The Liberal Party's "Fredo"
July 9th 2008 22:54
Every family has a Fredo.
You know what I’m talking about. In The Godfather, the quintessential drama of all time, there are three brothers. Sonny, the hothead. Michael, the calculating one. And Fredo, the useless one. Every family has a Fredo. And the Liberal Party are no different. Their Fredo proves itself times and times again. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Queensland Libs are the Fredo of the group.
That is most definately not a secret. Queensland is even the only state in the country where the prospects of the Coalition are reversed in Parliament, the National Party are in charge and the Liberals are the one’s beginning to look like an endangered species. Which makes nationwide calls for a merger between the two parties even more of a pronounced decision for the Queensland State Coalition. It’s pure demographics. Urban electorates are becoming crucial in the Sunshine State, and the National Party have not a hope in hell of winning them. Traditionally, this is where the Liberals would come in and make up the difference. But they’re more useless than an umbrella in a drought. So, the even more hopeless Bligh Government will continue to perform well at elections unless drastic action is taken. Action in the form of a merger.
Merger talks are further along in Queensland than in the nation as a whole. Discussions have been on and off for years and finally the two groups are putting pride aside to sort out the final details. Well... They’ve put their pride aside for the most part, anyway. Enter: Mal Brough.
The former Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister transformed his 2007 electoral loss into a run at State Liberal President a few weeks ago and won the post to the surprise of... well... noone. Firmly anti-merge, Brough had seemed to bend to overwhelming logic when he forged ahead in the merger talks. Then came my personal favourite of the seven deadly sins: pride. Brough says he’ll pull the Libs out of the merger deal that was expected to be confirmed at a party convention on July 26 unless one condition is met: he wants to be guaranteed the presidency of the new party.
Now, to me, Brough isn’t exactly in a position to bargain. The Libs have a pitiful showing in State Parliament. Their money situation is reported to be dire. Brough himself was voted out of Federal Parliament by the faithful people of his electorate no more than 8 months ago. He only became party president a matter of weeks ago. And yet the merger talks could be derailed on the back of what seems to be an enormously enflated ego.
The Liberal Party need to get one thing straight: the Nats are doing THEM a favour by agreeing to the merge, not the other way around. The Liberal Party in Queensland is a party that can’t win in the country and underperforms in the cities. A unified force is the only remedy to a situation that could otherwise see the Nationals and the Liberals out of power in the state for another ten years. While Beattie was in charge, it was understandable that they couldn’t match up. Beattie was a smooth operator and a media maestro. But that excuse is gone. If the Coalition can’t beat Captain Bligh and her rag-tag band of stuff-ups then they have problems that we can’t even begin to comprehend.
The Queensland Coalition is in turmoil and some blame has to be apportioned to the National Party. After all, they call the shots, they are the dominant party. But at least they understand that the current situation is unsustainable. Springborg rising from the political grave to reclaim the Parliamentary party leadership was a stroke of genius, as the Borg has proven time and time again that in a strange, incomprehensible way, he endears himself to the people. Now it’s the Libs turn to do some heavy lifting. If Brough won’t agree to terms with the Nationals because of personal ego, drop him.
Even Fredo got tired of coming second to Michael and Sonny in the end.
You know what I’m talking about. In The Godfather, the quintessential drama of all time, there are three brothers. Sonny, the hothead. Michael, the calculating one. And Fredo, the useless one. Every family has a Fredo. And the Liberal Party are no different. Their Fredo proves itself times and times again. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Queensland Libs are the Fredo of the group.
That is most definately not a secret. Queensland is even the only state in the country where the prospects of the Coalition are reversed in Parliament, the National Party are in charge and the Liberals are the one’s beginning to look like an endangered species. Which makes nationwide calls for a merger between the two parties even more of a pronounced decision for the Queensland State Coalition. It’s pure demographics. Urban electorates are becoming crucial in the Sunshine State, and the National Party have not a hope in hell of winning them. Traditionally, this is where the Liberals would come in and make up the difference. But they’re more useless than an umbrella in a drought. So, the even more hopeless Bligh Government will continue to perform well at elections unless drastic action is taken. Action in the form of a merger.
Merger talks are further along in Queensland than in the nation as a whole. Discussions have been on and off for years and finally the two groups are putting pride aside to sort out the final details. Well... They’ve put their pride aside for the most part, anyway. Enter: Mal Brough.
The former Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister transformed his 2007 electoral loss into a run at State Liberal President a few weeks ago and won the post to the surprise of... well... noone. Firmly anti-merge, Brough had seemed to bend to overwhelming logic when he forged ahead in the merger talks. Then came my personal favourite of the seven deadly sins: pride. Brough says he’ll pull the Libs out of the merger deal that was expected to be confirmed at a party convention on July 26 unless one condition is met: he wants to be guaranteed the presidency of the new party.
Now, to me, Brough isn’t exactly in a position to bargain. The Libs have a pitiful showing in State Parliament. Their money situation is reported to be dire. Brough himself was voted out of Federal Parliament by the faithful people of his electorate no more than 8 months ago. He only became party president a matter of weeks ago. And yet the merger talks could be derailed on the back of what seems to be an enormously enflated ego.
The Liberal Party need to get one thing straight: the Nats are doing THEM a favour by agreeing to the merge, not the other way around. The Liberal Party in Queensland is a party that can’t win in the country and underperforms in the cities. A unified force is the only remedy to a situation that could otherwise see the Nationals and the Liberals out of power in the state for another ten years. While Beattie was in charge, it was understandable that they couldn’t match up. Beattie was a smooth operator and a media maestro. But that excuse is gone. If the Coalition can’t beat Captain Bligh and her rag-tag band of stuff-ups then they have problems that we can’t even begin to comprehend.
The Queensland Coalition is in turmoil and some blame has to be apportioned to the National Party. After all, they call the shots, they are the dominant party. But at least they understand that the current situation is unsustainable. Springborg rising from the political grave to reclaim the Parliamentary party leadership was a stroke of genius, as the Borg has proven time and time again that in a strange, incomprehensible way, he endears himself to the people. Now it’s the Libs turn to do some heavy lifting. If Brough won’t agree to terms with the Nationals because of personal ego, drop him.
Even Fredo got tired of coming second to Michael and Sonny in the end.
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