As Alexander Downer noted today, claims we’ve reached a new low in parliamentary behaviour should be treated sceptically. Every parliament has its bad moments; its undignified, sordid, shambolic or disgraceful moments. In any event, it’s hard for contemporary observers to judge standards from before the television age, which reshaped political tactics and altered parliamentary behaviour. And not necessarily for the better.
As Bernard Keane notes today, both the media and politicians face the problem of disengagement by Australians. The general tone of vituperation — and childish behaviour of Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne in the now-famous flight for the exits — is unlikely to do anything other than accelerate that disengagement, particularly when the Prime Minister herself is seen by so many voters as untrusworthy. If the standards of parliamentary behaviour are bad, we’ve also rarely seen a time when the country’s two most important political leaders were regarded so poorly by voters.
But both sides know that. However poor their behaviour, voters will still be required to attend the polls at the next election, and compulsory preferential voting will mean that, in all but a small number of seats, their votes will eventually filter through a major party candidate of one kind or another.
Major party politicians have the game rigged.
The two most important political leaders are held in low esteem for different reasons.
Tony Abbott is seen as untrustworthy because he is.
Gillard is seen as untrustworthy because the media allow the Abbott lie to run unchallenged that she is untrustworthy when all the evidence is to the contrary.
If there was any kind of balance in the media then the perceptions would be different.
Abbott accuses Gillard of being a spin meister. If this was true then surely the perception of her would be different.
Gillard’s mistake has been to concentrate on policy & performance with naive expectation that the true message would get out
Have we ever had this sort of inappropriate behaviour extended for bad light, for this long?
Gillard can’t “sell anything” because the media (dominated as it is, run like it is, by what) – passing on their view of events, dressed as “news” – aint buying. And bashing your head against a wall of bricks won’t work.
[I wonder if they’re not playing “Chicken” – to see which will blink and throw “Fearless Leader” from the train first, before that election?]
your last quote is not true, its not that major party politicians have the game rigged, its the fact that in western democracies over the past 30 years the concensus has been that both major parties have to be clones of one another, that is the have to be right wing and conservative with there policies
all western democracies have pretty well followed the trend of right wing politics which has always been the case in america
take the hystercial ranting and raving from the murdoch press concerning bob brown and the greens
dont crikey start talking about politicians rigging the game, you in the press write every article in the context of our politics being debated in the prism of having too have right wing political parties and there policies governing our country
Then again this was Alexander of Iraq, Children Overboard and AWB fame – not to mention knifing Bob Halverson for being too fair – talking about parliamentary “low tide/skid marks”.
Klewso, don’t be so hard on Lord Downer – he’s been deep in thought since 2006 searching his memory for answers to questions asked at the Australian Wheat Board Inquiry. Give him some slack.