Sadly Kennettism is Alive & Well
written by Kevin Summers, March 2003
In early September of 1999, in the weeks preceding the state election, the ALP arranged for a mock auction of the Austin Hospital, at that time earmarked by the Kennett Government for privatisation. I was asked to come up with a few ideas to make it media friendly. It didn’t seem difficult to furnish the event with a dramatic edge.
Labor was delighted as a beaming Steve Bracks and John Thwaites were shown saving the hospital from a pair of rapacious American developers dressed like Chicago gangsters whose final sentence was concise and to the point, neatly ending the coverage. The television news editors lapped it up. It was a good day in a tough campaign.
I was pleased to contribute to a campaign that promised a change from the cynicism that marked so much of Kennett’s governmental style: the playing of favourites within the media, the autocratic legislation that laid waste common law rights (Grand Prix Act), the Friday night releases of unpalatable news, contracts let without tender (Herman Research), the lack of transparency, the influence of powerful mates, the limitations upon freedom of information, the blurring of the lines between private interest and public duty, the attacks upon the Auditor General. Quite a list.
So what follows is a cri de coeur preceded by a question - what the hell happens when a political grouping achieves power? It appears that the assumption of power alters its view of life. Here’s an example: what was once bad - Crown Casino - is now good and is the essential venue for dinners where business leaders are required to pay large amounts of money to gain the ear of Ministers. But wait, there’s more.
Figures who were once odious are now trusted advisers, indispensable to good governance. Legislation that was once denounced as an assault on civil liberties is lauded as necessary for economic performance. Moreover, this group that derided the bread and circus mentality has embarked on a Commonwealth Games gambit, supported by illiberal laws and the craving of a minute of the world’s attention. Kennett’s muscular provincialism is alive and well.
None of this is the oft quoted real politik. It is a failure of political courage. If elected representatives have principles then they have to stick by them. That’s not unreasonable. Please, don‘t treat the citizenry as mugs, as boneheads incapable of seeing through the intricacies of government. If something was rotten a few years ago then the chances are it is still rotten.
So don’t rely on public relations outfits. Don’t position your media
advisers behind you at television media bites. They make you look silly with all that constant nodding. Don’t think that a Friday media release absolves you of a reasoned explanation on the following Monday. Acknowledge the importance of the Auditor General. Don’t deny the validity of dissent. Please treat your electorate with respect.
And what was the sentence that resonated at the Austin Hospital in 1999, the words that suitably censured the Kennett style of administration? "We’d like to tell you, but it’s commercial in confidence." It got quite a laugh. The State Treasurer, John Brumby, echoed those words to the ABC’s Jon Faine recently regarding the tender process for the Docklands Film Studio. Sadly, he uttered them without a trace of irony.
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