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The ALP can have a picnic in the garden of Eden-Monaro

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and Labor candidate for Eden-Monaro Kristy McBain take a walk in Cooma, NSW. Picture: AAP
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and Labor candidate for Eden-Monaro Kristy McBain take a walk in Cooma, NSW. Picture: AAP

Whenever a traditional bellwether seat is up for grabs, excitement is automatically generated. Eden-Monaro is a classic of the genre. It is generally won narrowly by Labor because of the big majority Labor always receives from the urban end of the electorate.

Neither the Liberals nor the Nationals have been able to eat into that rock-solid Labor vote in the suburbs of Queanbeyan. With a by-election coming in the next few months, there has been considerable pressure on two NSW ministers, the Liberals’ Andrew Constance and the Nationals’ John Barilaro, to line up at the starting barrier. If they had both chosen to run and kept the campaign free of the nastiness that so often surfaces when the two conservative parties oppose each other in by-elections, they might have had enough going for them to win a historic victory. Now, neither of them is running and few doubt that Labor will romp home.

That is not to suggest that Labor can simply coast to the line with an idling engine. Kristy McBain is the Queen of Bega, but few people in Queanbeyan have heard of her. Now is the time for an ambitious young conservative to stick their hand up and have a crack, even if they cannot win. Expectations are pretty low for whoever gets the nod for being the flag-bearer for the conservative side of politics. But if the blue team candidate could achieve a swing to the Liberals, then a bright future for them is assured.

After Neville Wran won the NSW election in May 1976, he faced his first by-election in the seat of Earlwood, which had been held by the defeated Liberal premier Eric Willis. Given that Wran had a one-seat majority, it was a must win. I remember ringing Wran with the news of the early results. The swing was huge and only improved as the night wore on. A swing of almost 15 per cent was a spectacular result. Those were the days when a corny jingle like “Wran’s our man” could work well.

That by-election result gave Wran an iconic status that was rivalled only by Bob Hawke during my lifetime. The huge majorities he achieved in subsequent elections never looked likely to be matched or bettered, but the slaughter of the Keneally government set an unenviable record that looks likely to hold the title of the worst result in the history of Australian elections — with one exception. In the first election in the Northern Territory, Labor failed to win a single seat. The fact too many of the candidates drank too much was, I hope, more responsible for the dismal result than the fact yours truly was the campaign director.

The real truth was that the Labor Party did not exist in the Territory in any formal way. There was not one functioning branch and no party tickets had been issued in years. The former editor of the newspaper up there had been sacked because he was a terrible drunk. So, on a Sunday morning, accompanied by his ever-present carton of cheap white wine, he and I sat down and produced our own paper.

The Northern Territory Times was never going to win newspaper of the year but it did at least give the opportunity for the few policies that had to be placed before the public. It is odd, though, that Labor did so poorly in a place where now it wins more elections than it loses.

You need people to hand out how-to-vote cards. For a major party to be unable to successfully staff a polling booth all day is appalling. In the Bass by-election in 1974 I stood in the rain handing out how-to-votes as I watched the party heavies head off in limousines for a nice lunch. Had a Liberal lady not taken pity on me and given me a hot cup of coffee and a warm peach pie, I might have drowned.

It is only when things go horribly wrong that you have a chance to change the policies that caused the debacle. Sadly, Gough Whitlam saw little need for change and Labor blundered on to the Khemlani loans affair and the inevitable rout.

It is lamentable that few Australians know anything about the state and federal government powers. State governments have a huge role to ensure we live and play happily. They build the roads and guarantee that when you flick the switch, the light comes on. The federal government collects your income taxes and supplies the big money for defence and bankrolls the states in the areas of health and education. These areas may be the primary responsibility of the states under the Constitution but the states will never have the necessary funds to carry out their functions without backup.

The mendicant states of Tasmania and South Australia present a problem. The case for the eastern states to send money to the West is weak as the mining expansions of recent years have filled their coffers.

That leaves the interminable arguments about how much these two states should receive still unresolved. This will become a more significant argument in the next few years because of our energy issues. Our country is simply unable to provide sufficient power for our own growth forecasts unless we start building new power sources now. Who will build — and when?

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/the-alp-can-have-a-picnic-in-the-garden-of-edenmonaro/news-story/ea353c0e78ad43e29224841e963ba657