CPA - The Guardian

Not to be outdone by the current “Utegate” farce (see page 3) in the federal parliament, the NSW government last week closed parliament down earlier than scheduled, without asking the permission of other MPs or the public.

Upper House MPs found themselves locked out of parliament on Thursday, when they were supposed to be debating the second reading of the government’s legislation to privatise the very profitable NSW State Lotteries.

This extraordinary act of political spitefulness followed the emergence of an almost united opposition to the legislation in its first reading in the upper house of parliament.

In the case of the lottery privatisation bill, as in other cases where legislation is opposed by the Greens and the conservative coalition, the government needs the help of the Shooters’ Party and/or independent MPs, in order to gain the numbers to force legislation through parliament.

The government had therefore entered into a tacit agreement to support the Shooters’ Party’s private members bill to allow shooting of wildlife in national parks, and to permit the establishment of private game reserves for professional safari hunters. In exchange for this, the Shooters’ Party had agreed to give the lottery privatisation bill its blessing.

However, this amazingly cynical arrangement fell apart when government ministers, including the Deputy Premier Carmel Tebutt and Premier Nathan Rees himself, decided to back off from supporting the shooters bill, in the face of an extremely hostile reaction from the public.

In response, the Shooters’ Party MPs have now announced: “We have yet to make up our minds” on the lottery privatisation legislation.

The initial agreement between the government and the Shooters’ Party, to back the equally despicable privatisation and wildlife shooting bills, has been widely interpreted as an act of supreme political cynicism.

The government’s decision not to back the Shooters’ Party bill can at least be said to demonstrate a sense of political reality. However, its subsequent decision to close down parliament on the last day of sitting, which was intended to avoid the defeat of the lotteries privatisation bill in the Upper House, and to give the government time to negotiate another deal with the Shooters’ Party over the winter recess, was an act of political suicide.

NSW electors complain about their state MPs, and the level of parliamentary debate. Nevertheless, they jealously guard their right to vote, and they adamantly expect that the elected MPs will do their job.

No government has a mandate from the public to close down the institution of parliament itself, to suit its own political convenience. The sight of opposition MPs banging on the doors of Parliament House in a vain attempt to gain admission has enormous political symbolism. At the next elections NSW voters will surely seek vengeance on the government for such an amazingly arrogant act, but also for its blatant support for privatisation and for the big developers, against the public interest.

The latest opinion poll, which was taken before the lotteries privatisation scandal erupted, and before the parliamentary lock-out, showed the ALP trailing the coalition by 45 to 55 percent. Forty-nine percent of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with Rees as Premier.

The Liberals have shrewdly judged the public’s discontent with the Rees government, and have tailored their policies to it. They have, for example, declared that they will terminate that highly unpopular and astronomically expensive “white elephant”, the Metro rail network.

The Labor government, on the other hand, seems to be reconciled to losing, and is intent on getting as much of its privatisation and development initiatives into effect before the elections, regardless of the electoral impact.

It is now inconceivable that the NSW Labor government will be returned to office. Maximum support will be required for progressive independents and the Greens, to ensure that neither Labor nor the conservative coalition will enjoy unfettered power after the next state elections.

Next article – Celebrating 95th birthday of Vic Williams, commemorating the life of Joan Williams

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