The Arrogance of Incumbency
I’m struck by how much the NSW state Labor government resemble not the new federal Labor government but the old Howard regime. The arrogance of incumbency, populist social conservatism and neoliberal fundamentalism all remind me of that old administration. The particular thing that puts me in mind of the Howard government though is their new use of public funds for a political advertising campaign, which itself is a beat-up. Howard was the master of this, and action has rightly been promised at a federal level to stop it happening in the future.
The advertising campaign I’m referring to is one hyping the state government’s new plans to put in a metro link to the North-West from Sydney CBD. The fact of the matter is that not one thing has yet been done to actually build this link, that the Labor state government has a long history of announcing public infrastructure projects and then shelving them, and that it in fact shelved a more comprehensive plan to build a new full-scale CityRail link in favour of this plan.
Announcing and advertising infrastructure is a lot easier than building it. Fortunately, I don’t believe (as a materialist) that it can have anything like the same effect.
Clearly, the Iemma government is reviled in NSW. People in this state are well aware of the slippage of their quality of life in recent years, and the crucial link of this slippage to the lack of government action on metropolitan transport. Which is to say that, outrageous though it is, I think this campaign will be about as electorally successful as Howard’s WorkChoices advertising spree.
liam wrote:
Point of order, Mark. The Howard government were never fundamentalist or neoliberal. They were a social-democratic government with a few nasty edges, and a shoulder-chip left over from 1968 you’d need a barrel of oil to fry, but that’s about it. There’s never been any Australian comparison to the kind of IMF-driven Chicago-boys deregulatory funtime you’d see in a coup-ridden developing economy; we look to our State as a gigantic mutual assistance body and punish any Government that fails to deliver dividends.
The only fundamental difference between the Iemma Government and the old Howard one is that of replaceability. Kick out the Iemma government and a new generation of newly-competent apparatchiki will flick forward with new fervour into the Labor Opposition frontbenches like shiny sharks’ teeth (with Blackberries); I’m not expecting such renovation from the Liberals or Nationals.
Mark wrote:
That’s a point of information not a point of order, surely?
The fact that the Howard government did not manage to implement neoliberalism to that great an extent doesn’t mean they weren’t neoliberals. It’s indicative of the continued existence of serious opposition from various sectors of Australian society and indeed even within the Liberal Party. Their downfall was almost entirely due to their decision to push the neoliberalism too far with WorkChoices.
Quite right about the lack of an alternative at the NSW level of course: the point is to try to create one.
liam wrote:
Fair point.
Mark wrote:
Yes, but I’m unclear whether it, in turn, is a point of order or of information.
liam wrote:
Well you’re right in that it’s not a point of order. Information? I disagree with your premise that the Howard Government was primarily driven by neoliberalism, whatever that is, though I don’t disagree in any significant way with the rest of your argument. We certainly don’t disagree about any points of fact.
I simply think they were mostly a bunch of reactionaries who picked up ideology and dropped it when it suited them like attention-deficient toddlers. The 2007 defeat ought to be a lesson to the presently similarly-deficient NSWALP.
Adrian (not verified) wrote:
The North-West line is a PR stunt to try to appease the very pissed off NW sector at least until the next election. Pissed off because they waste their lives between mcmansions and traffic jams and pay lots on tollways… Did you know that there as been less that 20km of railway lines built in NSW since 1930? With regards to roads, the plans for the sydney orbital were drafted in the 1950s and its just about to be completed this year (with the help of only 5 toll ways and private infrastructure companies). Given this great history of infrastructure planning, I’d expect the NW line to complete in 2100.
Andrew (not verified) wrote:
I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments about the NSW Government’s arrogance (though I’m not sure why they would bother with trying to appease the ‘very pissed off’ Liberal voting people from the Hills area).
I have to say though, there’s been more than 20km of railway line built in NSW since the 1930s … the Airport line is 10km, the Eastern Suburbs Rail line is 8.5km and the Olympic Park line is around 5km.
The sad truth is though that all of them were initiated by Liberal Governments.
To their credit the 13km Epping - Chatswood rail link is being built by Labor … of course it was meant to go all the way to Parramatta.
So while the current Labor Government does have a habit of promising new rail infrastructure, somehow Michael Costa always manages to cut it off at the knees.
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