Latham's Impact Felt As Howard Changes Course On Politicians' Superannuation
February 12, 2004
The transforming effect of Mark Latham's elevation to the Labor leadership has been demonstrated by a late-afternoon announcement from John Howard that the government is to legislate immediately to close down the existing superannuation scheme for members of parliament.
On Tuesday Latham announced a policy of closing off entry to the existing superannuation scheme for MPs, judges and the Governor-General, replacing it with a 9% government contribution in line with what is called the "community standard".
As the parliamentary week wound down tonight, the Prime Minister called a late-afternoon press conference to announce that he would adopt the same policy and introduce immediate legislation to come into effect from the time of the election due later this year.
In an interview on Channel 9's A Current Affair, Howard sought to make a virtue of his backflip by arguing that he didn't want the political debate dominated by this issue, citing economic management, border security and national security as more important policy areas. He said he was prepared to wear some bad headlines in the short-term in order to achieve this. He also claimed his legislation would close down the existing scheme sooner than Latham's plan would have done.
Several things are apparent from this decision:
- For the first time in 8 years, the Opposition ALP has, in Latham's words tonight, "driven" a policy change, something his predecessors Crean and Beazley were unable to achieve.
- The rapid turnaround by the government comes after several weeks of favourable publicity for Latham and talk of Howard being "rattled".
- Senior ministers such as Peter Costello and Tony Abbott have been left out on a limb. Both men derided Latham over the past two days, accusing him of populist politics. As members of Cabinet, they are now bound to support the decision. Once again, the dominance of Howard in policy-making is transparently obvious.
- Latham's first question in the House today was to ask Howard whether he would support the policy, but Howard simply said that "the analysis continues". The timing of the announcement is designed to allow the issue to run in the media on Friday and over the weekend and deny the Opposition the oxygen of Parliament to trumpet their victory. It should be expected that the government will attempt to introduce a new issue in an attempt to dominate the news next week.
- The Opposition today used Question Time to brandish a leaked Cabinet document critical of the government's social policies. Cabinet or public service leaks are commonly seen as a case of the bureaucracy attempting to build bridges with an Opposition it sees as a real possibility of winning government. Leaks also suggest a breakdown of discipline and/or a sign of unease within government.
- Howard is not the first prime minister to adopt a popular policy from the Opposition. His political hero, Sir Robert Menzies, was notorious for his willingness to steal policies from the Opposition, once famously remarking that half the country voted for the Opposition and they couldn't all be wrong.
- At least in the short term, this event will cement Latham's leadership, especially amongst his detractors within the ALP, and possibly the media. His ability to "cut through" is now undoubted. However, the tenacity and determination of John Howard to do whatever is necessary to win a fourth term is equally apparent.
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