Politics

Wednesday, 19th August 2009

Christian Kerr reviews the week in politics

‘Here we go,’ Wayne Swan began his first contribution to question time this week. ‘Another desperate smear-and-fear campaign from those opposite.’ The government clearly had smear-and-fear campaigns on its mind. It had one of its own ready to go. After concluding it had milked climate change for all it is worth the government decided to return to an old theme — the economy. It has spent the last week letting us know how the stimulus packages and the bank guarantee have ensured that Australia has weathered the global economic storms better than just about any other country. But it has repeated the old theme with a new twist. It kept talking about judgement.

‘What those opposite have proven time and time again,’ Swan said, ‘is that, whether it is with economic stimulus or whether it is with the bank guarantee, they are the masters of misjudgement.’ Once the theme was established virtually every minister in the Reps with an economic portfolio — or one involved with the stimulus spending — got into the act. Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner, Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese, Services Minister Chris Bowen and Small Business Minister Craig Emerson all had their say. But none reached the Prime Minister’s rhetorical heights. ‘Why this is important for the House is that it goes to the question of the policy divide which exists within this place on the future direction of economic policy,’ he insisted. ‘It also goes to the absolutely wrong and flawed judgement we have had from the leader of the opposition on so many questions of policy, including economic policy, in the period that he has occupied that position.’ But there was more. ‘I submit to the House that this represents catastrophically flawed judgement. What would the country have done had he been in the cabinet room on that occasion, responsible for these decisions?’

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