Matt Johnston: Labor ministers sent into panic over who’s next for the knock
THURSDAY’s dawn raids on some of the younger members of Labor’s 2014 campaign team spooked the Andrews Government so badly they did a full-scale retreat. And that fear won’t subside, writes Matt Johnston.
Opinion
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ONE of Daniel Andrews’s strengths this term has been his ability to stare down critics and pretend all is well in his political world.
Whether it be the CFA crisis, rumours about a car accident, allegations about dodgy donations or even the Ombudsman’s report into Labor rorting, he usually fronts up to answer questions.
If he isn’t around — or even if he is — the government also sends out the usual ministers to talk about how they’re building things, or digging holes to build things.
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The business of government and the appearance of governing always continued, no matter what.
Thursday’s dawn raids on some of the younger members of Labor’s 2014 campaign team — some of whom still work for the party or MPs in some capacity — spooked the Premier and his government so badly that they did a full-scale retreat.
Ministers were asked to cancel all events, even if it was a happy school event or a regional talkfest. Some said the move was to ensure no one was left flapping in the breeze if journalists knew more than they did about the “dawn raids”. It was a genuine political crisis.
Most of the fear was about what would happen next.
If staffers were arrested and interviewed, surely their bosses would also get a knock on the door?
That fear won’t subside, and the government must now be expecting it to happen.
But who’s to say another curveball won't be thrown by the police, who clearly intended to show on Thursday that they were taking their investigation into a political rort seriously.
Labor, having made it clear that the party would co-operate with the investigation, is furious at how police treated the junior campaigners.
But a political party can’t dictate the rules for how police act, and if they try to then it’s curtains.
No doubt Dan will emerge some time soon to put on a brave face and say it’s business as usual. He has no choice; otherwise, the perception of a government “getting things done”, which Labor believes will win it the election, is at risk of evaporating.
The full-scale cancellation of events on Thursday was the first time the phrase “gone into hiding” has been used without exaggeration, and shows how unpredictable this election campaign could become.
It’s not a nice feeling to know that at any time between now and November 24, there could be a knock on the door.
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