Federal Government

IT’S MY PARTAY: Mark Arbib stays on til the bitter end… but PM not happy

The Daily Tele’s must-read Saturday Locked and Loaded column didn’t disappoint today with Joe Hildebrand’s revelations that the deposed sad case Nathan Rees’s ‘Premier’s End of Year Drinks’ soiree was unfortunately held on the same night as the caucus meet that saw him depart from his high office.

He writes that Senator Minister Mark Arbib remained on board even as the ship struck the iceberg Tripodi and sank while the orchestra played on.

Mark Arbib had recently encouraged Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to intervene on behalf of Premier Nathan Rees in his push to pick his own ministry. There are reports that Rudd is none too happy about being dragged into the messy situation especially given how quickly Rees was chopped after Rudd’s very public backing.

It all went horribly wrong when Rees deceived a number of people – including lying to then Minister Joe Tripodi’s face – about what he intended to do with this new power to pick and sack.

The day after he won his new power, he moved to sack Tripodi, a deceitful act that managed to win Joe many new friends and a mountain of sympathy.

The weird thing about it was that is that many people close to Tripodi say that he probably would have tapped the mat if he’d been asked politely and respectfully to help the government out.

And that’s certainly what happened with the new Premier Keneally. There is no doubt that ‘on merit’ Tripodi is one of the first people you’d pick from the NSW Parliament. But he decided not to put himself forward and Keneally hasn’t insisted that he come on board. It’s a shame.

She has had the good sense to reinstate John Della Bosca after his resignation for personal reasons a few months ago. For all his faults, he is regarded as one of the most politically astute NSW Labor MP’s.

If Keneally governs based on merit and outcomes, she’ll have clearly been the right choice. It’s time to look beyond what the now over-critical Sydney media want and to plan for the future, a tough election and ensuring that when Barry O’Farrell is elected the Premier of NSW that he has an Opposition ready to hold him to account in the way that O’Farrell hasn’t had to do so far.

In some respects, it didn’t matter much when Keneally or Rees or anyone else was in the chair. But it did matter that the proud NSW Right of the ALP reunited, against a resurgent and uppity Left and increasingly meddling and clueless Club Fed players, when it counted.

While time and fate has wearied them, they have remained strong in will.

They have put forward a highly presentable and impressive woman to lead the government to its inevitable loss. But more than that, they have reminded the nation that while they made a royal mess of governing the failed state of New South Wales – and stupidly sacked Premier Iemma in the first place – the NSW Labor Right remains an enduring force in Australian politics that ought never be written off.

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