I have quite a lot of time for Dennis Glover when it comes to ALP politics and matters relating to social democracy in Australia. Philosophically speaking I often find myself agreeing with his point of view – though I can’t say I agreed quite so much with Mark Latham, whom Glover previously served as speechwriter! In retrospect, given how things turned out, we might well consider that Latham could have done with a “bit more Glover” in him.
Glover had an interesting op/ed in The Australian yesterday – interesting because he seems to be firmly of the belief that the Gillard putsch is unequivocally a step forward for Federal Labor. From a purely “polling in suburban marginals” standpoint, events look set to bear this out, but there is no denying that the putsch has damaged the Labor brand, and junked a guy who could have lead Labor to victory in the process. The picture is indeed a fuzzy one, and to gloss over the negative aspects of the last few weeks for Labor is to do it a disservice.
Glover, for example, describes Gillard’s rather self-conscious hop to the right as follows:
… she has set out to bring Australians from across the political spectrum to her cause by paying them the courtesy of listening.
It seems a little egregious to represent what has certainly been an agenda (e.g. asylum seekers, population, de-greening) guided by targeted polling as a noble willingness to listen to the people. Is this a veiled barb directed at Rudd, whose non-consultative style of operating has been under the skin of many Labor folk since the days of The Latham Diaries were published?
Glover goes on to praise the “fishing” of Gillard, first in relation to the RSPT:
On mining, having listened to all sides, she found a way to allay fears while keeping the tax alive.
Let’s be frank – the manner in which she allayed fears was basically to reduce the size and scope of the tax. Yes, a deal of some description was necessary, but this was less deal than backdown, and reportedly very similar to a deal Rudd was about to announce before being rolled.
On asylum seekers, Glover notes:
And on refugee boat arrivals she found a way to maintain control without talking about “invasions” or making hollow promises to “turn the boats back”.
Once again, a solution was needed, but there is little denying that the Timor Solution is currently half-baked at best, and could have done with a bit more flesh on the bones before it was bobbled out there into the media spin cycle.
Yes, Gillard Labor is still an infinitely preferable proposition to Tony Abbott’s team of out-of-touch bunglers. But let’s also call a spade a spade – there is still a lot of work to be done before Gillard Labor can be held up as a shining beacon of political credibility and true Labor values.
