It saddens me that the Labor Party’s electoral calculus tells it that their poker machine reform policy was not an election winner. Of course an opposition party with great policies that can’t get elected isn’t much use to me either, so I appreciate that they have to try to propose popular policy too; but I would have loved to see them actually stick with this policy for a few more cycles and try to lead public opinion (remember when governments used to do that). Whether the fact that they weren’t says more about workings of the Labor Party, the dishonesty of the gambling lobby or the gullibility and indifference of the Tasmanian people I am not sure. Perhaps the blow is softened slightly- along with my enthusiasm for the election itself- by the realisation that it was unlikely to make a difference in this election anyway. Since the state opposition gave bipartisan support for all of the major decisions made around border security, the upcoming Tasmanian election should arguably be more than a referendum on the state government’s response to COVID-19. And I would love to see important policy areas where the parties differ- such as education, health and housing- as key determinants in this election, but I don't see it happening. Having said that, credit to Gutwein who, as the incumbent premier, had to get critical decisions right – even whilst being regularly undermined by Scott Morrison and other members of the federal government hitting out against lockdowns, restrictions and border closures. And while the infantile ‘Papi Gutwein’ memes massively overstate his impact, ignore his history of cutting public services and are leading us towards a policy-free election; his popularity is arguably well-earned.
So it makes sense that a lot of people will vote Liberal if they feel the government’s response to the pandemic is the most important determinant of their vote. By corollary, it would make no sense for anyone using this rationale to vote for Scott Morrison in our next federal election given he failed to close national borders quickly, publicly attacked state border closures and stuffed up our vaccine program; but many people are pretty comfortable with their own brand of hypocrisy so I’m sure it will still happen too.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories |