Biggest loser is NSW electorate

A FOURTH victory for the NSW ALP would be a win for the professional political class and a huge loss for voters across Australia.Premier Morris Iemma and his team offered no bright vision for their state, they had no record of achievement they could point to, but they did use all the political skills they could muster to convince voters that their Conservative opponents posed an even greater risk.

Opposition leader Peter Debnam presented policies but no one was interested. The electorate was distracted by Labor's negative advertising. Labor spent an estimated $116 million to try to win the election - the Coalition wasn't in the same race. Voters should be concerned, however, by the possibility that a government which, at best, is less than mediocre, can buy its way back into office despite showing itself to be incompetent and increasingly disengaged from the concerns of the general community. Success for Mr Iemma can only mean that the expectations of the average voter are sinking lower and lower. While it is easy to argue that state governments don't control big issues like the national economy and security, they are actually meant to run the things that have the biggest immediate effect upon the lives of ordinary Australians, and it is also obvious that they are failing in that task. Only the most partisan Labor supporter would bother trying to argue that there have been improvements in service delivery in NSW over the past 12 years - the decline is just inarguable. The level of administrative competence has fallen to an all-time low; services in many areas are non-existent. There is justifiable scepticism about the lack of transparency in the area of state planning; the quality of health care, education and public transport are open jokes. With the downgrading of public expectations, the calibre of those attracted to the state political arena has also diminished. On the Labor side, there is a preponderance of union hacks and party activists who spend the bulk of their time working factional deals to ensure their survival; on the conservative side, the ranks are full of well-meaning people who, with the odd exception, would be suited to the petty issues of municipal politics. Conservatives, at the state level, desperately need to attract candidates with broader, more professional skills, and leave the amateurism to those who wish to play parish-pump politics. Though Mr Debnam chose to run as a one-man band, there is a need to recruit candidates who can articulate a clear political message in five sharp sentences. There is no doubting the competency of Labor's political managers and in that there is a lesson for those watching the federal political arena. Opposition leader Kevin Rudd will be relying on the same level of support from the trade union movement, in terms of finance and manpower, for his campaign later this year. Mr Iemma and the other Labor state premiers have shown how malleable they are when faced with the demands of their trade union allies and there is no reason to doubt that federal Labor will be just as placatory. Mr Rudd may rail at the extremes of union thuggery as, exhibited by the CFMEU in Western Australia, for example, but he will be beholden to the union movement and will repay it by ensuring that substantial changes are made to the Howard government's WorkChoices reforms which will have the effect of reinvigorating union power. In the short-term, while the economy is still running strongly, that should not be a problem but, as economic shifts take place, it will pose a threat to the ability of the national economy to adjust. There are even more worrying consequences for the economy should Labor be successful federally at the next election, not least being the possibility of changes to the rate of GST. For the GST to be altered, agreement has to be reached between the states and the Commonwealth. That is unlikely to occur while the Coalition occupies the government benches, but if Labor were to continue to hold sway in each state and at the federal level, it is not hard to imagine that a compliant federal treasurer would see good reason to raise even more money for the states to spend. A model for such behaviour is the manner in which the Bracks government in Victoria wasted no time before looting the economy that premier Jeff Kennett and his treasurer Alan Stockdale had restored after the depredations of the Cain and Kirner governments. There was a period of stability as momentum carried the economy forward, but Labor could not resist the temptation to plunder the pile of money saved through the Kennett government's hard-fought reforms. The state is now, like other Labor states, struggling to find the cash to meet the demands of its ageing population, and its transport, education and health commitments. A Labor victory in NSW will be most welcome to its members but, if handled skilfully, could also become a weapon for the Coalition to use in its fight against the Rudd-led party in the federal poll.