The Unelectables

I will commence this blog post with a quote made by the Hon Rob Lucas in the Legislative Council last week.

Labor MPs are openly discussing in the corridors that the Hon. Mr Holloway has been told that he has one or two years left as minister and Leader of the Government in this chamber and that, at the end of the one or two year period, the constant companion, the St Bernard dog, the Hon. Mr Finnigan, will be taking over as the Leader of the Government. Heaven help this chamber and heaven help the government if indeed that were to occur!

He went on to say that this was in a breach of a deal that was made with Minister Holloway prior to the election. When I read Mr Lucas’s matter of interest, I immediately pictured the image of a pack of young wolves gnawing at the bones of their former pack leader. While this may be acceptable behaviour in the animal kingdom, it marks an immense lack of respect for the contribution Paul Holloway has made to the party.

The recent election result must have sent a shock through the young pack of Labor wolves, especially those on the brink of pre-selection. Given that the ALP appears to be on the downward slide in the election cycle, on both the Federal and State levels, the spoils of Government could potentially disappear over the next four years. Factional warriors will now be greedily eying the limelight. What these power hungry pack fail to realize, however, is that the spoils they are fighting over wouldn’t exist without honourable servants, such as Paul Holloway.

In the Legislative Council, Paul Holloway plays the role of the kindergarten teacher, babysitting powerful party figures that would be un-electable in a lower house election race. The Upper House should be home to intellectuals like Holloway, members capable of poring over piles of reports and enduring hours of committees. Members of the upper house should be driving policy development while the lower house members sell it to the public. The above the line voting system, however, means that the Upper House is the home for those that are powerful but unappealing to the public. Holloway, who has the memory of Rain Man without the autism, has done a masterful job over the past ten years managing the Governments business in the Upper House with little support. Now that the wolves are at his door, I suspect that he may allow them in and allow the feeding to commence.

Paul Holloway has become increasingly disenchanted with the “dumbing down” of the Right faction over recent years. Labor Unity, the boozy boys club of 2010 bares very little resemblance to the faction he helped form decades ago. Pessimistic at the best of times, Holloway would be meeting the current threat to his power with gloom and immense disappointment. It is reasonable to suspect that he will jettison this pack of ingrates and head for the hills for a well earned retirement. When he does, the Government of this state will be the weaker for it. Let us see how Bernard Finnigan copes under the stress and fire of the role, especially given the Government is in its dying term.

Another tasty morsel offered by the Mr Lucas regards the recent affairs of Russell Wortley. Paul Holloway isn’t the only upper house member under threat of dethroning. At the Federal level, Dana Wortley, the unlikely Senator, may be staring down the loss of her seat. Wortley, it should be remembered, was a surprise winner as third member of the ALP senate ticket. She gained that spot after Frances Bedford forced Wortley out of the candidacy for Makin in place of Tony Zappia. It must be said that the SA ALP Senate team is incredibly weak, with underachievers in Anne McEwen, Annette Hurley and Wortley. Don Farrell has a quiet public profile, but undoubtedly pulls many private strings. Penny Wong is the only Senator that your average SA voter could name. This needs to change.

I am not opposed to the knifing of Dana. I still recall a ludicrous speech she made to a Young Labor meeting, which verged on embarrassing for all involved. What it shows, however, is that the young stallions are champing at the bit, and willing to engage in cloke and dagger endeavours to force their way into Parliament. The inevitable consequence of these actions is the splintering of allegiances, wounded prides and then ultimately profoundly damaging leaking from within the Government. The ALP SA 2014 death march continues rolling on.