I don’t really have a clear idea as to where I want to go with this post; all I know is that I’m saddened & becoming increasingly agitated as the morning wears on & we inch closer to the moment where Barry O’ Farrell is announced as being this state’s new premier. I’m quite comfortable, though, with having no clear direction this morning, it’s not my job to have one. It is, on the other hand, Barry O’ Farrell’s job to make clear his intentions, yet in true Liberal style, he is yet to do so. He has no mandate except that of the one bequeathed to him by News Limited “journalists”, whose sloven, grotesque bias against the ALP knows no bounds. In simple terms, this is a black day for those of us living in New South Wales & I fear that it is a day that could drag for 8, 12, or even 16 years.
In keeping with the style, for lack of a better term, of his Federal LNP counterparts, O’ Farrell has gone out of his way to avoid answering the tough questions; it was only on Thursday, for example, that the LNP released their policy costings to the electorate & guess what? There was a gaping, black hole of $1.5 billion to be found in their savings plan. Then again, I suppose when your mates at Federal level have the temerity to try & explain away $11 billion of their own mathematically challenged policy costings, then $1.5 billion is a mere piss in the ocean.
It is indicative of the gross lack of thought or logic behind their reasons to vote against Labor today that the best excuse people can come up with is, “they’re fucked, it’s time for a change.” It’s quite obvious that people will be entering the polling booths today with a complete disregard for the core values of our two major parties & voting against Labor “just because.” That fact, in & of itself, goes a long way to explaining how Barry O’ Farrell has managed to avoid answering the tough questions & explaining his vision for New South Wales.
Yesterday’s editorial in The Daily Telegraph opined that Greater Western Sydney had long been ignored by the incumbent ALP government, yet, if you were to turn back to page 7 of the very same edition, you would have read that O’ Farrell has pledged to redirect $7 billion worth of funds earmarked for investment in infrastructure in western & south western Sydney to the affluent North Shore. That $7 billion was earmarked for investment in hospitals, schools & public transport. Now consider this: under the last NSW Liberal government, 74 schools were closed & 2500 teachers sacked; they closed, downgraded, privatised or attempted to close 30 hospitals & cut public hospital beds by 2500. And in a stark reminder to the priorities of the LNP, they don’t have a social housing policy, either. Sadly, a similar tale emerged in Victoria under the slash & burn policies of the rampant Kennett government; 50,000 public servants sacked, 350 schools closed, councils were amalgamated & every last piece of publicly owned infrastructure was sold to private interests, placing further strain on an already disgracefully inept public transport system, for example. On that theme, it’s worth pointing out that Victoria’s Bailleu government has deferred spending on much needed public transport infrastructure in Melbourne’s west & re-directed it towards the affluent eastern & south eastern suburbs. It all paints a pretty grim picture: if people believe that things are tough now, it’s a given that it’s all downhill from here while the mandate-less Liberal governments of the country are allowed to fire at will.
At both state & federal level, the ALP have proven to be the great innovators; it was a Labor government that got the Hydro Electric Scheme off & running, it is a Labor government that is attempting to put together a badly needed NBN, it is a Labor government that is moving on climate change. It is the diligence of the federal Labor government elected in 1983, with the co-operation of our trade unions, that saw this country go from being the worst performed economy of any developed nation in the post-war period with double digit unemployment & inflation, not to mention a $6 billion deficit, to the position we find ourselves in now. It was that hard work, diligence & smart policy gleefully inherited by the John Howard & Peter Costello led LNP. At state level here in NSW, the ALP built the Opera House, put on the “best ever” Olympic showcase, built the Conservatorium for Music and declared 100 national parks, to name just a few.
If there is anything to come out of today’s disaster, I dearly hope it is a situation that finds people going back & analysing the core beliefs of our two major parties, not to mention their respective policies, or in the case of the LNP, lack thereof, and coming to the realisation that it is simply foolhardy & irresponsible to make such important decisions “just because.” Whilst I may be frustrated, I see no point in lashing out. That sort of behavior is best reserved for the likes of Piers Akerman & Andrew Bolt. That said, in a year or so it’s going to be enormously difficult to bite my tongue & not say, “I told you so,” for it is an absolute given that it will become the responsibility, once again, of the ALP to get New South Wales back on track. Hopefully they are given that opportunity sooner rather than later.
