru national parks. On 15 September, the day the laws came into force, the Northern Territory News detailed how to get around the restrictions requiring registration of any single alcohol purchase above $100. By the end of September federal government full-page advertisements, “New laws to protect Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory”, ran side by side with the “Howard Government’s $100 takeaway alcohol laws won’t work” (Northern Territory News, 22 September 2007). The Country Liberal Party (CLP) Federal Member David Tollner tried to distance himself: “It won’t stop grog- running, that’s for sure” (Weekend Australian, 29-30 September). The Territory continued to implement a separate alcohol management program. On 19 October the Northern Territory’s Licensing Commissioner Richard O’Sullivan declared Katherine a dry town, the second town in the Northern Territory after Alice Springs where no alcohol could legally be consumed outside licensed premises or private dwellings. On 20 September Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough saw Galarruwuy Yunupingu’s signing of a memorandum of understanding to access a ninety-nine-year lease over traditional land covering the entire township of Ski Beach near Nhulunbuy as an historic occasion. The debate ignited however on 23 October when Indigenous Member and Territory Minister Marion Scrymgour delivered the Charles Perkins Annual Memorial Oration at the University of Sydney. She called the federal intervention a “black kids’ Tampa” as part of a strategy to seize the initiative in an election campaign it was unlikely to win (Australian, 24 October 2007). Martin admitted having seen an early draft of the speech; an admission seen by some as support for the Scrymgour position. Federal Opposition leader Kevin Rudd distanced himself from the debate while the Prime Minister responded by accusing Labor of playing a “double game” (Northern Territory News, 26 October 2007). Three days later, on 26 October, Galarruwuy Yunupingu gave a powerful speech at the University of Melbourne expressing support for the Howard government intervention. The intervention continued to attract a spectrum of responses from Aboriginal Territorians. Alison Anderson reiterated her support saying: “My people […] want the help from this intervention.” (Weekend Australian, 27-28 October 2007). In Arnhem Land, Reggie Wurridjal, a Maningrida Traditional Owner together with the Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation mounted a legal challenge to the federal government’s intervention (Sydney Morning Herald, 27 October 2007). In a later admission, Marion 332 Political Chronicles

Scrymgour softened some of the impact of her speech admitting that some of the language used was “excessive” (Northern Territory News, 29 October 2007). The election of the Rudd Labor government brought little immediate change although on 11 December the Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin called for a moratorium on the dismantling of CDEP. On 14 December she attended a summit meeting in Darwin that included the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister and was joined the next day by the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Aboriginal leaders from the areas of health and education. At the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Melbourne on 20 December, it was announced that the Northern Territory government would deputy chair a working group on Indigenous reform to drive a national plan to close the life expectancy gap for Indigenous people within a generation. Indigenous Issues On 30 August the Northern Land Council (NLC) opened a new building in Mitchell Street in the centre of Darwin (former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was unable to attend because his metal walking frame apparently contravened the anti-terrorism laws and prevented his catching the plane). On this day also the federal government confirmed the final signing-off of Australia’s first Commonwealth ninety-nine-year lease agreement on Aboriginal land on the Tiwi Islands north of Darwin. The agreement was signed by Tiwi Land Trust chair Andrew Bush on a deal whereby the traditional owners receive a $5 million lump sum payment for the first fifteen years, with the Commonwealth also promising twenty-five new houses in the next two years. On 4 September Traditional Owners of Tennant Creek signed a native title agreement in a Federal Court decision handed down by Justice John Mansfield, the first town in Australia to negotiate a native title deal by agreement rather than by litigation. On 4 December the Territory government challenge to the Federal Court’s decision giving Yolngu people of Blue Mud Bay the right to deny outsider access to the intertidal zone went to the High Court in Canberra. Environment Over the 23-24 July, the Prime Minister’s Northern Australia Land and Water Taskforce chaired by Senator Bill Heffernan met in Darwin with government representatives and industry stakeholders to examine the potential for developing land and water resources in northern Australia. On 29 August the Minister for the Environment Delia Lawrie announced legislation for the establishment of an Environment Protection Agency (EPA). She said the EPA would take on the role of an independent statutory advisory body and would give advice on policy and legislation with the power to scrutinise regulatory systems across government agencies. The Independent Member for Nelson, Gerry Wood said the new EPA had “no teeth” and scored it a “one or two” out of ten (ABC Territory Morning program, 30 August 2007). The rest of the year saw a succession of environmental developments. On the week beginning of 10 September both political parties did leaflet drops to northern suburbs residents on the issue of climate change. Claims of widespread land clearing on the Tiwi Islands received national publicity (ABC Radio National Background Briefing, 16 September 2007); only days later Senator Milne from Tasmania called on the Howard government for a proper investigation of the land clearing on Melville Island (Hansard, 19 September 2007). On 12 December the Territory government announced it would Political Chronicles 333 extend its moratorium on broad scale land clearing in the Daly River area for a further two years to allow for further scientific research. Federal Election Since 2001 the Northern Territory has comprised two federal electoral divisions: Lingiari, considered a safe Labor seat held by long-time member Warren Snowden and Solomon, narrowly held by CLP member David Tollner. Tollner’s Labor opponent Damien Hale was a football coach and Palmerston resident, who in June of this year had received some unexpected publicity when he was punched by Fremantle footballer Dean Solomon in a Darwin nightclub. In Lingiari Snowden campaigned in the bush, traditionally his primary voter support base, on a campaign of return to CDEP and reinstatement of the permit system for Aboriginal land. His Indigenous CLP opponent, Adam Giles, a former Commonwealth public servant and comparative newcomer to Alice Springs was given little chance of picking up the seat. Tollner ran on local issues; on 2 November he launched a new law and order campaign with a series of television advertisements aired on commercial news time slots with the theme that the Territory government was “soft on crime”. On Saturday 3 November both the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition campaigned in Darwin for Tollner’s seat of Solomon. The Prime Minister did a walk through Casuarina Square, the main retail centre of Darwin’s northern suburbs while the Leader of the Opposition chose Palmerston shopping centre, closer to the Darwin rural hinterland. In the draw for ballot papers Labor gained the top spots for both Hale and Snowden (Northern Territory News, 3 November 2007). The “me-too” factor worked in the Territory as elsewhere, with both sides promising increased funding for roads and other infrastructure, twenty-four-hour medical clinics in Palmerston and CCTV in hot spots to control crime. In the end, local issues did not really matter nearly as much in the much bigger contest between John Howard and Kevin Rudd. Labor candidate Damien Hale not very effectively tried to revive the issue of a nuclear waste dump in the Territory: Labor letterboxed flyers showing families picnicking at East Point under the shadow of a nuclear reactor. On 5 October Opposition Indigenous affairs spokeswoman Jenny Macklin and environment spokesman Peter Garrett launched Labor’s Indigenous jobs plan in Alice Springs saying that under a Labor government, the CDEP scheme would be retained. The results of the election on 24 November, showed unsurprisingly, a return for senators Nigel Scullion (CLP) and Trish Crossin (ALP). In Lingiari, Snowden increased his vote in the bush but the electoral divide was revealed in Alice Springs town where support favoured Giles. In the new Rudd cabinet, Snowden was named as Minister for Defence, Science and Personnel; only the third Territory member (after senators Bob Collins and Scullion) to be awarded a federal ministry. Scullion was elected Deputy Leader of the National Party; the first from the Territory and from the Senate and appointed federal Opposition spokesman for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Solomon proved too close to call for some time after the election. On 6 December Hale claimed the seat for Labor before finalisation of the figure but about 200 votes ahead after distribution of preferences. This had not changed much by 11 December when the Northern Territory Electoral Commission officially declared for Hale.

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Local Government Issues In July, Darwin’s Lord Mayor and former CLP government minister Peter Adamson was found guilty of wrongfully obtaining $1,800 in gift vouchers from the Darwin City Council and using a fridge intended for donation to charity. Days later, on 16 July, Adamson announced his resignation to the media. On 31 July Darwin City Council Aldermen appointed Garry Lambert as the city’s new Lord Mayor. On 4 September Magistrate Vince Luppino sentenced Adamson to seven months’ gaol suspended after two months and ordered him to pay restitution and legal costs. Adamson was bailed pending his appeal. In August the Local Government Amendment Bill was passed on urgency as part of the Territory government’s program of local government reform transforming sixty councils into nine super shires. An unlikely alliance of members was formed in opposition including the Chamber of Commerce NT, NT Cattleman’s Association, NT Minerals Council, Northern Land Council, Small Business Association NT, Territory Construction Association and Trucking NT who launched a media campaign against the reforms with full page advertisements in the News. Local Government Minister Elliott McAdam responded that reform was “not an option, it is a necessity” (Northern Territory News, 5 September 2007). The government’s plans received endorsement from the President of the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory (LGANT), and Darwin City Council Alderman, Kerry Moir. As a sweetener, the government announced it would put a freeze on council rates for three years with a cap on residential rates for three years across all shires. Chief Minister On 28 August Chief Minister Martin announced a new plan for Darwin city with a world class Second World War Museum next to Parliament House, a green belt around Darwin peninsula, changes to city planning and a master plan for State Square. Allan Garraway, President of the Property Council in the Northern Territory, responded by saying that curbing antisocial behaviour in town, rather than plans for development or heritage, should be the government’s priority. When Queensland premier Peter Beattie announced his retirement on 10 September, Martin became the longest serving leader of a state or Territory having held the job for a little over six years. The Chief Minister was reported to have “thought of quitting too” but confirmed that she would stay to contest the next election. She nominated Paul Henderson as her choice for the next Chief Minister (Northern Territory News, 12 September 2007). Martin had experienced some previous conflict with her Indigenous Members of Caucus over a range of issues but in particular her tough stance in the election 2005 on antisocial behaviour by drunks and the passing of legislation enabling the Macarthur River mine expansion in the face of Aboriginal opposition. Less than a month before the federal election date, Nicolas Rothwell wrote an article highly critical of Martin and her staffers and warned of divisions between the Chief Minister and her Aboriginal colleagues. (Weekend Australian, 27-28 October 2007). On the 26 November, only days after the federal election result, Chief Minister Martin announced her resignation. She was joined by her Deputy and Treasurer, Syd Stirling. After the caucus meeting Paul Henderson, Member for Wanguri since 1999 and a senior cabinet minister since Labor took office in 2001, was declared the new Chief Minister. Martin cited the federal intervention as contributing to her decision to Political Chronicles 335 stand down. Her Chief Executive Officer Paul Tyrrell also announced his intention to retire at the end of January 2008. Martin, the woman who led the Labor party to government from the wilderness of twenty-seven years of Opposition, whose government was elected on a platform to abolish mandatory sentencing, who established an independent Northern Territory Electoral Commission, passed Freedom of Information legislation, negotiated joint Aboriginal management of most Territory parks, among other reforms, was now on the backbench. She eventually received grudging credit from one of her most strident critics: Peter Murphy noted “Martin did the hard job” (Sunday Territorian, 2 December 2007). The political changes post-election continued. A full meeting of the Northern Land Council (NLC) voted out Chairman John Daly, who was replaced by Yolngu elder Wali Wunungmurra, the last surviving signatory of the 1963 bark petition, which opposed bauxite mining and sought land rights in the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land. At the same time, the NLC Chief Executive of eleven years Norman Fry also announced his resignation (Northern Territory News, 1 December 2007). Chief Minister Paul Henderson, who was sworn in on 30 November, announced that his new ministerial appointments would also include Member for Sanderson Len Kiely and Member for Millner Matthew Bonson. For both Kiely and Bonson it was a first chance at cabinet after reporting of negative incidents in the media. Opposition Leader Jodeen Carney made brief political capital calling the appointments a “shocking lapse of judgement” (Northern Territory News, 28 November 2007). The changes in the new cabinet team included the Chief Minister picking up the new responsibility of Climate Change, while returning to Police, Fire and Emergency Services. The Deputy Chief Minister Marion Scrymgour was given the widest areas of responsibility taking on Indigenous Policy and Employment, Education and Training. Delia Lawrie was appointed Treasurer and also retained the portfolios of Planning and Lands, Infrastructure and Transport. Chris Burns was named the new Attorney-General with responsibility for the Justice portfolio, and Kon Vatskalis took on Tourism. Len Kiely assumed responsibility for Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage, and for Parks and Wildlife and Matthew Bonson, the portfolios of Sport and Recreation, Senior Territorians, Young Territorians and Assisting the Chief Minister on Multicultural Affairs with Elliot McAdam and Chris Natt’s portfolios unchanged. The Northern Territory News editorial noted disparagingly, “Few highlights in NT Cabinet” (3 December 2007). As almost the first decision, the Henderson government announced a commitment to reform of local government but with a slowing down of the pace of implementation. Vale On 21 September former ALP Senator for the Northern Territory Bob Collins died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Darwin. Collins played a powerful role in Labor history and Territory politics serving as Leader of the Opposition in the Territory and holding several portfolios in the Hawke and Keating governments before retiring from federal parliament in 1998. He worked on a variety of Territory projects including a review of Education and was appointed consultant to the new Martin government. In January 2005 Collins was formally charged with a number of offences involving children but he died three days before he was due to face court. A complex, witty and brilliant man, his enormous contribution to Territory politics will always remain shadowed by the unresolved charges. 336 Political Chronicles

On the other side of Territory politics, the Northern Territory News of 29 October reported the death of sometime FrogWatch coordinator and media guru, Paul Cowdy, who worked for every CLP chief minister and for the Liberal Party on John Howard’s election campaign. Conclusion The past six months of Territory politics were dominated by the federal intervention into Aboriginal affairs in the Northern Territory. Everything else, including the lead-in to the federal election, felt subordinate. The federal intervention opened up old wounds and revealed the ongoing problems Labor has always had in balancing its representation of its Indigenous support base from the bush with the aspirations and values of Darwin northern suburbs residents.

Australian Capital Territory July to December 2007

JANINE O’FLYNN The Australian National University

Introduction With ongoing attention to planning, an acute housing crisis, contracting blunders, a failed attempt to save a local timber mill, money to rescue caged chickens, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope’s continued animosity towards Prime Minister John Howard, and then his (perhaps short-lived) jubilation at the election of Rudd, the political landscape in the nation’s capital was engaging. In these chronicles, however, two key issues have been selected for more thorough examination. The Skippy Saga Plans to cull thousands of kangaroos in Canberra grabbed national and international headlines. Early in 2007 the Commonwealth Department of Defence applied to the Territory government for permission to kill some 3200 kangaroos on sites in Belconnen and Majura because of their potential impact on “endangered ecological communities” and the impending threat of slow starvation due in large part to a population explosion (TAMS Media Release, 12 May 2007). The extent of overpopulation was made clear when it was announced that the density of kangaroo population was more than four times that recommend by expert ecologists, and that the population would be reduced by around three-quarters at the Belconnen site (TAMS Fact Sheet, 2007). Indeed the RSPCA argued that if Defence did not act to manage the roo population it would likely lay charges of animal cruelty as the animals looked likely to starve (Canberra Times, 29 May 2007). After canvassing a range of options it was argued that engaging professional shooters to kill the animals was most appropriate, a method endorsed by the RSPCA: A powerful rifle-shot to the cranium results in one of the most humane deaths administered by humans to any wild or farmed vertebrate animals in the world. Death is instantaneous while the kangaroo is going about its normal activities. No yards or transport are involved (TAMS Fact Sheet, 2007 p.2). Political Chronicles 337

Almost immediately after the proposed cull was announced, several animal rights groups condemned it; an Animal Liberation spokesperson claimed there was no basis for the starvation argument and that by forging ahead with the cull, the Territory would earn a worldwide reputation for cruelty to animals (Daily Telegraph, 14 May 2007). Wildcare, a local group that would gain considerable prominence as the debate continued, argued mayhem would follow the first shot fired and that a decision on how to handle the kangaroo challenge should be: Based on first-class knowledge and an enlightened world view of ethics and the environment, rather than on ignorance and spin […] the clinical spin of the ADF and the ACT Government will at that point be shown to be the complete lie that it is. By that time, however, it will be too late for these iconic Australian animals (Wildcare Media Release, 14 May 2007). The cull effectively split animal rights groups — the RSPCA supporting the cull, and others such as the Animal Liberation and Wildcare opposed. Prominent philosopher and ethicist Peter Singer also entered the debate, arguing that the cull was unethical because the animals were not starving, nor were they distressed: “Kangaroos are sentient beings who can enjoy their lives […] as long as they can do so, it is better to let them continue to live” (ABC News, 24 May 2007). The issue grabbed headlines across the world where, for example, it was reported that Australian were planning on killing their national symbol (Washington Post, 14 May 2007). Late May, Defence was taken aback when the Australian Federal Police intervened to stop the issuing of licences on the grounds of public safety. Indeed, several animal rights groups had publicly declared they would protest at the shoot sites. Further, the Federal Police noted the potential for members of the public to be injured if bullets ricocheted, or shooters misfired (Canberra Times, 26 May 2007). Despite a pro-cull stance, the Territory government refused to issue the licences and the application was put on hold. Following consultation between the Territory government, Defence and the Federal Police, licenses were finally issued in late June and it was announced that multiple methods would be used to kill the animals — shooting at Majura, but darting followed by euthanasia at Belconnen (TAMS Media Release, 20 June 2007). Following on from all this to-ing and fro-ing Defence spectacularly abandoned the cull plans in early July arguing it had run out of time to do the job during the March-July cull season. Whilst some animal rights groups who had lobbied hard for the kangaroos to be left alone were pleased, scientists warned that failure to eradicate the animals posed an ecological catastrophe, and the RSPCA again threatened to lay cruelty charges against the Department of Defence (Canberra Times, 6 July 2007). The Chief Minister announced that the Territory government was seeking advice on whether it could force Defence to go ahead with the cull, and the Minister for Defence Brendan Nelson was asked to formally set out how he would ensure that the Department’s obligations to protect endangered flora and fauna under the Nature Conservation Act would be fulfilled now the cull had been abandoned (Media Release, 16 July 2007). A more sinister explanation for the abandonment of the cull was proposed in an article in the Canberra Times (10 July 2007) where it was reported that the Secretary of the Commonwealth Treasury, Ken Henry, had co-authored a report from the animal protection group Wildcare which urged Defence to abandon the cull. Whilst pro-cull groups argued this amounted to undue influence, experts wondered how this “little- known volunteer group” had trumped their scientific evidence. Given that it had earlier been suggested a cull would take just three days many expressed suspicion at the rationale provided by Defence. Indeed, even the Chief Minister asked why Defence 338 Political Chronicles had listened to “a community group with experience in hand-raising joeys” rather than the reports it had commissioned from ecologists and other experts (Media Release, 16 July 2007). Later he stated that the problem was so dire he would consider extending the Territory cull period to allow Defence to deal with the issue. Wildcare posed its own questions — were the scientists advocating the cull financially supported by the Stanhope government? Did the RSPCA, also supporters of the cull, rely on donations from the Territory government? (Wildcare Media Release, 5 August 2007). The group suggested that rather than being concerned about precious grasslands the Territory government simply wanted to kill the kangaroos so it could release more land, make more money and ensure budget surpluses (Wildcare Media Release, 12 August 2007). In the fierce debate over the future of the roos, one suggestion from Wildcare got nation-wide press coverage. It was suggested that the animals could be relocated — this would involve tranquilising them and then transported them in a padded, air- conditioned truck to areas in New South Wales at a reported cost of around $3,600 per animal, although these prices were dismissed as mischievous by the group (Canberra Times, 3 August 2007). Mayors in adjoining New South Wales were unimpressed with the suggestion that the kangaroo problem would be solved by pushing the animals into their jurisdictions because they had enough of their own. This despite claims by Wildcare that they had in-principle support from the New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change for the relocations and that assistance had been offered in undertaking the move (Wildcare July 2007, The Kangaroo Population at Belconnen Naval Transmission Station – Summary). In September, Defence changed its mind again and announced it was going ahead with the cull. The decision was based on advice from the expert panel it convened in August to develop a plan for the Belconnen site. In the end a mixed approach combining euthanasia, relocation and fertility control was adopted. Chief Minister Stanhope argued against the relocation suggesting that this did little to solve the actual problem (Canberra Times, 29 September 2007). Animal protection advocates also seemed miffed, with a spokesman for the Wildlife Protection Association stating: “The Department of Defence gave us an assurance that they will not kill the animals and I hold out on the hope they have more integrity than to go back on their word” (Canberra Times, 29 September 2007). The group again threatened that they would protest on the site of the cull. In October, Defence announced a tender for control of kangaroos at the Majura and Belconnen sites. In a separate agreement they engaged contractors to build fences to protect important habitat at the sites. The fences, near completion at the end of the year, were expected to allow vegetation to recover following on from the effects of overpopulation. Liberals Implode — Again … The Territory Liberals have certainly had a hard time of it over the last few years with ongoing internal strife, backstabbing and instability. Bill Stefaniak took up leadership of the troubled lot in May 2006 after Brendan Smyth lost support. In December 2007 instability again rocked the party; the catalyst was the dumping of Richard Mulcahy from the front bench as allegations over the misuse of funds during his time in charge of the Australian Hotels Associations were investigated by a federal tribunal. This had been an ongoing issue for Mulcahy, a man considered a star recruit and potential leader when elected in 2004. Whilst he argued that he was the victim of a political witch-hunt, there had been rumours swirling, and it had been suggested that he came with a lot of “baggage” (Canberra Times, 10 December 2007). Political Chronicles 339

Upon being stood down, Mulcahy publicly vented his spleen, arguing Stefaniak’s actions were “indefensible and without precedent” and that they reflected “poorly on [his] judgement” (Canberra Times, 10 December 2007). Mulcahy argued that if he had to be stood down for what were unsubstantiated allegations then some of his colleagues should too. Whilst he would not divulge details, he suggested that he had some dirt on both Stefaniak and former leader Smyth. Smyth countered that if Mulcahy had such important information he should report it to police or shut up. In a party-room meeting on 10 December Mulcahy was expelled for disloyalty. He did not go to the crossbench quietly: he publicly stated that the Liberals were unfit to govern, that both Stefaniak and Smyth were failures as leaders, and that people within his own party had sought to derail him for years: I have reached the view over a period of time that it is not within the capacity of the ACT Liberals to form an effective government in the ACT, either with the current leader or any other […] [my expulsion] only confirms my belief that the ACT Liberal party is not and will not in the foreseeable future be fit to govern (Canberra Times, 11 December 2007). The prime catalyst for his expulsion was his very public musing on Stefaniak’s leadership. He claimed five of the seven Liberal MLAs did not support him — and the reason Stefaniak had pushed him aside was because he was threatened by him (Canberra Times, 10 December 2007). This, however, was not surprising given suggestions Mulcahy had long touted around town that he would challenge Stefaniak prior to the October 2008 election (Canberra Times, 15 November 2006). Following his expulsion, Mulcahy publicly commented that the Liberals would most likely “put the knife” into Stefaniak prior to Christmas, basing his claims on the fact that all but one MLA had privately told him they did not support the current leader (Canberra Times, 12 December 2007). With widespread agreement that Stefaniak had been a poor performer, discussions over who should lead the party were ongoing. The main problems for the party were personality-based fissures or “who hates Brendan or Richard, who has a grudge against who” (Canberra Times, 11 December). This becomes a real issue, of course, when your party has only seven, and later six, members in the Assembly. Mulcahy stated that Smyth was doing his numbers hoping to reclaim the leadership, but that Jacqui Burke and Zed Seselja both fancied themselves as contenders. It didn’t take long for the knives to come out. On 13 December Bill Stefaniak stepped down as leader and his deputy Jacqui Burke followed — a seemingly bloodless coup. Zed Seselja was elected unopposed with Smyth taking the role of deputy. Whilst claiming not to have been pushed, Stefaniak did concede he no longer had the support of his party — a party he admitted had been racked by instability: “We have been somewhat dysfunctional for probably close to three years” (The Australian, 17 December 2007). Seselja, he argued, offered them a chance at a fresh start. At just thirty years of age, Seselja is one of the youngest leaders in Australian history. Elected to the Assembly in 2004, he admitted there were tough times ahead for his party but stated that he had a unified team behind him (Canberra Times, 14 December 2007). Others argued that it wouldn’t be long before Smyth sought to regain the leadership: there was much speculation that he wanted the top job after Stefaniak stepped aside. Either way, Cathy Alexander noted: “From here, it’s looking like Jon Stanhope will laugh all the way to the polls” (Canberra Times, 11 December 2007).

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Other Notable Happenings As was the case in other jurisdictions, debate about the state of the health system in the Territory raged. An exposé on “Four Corners” in August featuring a doctor who blew the whistle on patient treatment by a neurologist at the Canberra Hospital sparked considerable attention. Katy Gallagher, the Minister for Health, announced she would hold an inquiry into patient treatment if new evidence emerged. During September and October several horror stories were reported which ensured that the health debate continued. One featured a man sent home following x-rays when he was told there was nothing wrong with him; he was found to have a fractured skull and a brain haemorrhage. Another featured a thirty-year old man who died of cardiac arrest in the emergency room whilst staff apparently believed he was asleep. Despite claims by the government that patients were overwhelmingly satisfied, it was clear that the Territory system was under stress. A key contributing factor, according to Medical Director Peter Collignon, was the heavy use of Territory hospitals by people from New South Wales. It was suggested that around one-quarter of patients at Canberra hospitals came from New South Wales and that their government should contribute at least $100 million, rather than the current $55-65 million, toward the operation of Canberra hospitals to offset this (Canberra Times, 12 August 2007). Following independent arbitration between the two jurisdictions, it was announced that the Territory would receive $10million in back pay and an additional $2million per annum. Whilst the government trumpeted this as a windfall, the increased funds were still a long way short of the true cost of provision claimed by Collignon (Canberra Times, 28 December 2007). In the context of this debate, Liberal MLA Jacqui Burke became involved in a stoush with the Labor Party after suggesting that Health Minister Gallagher was a poor performer. Gallagher had recently given birth to her third child and taken six weeks maternity leave; she returned to work with her young baby in tow. Burke argued in the Assembly that Gallagher was a […] part-time health minister. She is not fully committed to the job; she is unable to be fully committed to the job. I make that quite clear. It is very important that we have a health minister who is on the ball 100 per cent of the time. She is not across this portfolio. She is unaware of the many issues that are bubbling under the surface. She knows nothing about them, and that concerns me (Hansard, 14 November 2007, p. 3335). Gallagher, along with many women, was livid that Burke was questioning her ability to perform because she had a small child: “Many mothers carry out dual roles of parenting and employment and this is something we need to encourage, not attack” (Media Release, 15 November 2007). Indeed, in 2007, the Legislative Assembly was accredited as a breastfeeding friendly space by the national breastfeeding association. Gallagher regularly took her child to meetings and briefings but stated that until Burke made her comments she had never been made to feel ashamed to bring her babies to work (Canberra Times, 15 November 2007). Burke claimed to have been misrepresented arguing she had not directly mentioned the maternity leave. Labor, she suggested, were simply protecting Gallagher’s poor performance by playing the gender card. Prior to the federal election concern was bubbling over the potential impact that Rudd’s “razor gang” might have on Canberra in Labor won. Prior to the election Lindsay Tanner announced “the days of big government are over” and that a Labor government would, amongst other things, slash minsters’ staff, reduce allowances, seek efficiency gains and slash funds from the National Capital Authority (Canberra Times, Political Chronicles 341

9 August 2007). In November, Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd talked up his plan to attack the ever-expanding public service. The Liberal Senator Gary Humphries stated that many of Canberra’s 52,000 public servants were fearful: “Nervous Canberra public servants will take little comfort from Mr Rudd’s words […] there may not be a single night of long knives looming, but there would be days of pain or uncertainty ahead for the public service under a Rudd Labor Government” (Canberra Times, 10 November 2007). Addressing some of the more wasteful aspects of government practice which had resulted from poor planning and mismanagement was however seen as positive; a case in point was the restoration of a building for the Federal Police which was deemed to small to accommodate the service which had doubled in size. This meant that the AFP would pay $5million per annum to lease a building it did not occupy (Canberra Times, 28 August 2007). Of course, Labor did win the election and its cuts were beginning to emerge in 2008 and, after much praise from Stanhope, it looks at though Rudd’s razor gang may have a big effect on Canberra.