A few minutes before the close of polls on Saturday evening, a storm rolled into Sydney’s eastern suburbs from the north-west. A proper Sydney storm, complete with ominous cloud front, torrential rain and Hollywood-style forked lightning and booming thunder. And a pretty apt metaphor for what was about to happen to the Liberals in Wentworth, because there was no surprise about the storm — you could watch the front on radar coming in for hours beforehand.
In the event, the climatic theatrics only last 20 minutes, before petering out and giving way to a steady drizzle, which might have seemed a more promising metaphor for the Liberals, who woke to thoughts of an improbable victory yesterday morning on the back of postal votes. By last night, however, Kerryn Phelps had extended her lead. As you were: the angry recriminations within the right could continue. Those of us who thought that, at 18%, the Liberal margin in Wentworth was simply too big to conquer are left to eat a delicious serving of humble pastry from Sonoma.
The constant in all the narratives, from moderate Trent Zimmerman, who took one for the team by going on the ABC’s coverage, to the froth-mouthed rantings of the far right on Sky and 2GB, was that the losing candidate, Dave Sharma, bore none of the blame. Certainly — when he was finally and belatedly allowed to speak for himself in a richly symbolic concession speech — he was gracious in defeat and magnanimous to Phelps. But to absolve him of blame is a worrying sign for next year.
Sharma, who was parachuted in from outside the electorate and who presented poorly at electorate events (those he bothered to attend), managed to alienate even rusted-on Liberal voters. With his background as a ministerial staffer and his links to the likes of Woodside, Sharma is a politics-as-usual Liberal candidate at a time when the electorate is furious about politics as usual. He represents the perpetuation of the Liberal Party of recent years, the party that is focused on looking after corporations, influential lobby groups and powerful donors rather than looking after the national interest.
That’s where Sharma’s personal failings as a candidate intersect with the larger problems of the Liberal Party, which is locked into a cycle in which it places special interests above the national interest. On climate, by looking after the fossil fuel industry. On financial services, by looking after banks. On tax, by looking after business. On animal welfare, by looking after animal torturers. On Murray-Darling, by looking after irrigators. The list goes on — and on.
That’s why Scott Morrison’s absurdly combative “concession” speech on Saturday night was so badly wrong. Bustling in ahead of the candidate himself and invoking the Invictus Games as a metaphor for his party — thanks for politicising that, PM — he declared that nothing would change in the government’s approach. He and Frydenberg backed that up — or “backed that in”, to use Morrison’s weird phrase — yesterday by insisting there’d be no change of climate policy. After all, why would there be when we’re going to meet our Paris targets “in a canter”?
Labor would have been chuffed at that: its opponent committing to keep on doing what had just delivered one of the biggest ever swings against a federal government.
At least Morrison has a strategy, however flawed. The mouth-frothers at the Oz, 2GB and the fascist half of Sky News are in denial. Wentworth, a hitherto-impregnable Liberal seat, is suddenly irrelevant to the rest of country and to be dismissed as a clutch of hipsters-with-yachts. How will they feel if other Liberal seats are threatened by high-profile independents? What about Tony Abbott’s Warringah? Will that, too, be cut adrift if voters dump him? And what about Wagga, the state seat that only a few weeks back elected a local independent? Bit harder to dismiss the folk of Wagga as wealthy elites sipping their vegan pumpkin lattes in their BMWs on Edgecliff Road, eh?
Call it the Black Knight approach: the reactionaries who caused this mess with their destruction of Turnbull will happily see various limbs lopped off and continue to insist they’ll wipe out Labor. “Just a flesh wound,” they’ll insist, as seat after seat falls. But voters aren’t laughing.
Well put. I can’t believe they’re actually going to try denial as a response. They will be deservedly smashed to pieces in the general election.
I was at a politically-mixed party. They put the TV on when the speeches started rolling in. Morrison’s “I don’t want to politicise Invictus but fuck it I’m going to do it anyway and compare my bravery to that of soldiers wounded in combat” moment got universally catcalled. Even conservatives aren’t having that shit. Maybe John Howard had the unconditional hero-worship from conservatives to say something like that back in the day, but he also had the judgment to NOT say it. Funny how that works.
It’s pretty clear that Morrison is politically functional when he’s forced to stay in one lane that plays to the Liberal Party’s perceived strengths- border control, the budget- and has even worse political judgment than Turnbull outside that lane.
Interesting assessment Arky. Given the mixture of your group the the reaction that the group had to Morrison’s remarks one would have to agree with your 2nd paragraph.
I (yeah *me*) would have thought that the electors of Australia would have anticipated remarks that reflected a sense of leadership which would have prevented me making a statement possessing the assumption that the electors are fools. Perhaps not particularly well read but not fools.
I can no longer believe that ScoMo’s alleged “daggy dad” act is in fact an act. It’s for real, and not just daggy, but dumb and dumber.
Current head of government morrison has removed the mask that once concealed the brutal face of class warfare by the filthy rich against the rest of us.
Our (Laberal) ruling clique is committed to our economic destruction, having eagerly given away the promise of the Mining Boom, driven the legal and illegal cutting of wages (their own excepted), then relentlessly attacking what remains of our skilled and competent workforce, not least the public service. Every “free” trade agreement has sold us out and further destroyed our economy and employment conditions (except for those of those actually signing them, plus Big Business).
Our ruling clique is committed to our economic destruction because Rhett Butler of “Gone With The Wind” was right – as much money can be made [by it] in the fall of empires as in their rise. trumbull in fact had done absolutely nothing to protect Australia’s interests as regards a rising China; his clique sees greater Net Present Value in waiting, then in selling out if doing so saves their private property rights, while making sure that they bear none of the costs of a conflict.
Being owned by those patrons is why politicians care so little for our problems. As befits the true loyalty of the former Chair of Goldman Sachs in Australia, trumbull said economic downturn wouldn’t stop Coalition’s $144 billion tax cuts; he sees that gift of plunder to his peers not just as his great achievement as head of government, but as his true responsibility. So 60% of the giveaway is to go to the top 20% of income-earners. morrison will be driving that giveaway even harder.
So our problems are our problem. We having noticed, that we’ve had 6 PMs in 8 years reflects the political stresses of trying to get us to vote to cut our wages and destroy our future.
I do hope the Coalition members are looking at the Wentworth result and coming to the realisation that this is just the appetiser. The actual election will leave the Liberals and Nationals a smouldering wreck.
Morrsion’s inability to market one of the most beautiful holiday destinations on Earth paints him wholly unsuited to any attempt to prettify the rank mess that is this Coalition “government”.
Do us all a favor Morrison, go to the GG and give him an early election date…give this country some time to heal.
On the one hand the frustration that you (and others) have is understandable. On the other, assuming that your inference is for Labor, and not PHON or Palmer, is it so clear that Shorten et al are up to the task – or will disappointment (perhaps disillusionment) rein there also?
To date Labor have rolled over on every significant pro-Liberal item of legislation. Then there is the matter of their un-budgeted and certainly detail-absent policies; laudable – perhaps but feasible? Can’t say until we extract the “devil” from the mechanics.
I doubt any minor/new political party is ready to govern yet. However, I have no doubt that the ALP will continue to decline until one day they become Australian PASOK. Just not next year. It’d be extremely unlikely that the ALP not only gets split and spoiled but the splitters form government in slightly more than half a year.
Beyond that, I would have to agree that their bipartisan support for just about everything will make them susceptible to the social forces tearing so many major parties apart.
Though I can’t imagine they’re as volatile as the liberal parliamentary wing in this current parliament. The spectacle of The Party Of Government blowing its own brains out on live television. What they have done is an enormous anti-achievement.
As these realisations take a firmer shape, might I once again remind the thinking electorate that there is a third option when voting. And that is NOT TO VOTE. Yes, accept the waste of time and effort to stay out of the clutches of the ‘law’, and attend the booth, but draw a penis on the paper if you have to. It’s only once the informal vote becomes noticeable that it will acquire credence as an only solution under the contemporary political paradigm. Only then might we be able to find the disruptive and equitable alternative. Be interesting to see the stats around the informal vote in Wentworth.
Yes yes Kyle I know but as an eternal optimist about the ALP and the Greens for that matter I’m sure there will be a day when they govern in exactly the way I want. Exceed to every demand of mine. Until that day I’ll have to vote for the greater good…or at least vote against the greater bad. The alternative is to follow the gumshoe and draw a giant wang on the ballot paper but then I suspect the scrutineer might quite understandably take that as a vote for Katter.
Ah…. I hadn’t thought of that!
Sooo, which “influential lobby groups and powerful donors…” does Dave Sharma represent exactly? C’mon Bernard, you can say it.
Maybe Bernard’s talking mindset rather than corruption.
“Sharma is chairman of the board of directors of Shekel Brainweigh Ltd, an Israeli technology company. In January 2018, Sharma also began working for Kelly+Partners Chartered Accountants, leading their Government Relations, Incentives and Innovation team.” From his Wikipedia entry.