Howard's Remaking Of Australia Begins In Earnest

Editorial - The Age

The Government's Senate majority has changed the dynamic of national politics - and the perspectives of voters.

Remember Mark Latham? Tall, heavy-set fellow, once publicly guaranteed of himself "no more crudity". This time last year, he was the leader of the federal parliamentary Labor Party, a man who had only months earlier been granted the extraordinary privilege of running for the job of prime minister. At the October 2004 election, a total of 5,536,002 Australians had placed their trust in Mr Latham and either given their primary vote or their preferences to the ALP. As 2005 dawned, Mr Latham was suffering. Pancreatitis had laid him low physically, and narcissism and a resulting inchoate bitterness were consuming his mind. Which came first - Labor giving up on him or Mr Latham giving up on Labor - remains a matter of conjecture. In any event, this all led to what was, in many important respects, a happy ending - for Mr Latham and for Australia.

As the man's own diaries, edited and published in book form in September, demonstrated repeatedly, the flaws in his character and personality would have made it difficult, if not impossible, for him to wield executive power. At the 2004 election, the Australian people dodged a bullet. In January 2005, Mr Latham ensured that they would never again have to consider him as a serious public figure when he announced his resignation from Parliament. The benefit for the former Labor leader is that he gets to live out the rest of his life on his pension, with his family, out of the public gaze.

The benefit for the ALP was perhaps not as profound but it was clear nonetheless: Kim Beazley resumed as leader. Under Mr Beazley, Labor has settled itself down. Slowly, it is undertaking policy work and has marked out important points of difference from the Howard Government on industrial relations, tax and the development of skills within the workforce. Whether these will be enough to form the foundation of a genuine Labor comeback it is too early to say - indeed, whether Mr Beazley can sustain himself in the job is not certain - but it does seem that the year ended with the Government and Opposition on close to even terms in most polls, with Labor probably just in front.

This could not have been foreseen back in January when Mr Latham stormed off the scene. The change in fortunes of the major parties came about largely because of the behaviour of the Government which on July 1 assumed control of the Senate - the first time any government has controlled the chamber in almost a quarter of a century. The Coalition has done what all governments do when the prospect of untrammelled power beckons: it has told itself it is showing caution and consideration while in reality it has stymied debate, changed some of the parliamentary rules to favour itself and has pursued a legislative program that is, in places, pure ideology.

The Government's changes to industrial relations, its welfare-to-work policies and the planned sell-off of its remaining holding in Telstra are not devoid of merit. But they are a far cry from the incrementalism that was a hallmark of the Government's first three terms. Of course, to a great degree, that more gradualised legislative style was the product of the simple fact of numbers; minor parties and independents held the balance of power in the upper house.

However, it also grew from the Prime Minister's approach to politics, which was never to take the Government out too far ahead of public opinion. It was an approach that served him well. The industrial relations changes, and the public's reaction to the Government's ham-fisted effort to sell them, are the stand-out example of what can happen when an administration listens to too much of its own self-talk. The proposals, the most radical in the industrial relations field for many decades, perhaps for more than 100 years, were presented in May. Only after that did the Government bother to mount a case for workplace law reform.

This should not have been difficult; most Australians would agree that as the economy grows and technology develops, workplace laws should change. But the Government made it hard because its laws went too far and its advertising campaign, costing $55 million, was an essay in overkill. The net result was that a lot of voters found themselves suspicious or offended by the Government's methods and intentions.

Perhaps paradoxically, as the Government has attained the ultimate in political power - even allowing for the occasional outbreak of independence by Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce - and its early 2005 lead in the polls has turned into a deficit, Mr Howard's hold on the leadership has tightened. When he declared in late April that he could beat Mr Beazley a third time and that he was not looking for another job, this was seen as an audacious taunt directed at his Liberal deputy and leadership aspirant, Peter Costello. Back then, the Liberal leadership appeared to be an unresolved issue.

However, 2005 did not pan out the way Mr Costello might have liked. Although the economy has continued to grow under his stewardship, he has accrued little political credit from that achievement in the Australian electorate or from fellow Liberal MPs. In fact, he came under increasing pressure - not just from his political opponents in the ALP but from Liberal colleagues such as Malcolm Turnbull and from big business - to take bold steps on tax reform.

As the year drew to a close Mr Costello, having applied pressure to the Prime Minister to step down for some time now, was widely seen to have retreated on the leadership. He appeared to rule out a challenge to Mr Howard and looked to have accepted the Prime Minister's continued dominance within the Liberal party room.

Australia ends 2005 with a strong, growing economy, under an experienced and still relatively popular leader. The Bali bombings and, further away, the London terror attacks, as well as the nation's continued involvement in Iraq, tempered the sense of optimism that might otherwise obtain from such continued prosperity. Mr Howard now appears to have introduced the policy changes that were among the keys to his lifelong political mission. We now wait to see what he plans to do next.