If there is one constant in Australian
politics (other than the persistence of John Howard, of course) it’s
the knack of the state Liberal parties to lurch from crisis to
incompetence and then back again.

Tasmania provides the perfect
microcosm to examine the phenomenon. To misquote Oscar Wilde, to lose
one state executive member is unfortunate; to lose two is just plain
carelessness. In an election year the powers that run Tasmanian
conservative politics (Eric Abetz) have cleared the decks at the top of
the administrative wing of the Liberal Party and accepted the
resignations of state president, Carol Humphrey, and secretary, Peter
Skillern.

Skillern, apparently, was “pushed” (if the Sunday Tasmanian has it right here),
but sources say he had little stomach for another tilt at the windmill.
Humphrey will be replaced by Hobart’s Dale Archer, whose lawyer wife,
Elise Archer, has been pre-selected to contest Denison in the state
election. Good luck to both of them.

Replacing Skillern will be
much more important for the party. Although not the most forceful or
urbane of campaign managers, he had a good grasp of local politics and
was an effective tactician. His curse was to be saddled with a
succession of next-to-useless parliamentary leaders, Sue Napier, Bob
Cheek and now Rene Hidding – not to mention having the ubiquitous
Senator Abetz constantly stirring the pot.

The state party is
just about down and out in terms of membership, and therefore financial
and electoral support. There are barely a few hundred active members,
and their traditional electoral ally, the business community, has been
nicely burned by recent remarks by Hidding reported in Crikey.

Compare
this with the resources Labor will line up at the election – support
from 27 state and federal members (the Libs have 14); a more committed
membership; the union movement; big business (courted maybe a little
too closely by Premier Lennon); and all the benefits of incumbency.

The
secretary’s position has been advertised in state and national
newspapers, and closes on 24 August. The ad describes the job as a
“challenging and demanding opportunity.” Well, yes.