An unpopular opinion in the wake of Upgradegate: pay our pollies more
If nothing else, this past week has shown us just how shallow the talent pool in Canberra is – so shallow you could pass out drunk in it and be at no risk of drowning. But what do we expect?
Legend has it that King Solomon of the Old Testament was the wisest man to have walked the earth.
Scholars credit him with having been the principal author of the Book of Proverbs. Regardless of your belief system, it’s a pretty good guide to life. One of his more colourful observations refers to the absurdity of repeating the same mistake, over and again.
“Like a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.” A less descriptively confronting translation puts it this way. “A fool who repeats his foolishness is like a dog that goes back to what it has thrown up.”
It was this rather exacting observation that remained top of mind for me this week as you and I and the rest of Australia’s (very) long-suffering taxpayers were given yet another example of just how absurd the body politic has become. Just how much nonsense we are expected to tolerate from our elected MPs.
I’m talking about Upgradegate, or whatever you’d like to call the wildfire burning around Anthony Albanese following revelations in a newly published book about Qantas that he personally sought flight upgrades and the like while transport minister and during his extensive parliamentary career.
Others will pick over the bones of this dog’s (regurgitated) breakfast from a political and economic perspective. Me? I want us to take a step back for a moment and consider how much time we’re expected to waste on MPs’ crappy behaviour, poor judgment and power playing.
This one is a spectacular example of what I’m talking about, but obviously it’s not the only one. All of them, when they are lanced like festering boils, overtake the business of government. Or conveniently distract from it. Either way, we the people are repeatedly short-changed.
How to deal with this revolving door of incompetence? How to spell it out to the members of parliament that we mortals in the real economy are actually accountable for what we do and the consequences are always very real? Unless of course you’re at the ABC or in academia, but I did say the real world.
We need more people in politics who are not career politicians. Or unionists. Or activists. Or academics. Or people who otherwise would be unemployable or never considered for the roles they have been given by their party’s system of advancement.
Case in point, Jim Chalmers is our Treasurer. He has an arts degree and a PhD in Paul Keating. No experience in running a company, no experience as even a low-level chief financial officer. No experience as an economist, banker or any other skill you’d think reasonably important being the treasurer of a country. Can you imagine an interview in the real world? Tell us about your experience. Oh, I don’t have any relevant experience but did you know Paul Keating was a brawler? Here, read my PhD, it tells you all about it.
The peak of inanity was his recent suggestion that Israel should stop defending its borders because it would help his economic bottom line. All of this before you even start on the vile, destructive, fringe-dwelling Greens. I’m not saying Chalmers shouldn’t be in parliament. I’m saying he should not be in charge of the books.
This week, the Prime Minister ducked and weaved, doubled down, attempted distraction and deflection. It had a distinct Clintonesque feel about it, in a “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” kind of way.
The irony is that the whole mess is centred on flight upgrades. This is the political party that wants us all to stop flying and reduce our emissions but is happy to bag a freebie and fight climate change over a glass of Margaret River chardy in the pointy end of the bus.
Like I said, the kind of person I want in parliament wouldn’t have taken the upgrade. They would have understood that even if it was allowed, it was an unwise thing to do given Qantas is an Australian Securities Exchange-listed company that contracts with the federal government. Wisdom in a government leader? A taxpayer can dream, I suppose.
How do we attract people to political service (yes, they work for us, they are elected to serve the community, not themselves and their party) for whom it would be a genuine sacrifice, for whom a sense of duty and calling is the key driver?
I was lucky enough, as a younger person, to spend some time with Sir Charles Court. He spoke of many things, but what has always stayed with me was his deep conviction about public service and duty. How his role as premier of Western Australia carried a huge weight of responsibility.
If you don’t think this stuff matters, isn’t important as a motivator, then take a look at Victoria and tell me I’m wrong. Many years after his death, Court’s sentiments remain honourable but seemingly lost concepts in today’s awful, grifting world of politics.
To me it feels as if Albanese hasn’t twigged to the fact he’s the Prime Minister and many of his cabinet can be so judged. Perhaps it’s because life as a career unionist, political staffer or party employee isn’t a reality that can prepare you to serve the public that pays your wages.
An unpopular opinion, perhaps, but we need to start by paying politicians more. We can’t attract serious talent for what is now a barely competitive mid-level corporate salary. That’s not an elitist view, it’s a realist view. I’m an employer who exists in corporate life in the real economy. I know the price good talent commands. The reality is, the kind of talent you want in federal parliament would look at it and say, why would I take less money for significantly more trouble?
Some of you will read these words as being politically motivated and partisan. I promise you, they’re not. My team has been just as bad at times, but they’re not the ones in charge right now so they can take a ticket and wait in line, or if they’re smart take notice.
Where are the leaders who come to serve with courage? Who are prepared to bring big ideas to the table and fight for them in a contest that is fair and principled? Where are the leaders, full stop?
Every area of an MP’s life is scrutinised, and the political life is not for the faint-hearted. Now, though? It feels to me this government is playing a game with our money, time and futures. I don’t like it. If nothing else, this past week has shown us just how shallow the talent pool in Canberra is, so shallow you could pass out drunk in it and be at no risk of drowning.
Broadly, wisdom appears to be in short supply, and for that also, our old mate Solomon had an answer: wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom and in all your getting, get understanding.
And if I may add a footnote to that oft-quoted proverb without being struck by lightning, let it be this: remember. You work for us. Not the other way around.
