More bull from Gillard

Indonesia's decision to slash live cattle imports from Australia encapsulates a number of the problems with the Rudd-Gillard government which mark it as the worst government in half a century. The major effect is the undermining of the cattle industry which is not only a big contributor to the economy of the nation, in particular northern Australia, where it is also the largest employer of Aboriginal labour. To say that the north has been kicked in the guts, again, is to overlook the devastation that will be wrought on those least able to cope. The Labor government has again delivered a savage blow to Australians grasping at the lowest rungs of the social ladder, effectively kicking them in the teeth. The handling of the devastating reduction in the cattle quota serves to highlight another big flaw endemic in this administration's policy delivery. It is unable to cope with the fact of its failure. Whether it be the deliberate collapse of its border policy strategy leading to some 500 deaths through the resumption of the high-risk people smuggling trade, or its wasteful BER, its pink batts, school computers, uncompetitive and unstructured NBN roll-out or the miserable Murray-Darling Basin scheme, the unhappy Rudd-Gillard crew (now directed by Greens leader Bob Brown) cannot admit its own mistakes. Thus the totally ineffectual Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig, whose position in Cabinet reflects his father Bill's near-legendary domination of the AWU rather than any inherent talent on Joe's part, said the cattle cutbacks were all part of Indonesia's long-term strategy to reduce reliance on imports. Let me remind him that the necessity to reduce that reliance was hastened by his own decision this year to peremptorily halt cattle exports without warning to the industry or its Indonesian customers because of the ALP's fear of repercussions following an ABC broadcast. As Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters in June, after Ludwig's panicked crash of the cattle export trade: "We must seek a solution and decide our short-, mid-, to long-term policy, because the problem created by Australia's decision, if not responded to well, could hurt our meat supply. "We have to highly respect animal welfare. The Agriculture Minister and Health Minister must visit the abattoirs," he said. "Many countries in the world get sanctions or an embargo but can rise and find a good solution, so this is momentum, an opportunity ... to make sure we could be self-sufficient in meat." So it was Ludwig's catastrophic closure of Australia's largest cattle export market that directly led to the disappointing downgrading of our exports, no matter what the government's spin doctors are now trying to claim. Indonesia's previous attempts at achieving self-sufficiency in meat had failed. Thanks to Ludwig, its government is now determined to succeed and believes that its decision to cut next year's live cattle import quota from 520,000 to 280,000 will help it meet that goal. When Ludwig imposed his ban on live cattle exports, Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd was not consulted because of the crippling rivalry that exists between him and his successor and political assassin, Prime Minister Julia Gillard. While she claims that she and Rudd are perfectly capable of working together as a team, it is apparent that he is not consulted on critical issues within his portfolio, such as this. In fact, he wasn't even permitted to announce the (temporary) resumption of the cattle trade, so petty is the jealousy and hatred that pervades the relationship between them. As it happens, it wasn't Ludwig who was responsible for getting the cattle trade resumed. The credit for that lies with the Western Australian Government, which sent its Agriculture Minister to Indonesia while the Canberrans were still arguing over their press releases. The success of the states is in direct contrast to the failures that can be laid at Canberra's door and underscores the systemic failure of the Labor-Green-independent minority government. Whether it is Colin Barnett's Liberal government in Western Australia striking out on its own in Indonesia, Barry O'Farrell's Liberal government opening doors for NSW industry in India, or Ted Baillieu's Liberal government joining O'Farrell's in a co-operative effort to ease the pressure on consumers caught by the Federal Government's insane energy policies, the states are showing Canberra the way. One of the more accurate measures of this policy vacuum, has been Gillard's failure to advance the extremely important agenda of the COAG Reform Council which comes directly under her department. COAG (the Council of Australian Governments) brings together (or is mandated to) the six states, two mainland territories and the federal government. It has been around since 1992, but the Reform Council has been operating for about three years. It is no secret that all Australians suffer huge, but largely hidden, costs from the lack of uniformity that exists in so many important policy areas. But since Gillard came to office she has offered zero direction to the process of addressing this huge impediment to national progress. Since the original intergovernmental agreement on reform was signed in 2008, all of the political signatories but one Queensland's Anna Bligh has gone and the political will necessary for success has evaporated. The feeling in Perth towards the federal government is one of visceral hatred. But in the other states it is hardly better. There is crippling lack of trust in Canberra and with good reason. Rudd was a poor prime minister; Gillard is markedly worse. Never before has an Australian prime minister lied so blatantly (if at all) about a new tax, produced no evidence that a new tax will achieve any benefit for the nation, produced no modelling to support its actions or promised to send billions in tax dollars offshore as part of a deal which was never agreed to by the Australian people. This view is reflected in the lack of consumer confidence which grips the nation, though it has come relatively unscathed through the financial crises which have hobbled Europe and the US. Trust is lacking however and will not be restored until this disgraceful excuse for a government is removed.