The Good news: the Government is Crumbling

The government is crumbling before our eyes

In the lead up to G20 and its aftermath, the Abbott government is not only looking worse for wear, they’re looking like they are about to come apart at the seams.

But it did have one benefit: everyone now notices how crap our government is. Abbott’s misfire on climate was noticed around the world - not only did other countries report on our adolescent domestic bickering on the global stage, but world leaders took Abbott to task over climate change.

The US, the UK, Germany: all of them have publicly urged Abbott to rethink his “But who will stand for coal?” climate change strategy.

Does this mean Abbott will rethink his stance? His recent joint conference with French President Francois Hollande showed a more responsive attitude but it’s still not backed up with direct action, ironically the name of his climate change policy which is neither direct or actual action. Hollande is insistent that Australia will have to contribute to the Green Fund as part of next year’s emissions reduction deal talks in Paris.

According to Bill “Hi, I haven’t been mentioned in months” Shorten, the PM is just paying “lip service” and Greens Leader Christine Milne went even further, saying “This is Australia's climate denying prime minister telling outright lies to world leaders and international media”.

This may be one of the few times Australia’s cultural cringe may work in our favour - having made Australia the target of international derision on climate change, the government may now actually respond to the urgings of the big kids in the G20.

Except Putin. No one outside of BRIC likes Putin.
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Meanwhile in local good news…

The government continues to fall apart.

Take Malcolm Turnbull. He was once the biggest threat to Labor as a credible leader capable of converting voters. When he appeared on TV people would gush, they would swoon. He was the ecumenical poster boy for intelligent politics - ALP voters would fidget and think about voting for him.

Well, the last fumes of Turnbull’s credibility and authority with voters burned up in an excruciatingly bad interview on the 7:30 Report last night (transcript and video here before ABC's hosting bill gets cut) as he attempted to defend savage cuts to the ABC and SBS.

Turnbull was stuck trying to convince Leigh Sales that Abbott’s promise of no cuts to the ABC and SBS wasn’t an actual promise and needed “context”, he fumbled and showed his lack of knowledge over basic organisation structure when he called for ABC head Mark Scott to be stripped of his status as Editor in Chief, looked utterly uncomfortable at calls to release the Lewis Review and actually told them what business decisions to make “as a humble minister of the crown”. Here was a politician renowned for intelligent discussion unable to sound intelligent or even discuss the questions put to him.

As Leigh Sales noted in her final knockout question - “Newspoll currently has the Coalition's primary vote at 36 per cent. In a separate survey, Newspoll found that 84 per cent of people approve of the job the ABC's doing. How much of a risk to the Government is blowback from voters who support the ABC?”

This is what it looks like when a government starts to stagger and fall. Their players individually crumble, burning off every last thread of credibility and ability.

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And the local good news keeps on coming...

Another hallmark of a crumbling government is when their attempts to marshall the outrage they’ve cynically stoked and profited from starts to backfire.

Like when Education Minister Christopher Pyne creates an online petition to prevent the ABC from closing its Adelaide production house.

Honestly, nothing better illustrates a party’s slide into irrelevance than a leading minister creating a Change.org petition to protest closures forced by his government.

Actually, there’s one better thing: when he’s straight up mocked for his idiocy. The petition now features votes from people pretending to be Peta Credlin, Malcolm Fraser, Malcolm Turnbull, Joe Hockey, James Ashby and even Gerard Henderson (bless).

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Also good? Clive Palmer is losing his power

And it’s a spectacular car crash to behold.

Jacqui Lambie and Motoring Enthusiast Party Senator Ricky voted against the FOFA reforms, which sought to give financial advisors carte blanche to get their Gordon Grecko on. This is despite previous agreements with Palmer that both would vote for the bill.

While it was obvious that Lambie wasn’t going to vote along party lines, the emergence of Muir to break previously agreed voting ranks with PUP is new. It’s also a sign that Clive Palmer has lost his bargaining chip with the Abbott government because he can’t convince his party and others to vote the way he wants.

When you’re trying to be a power broker, 4 votes mean something. 4 votes can get you concessions and a lot of media conference bloviating. But Palmer is down to 2 votes in the Senate now and his stocks aren’t looking so good.

As an elder statesman and skilled business negotiator, Palmer took the rebellion on the chin and…..no, he totally lost his shit and had a manipulative tantrum, claiming the senator was a liar and trying to start her own political party. He has also demoted her as Palmer United’s deputy leader and suspended her from attending party meetings where it’s alleged they discuss policy. He then straight up tried to gaslight her in the media by alleging she was going through “difficult times”.

With a complete lack of policy and party room discipline, this marks the beginning of the end for the Clive show.

Anarchy in the AU

If you believe in media hyperbole (and why not, you’re reading this), the Abbott government is in a state of ANARCHY over what is perceived as their fumbling with GP copayments, Uni fees and general hatred from voters.

This is according to one of the most trusted sources a journalist can ever have: the unnamed backbencher.

These unnamed sources have told the Sydney Morning Herald that Abbott’s performance is causing mutiny among the ranks, prompting leaks and veiled threats he may not see out his term if his poor performance continues.

Pyne’s inability to get his higher education reforms through, general flip flopping trying to meddle with medicare and even Hockey’s dream of one day getting his budget through the Senate are stark reminders the Abbott government haven’t been able to achieve a tenth of what PM Gillard did while in a minority government.

Mind you, while it’s true Abbott has lead one of the most unproductive and yet destructive governments in recent memory, it’s unlikely his position is “terminal” with anyone but voters come election day.

Who else is there to take his place? Previously thought of as a potential future leader, Joe Hockey is now a joke in search of a punchline. Scott Morrison may be well-regarded by Abbott but it’s doubtful he would be trusted by voters who can rightly intuit any party under his control could be seen as a harbinger of the apocalypse. This leaves Kevin Andrews, whose only policy idea is for enforced mass weddings and Julie Bishop who, though she looks competent in comparison, has a whole mess on well-recorded ineptitude behind her.

Upshot? Tone’s not loved by his party. But he’ll live to see election day. He just won’t win though.

Still, let's all imagine for a moment what would happen if Australia was plunged into Anarchy. Julie Bishop would run Thunderdome, Clive would become a feared warlord from his Dinosaur park and Ricky Muir would be Mad Max. TELL ME YOU DON'T WISH FOR ANARCHY RIGHT NOW, I DARE YOU.

On a related note, Joe “Fuckyounomics” Hockey is pressing forward with a defamation case against Fairfax, which he alleges implied he accepted bribes for favourable treatment (in a budget he hasn’t been able to pass).

Fairfax hasn’t backed down from the case and has issued the North Sydney Forum (which helped raise funds for the LNP in part by having Hockey available for meet and greets) a subpoena for information about Hockey’s part in fundraising, the Forum and policy directives insisting forum member identities should remain secret.

The treasurer has also issued a subpoena to Fairfax and Pagemasters (who provide sub-editing services) to uncover any communication between the two organisations about the article.

Hockey claims the Sydney Morning Herald article “Treasurer for sale” has "greatly injured, shunned and avoided and his reputation has been and will be brought into disrepute, odium, ridicule and contempt".

Anyone who has watched Hockey’s performance as treasurer can tell you he’s achieved that all by himself. In fact, it’s possibly the only achievement he’s made since becoming treasurer.