Foley’s final showdown

The last two years in South Australian politics has been littered with political scandals of various degrees. There was the Turbo Tom “hoongate” affair, the internet censorship policy debacle and of course the infamous Chantelois affair. Despite the sensational nature of some of these scandals, the Liberal Opposition has been thus far unable to claim any political scalps. The current Foley incident differs from all the previous scandals in a significant way; this is the first time that Parliament has been misled. While the Rann Government has proven adept at riding out storms, no amount of spin will be able to save Big Kev if a Privileges Committee is established. The question to be asked is, how did the Government’s most capable Parliamentary performer ensnare himself in the most fatal of political traps?

Kevin Foley is feeding the media the innocent line of “anyone can make mistakes”, but it must be understood that while some mistakes are forgivable, misleading Parliament is not one of them. I once worked for probably the most cautious Minister in all of Government, Minister Michael Wright. Wrighty was always so careful that he would not say a word in Parliament that has not been written down, triple checked and cross referenced by his advisers. While this approach meant that he was not the most entertaining Minister to watch, he was always ensuring that his ass was protected against those looking to shove the proverbial pineapple. Foley’s mistake, I believe, stemmed from a variety of causes.

Kevin Foley in full flight during question time is a sight to behold. His ability to ad-lib, insult, belittle and perform in general is legendary. His tendency to depart from the script, however, is one reason why he has landed in his current circumstance. It is not the sole reason for his downfall, however. Foley has not survived for the last ten years by pure chance. His advisers, aware of his tendencies, have always been on guard, ensuring that the big man was reigned in before over stepping the mark. Advisers, armed with a pen and paper, have often done the mad dash to the floor of the House with scribbled missives seeking a change of tack, or a correction of statement. So while Foley was in blame in part, the ultimate cross must be borne by his advisers.

Much has changed in Foley’s office since the infamous February 19th meeting. While Foley’s Chief of Staff remains the same, much of the adviser team has been replaced. I am not certain which adviser was in attendance during the Feb 19th meeting, but there is every possibility that whoever it was is no longer working for the Treasurer. The misleading of Parliament has been blamed on a “memory lapse”. What should be remembered, however, is that while Ministers of the Crown are inundated with a torrent of information, they have a collective memory; their Ministerial staff. A failure to write down such an important piece of information, file it, enter it into the database etc. is unforgivable. I suggest, however, that the information proffered by Leigh Whicker was information that Foley and the ALP campaign team did not want to hear.

It must be remembered that February 19 was smack bang in the middle of election campaign season. An announcement of a cost blow out would have been a political cancer. In legal parlance, there is an expression known as “wilful blindness”. I suspect that Foley didn’t see the cost blow out, because he didn’t want to see it. Unfortunately for him, and the Government, he was so successful in blocking this from his mind that he has landed himself in the current dilemma. He is now a dead man walking, waiting for the Upper House to drop the guillotine.

The misleading of Parliament is the first nail in Foley’s coffin. The second nail is the return of Iain Evans and Rob Lucas to the front bench. Have no doubt, Lucas and Evans are nasty, vindictive pieces of work. Having said that, they are a key asset to the Opposition in the current situation. I believe that if this duo were in charge during the Koutsantonis debacle, Turbo Tom would be on the backbench rather than barking orders to DTED. The situation is worsened by Mike Rann’s sojourn overseas. The final nail in the coffin is the frosty relationship faced by the Government in the Upper House, with Family First MPs still seething over the how-to-vote debacle. Foley’s arrogance and bullying nature would have earned him no friends amongst the minor parties. (I believe Mark Parnell witnessed a drunken Foley abusing Xenophon during that infamous incident). My money is on the establishment of a Privileges Committee by the Upper House, followed by the resignation of the Treasurer. In my next blog, I will discuss the can of worms that will be opened when the party struggles with Foley’s replacement.