Wooley: Kerry’s just the man for fixing big problems

The Premier - with his depleted front row - really got lucky with the big bloke from Sorell, writes Charles Wooley

Governor of Tasmania, Barbara Baker, with new minister Kerry Vincent at the swearing in of the new Rockliff cabinet at Government House in Hobart, earlier this week. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

The Premier, Jeremy Rockliff, made an inspired decision this week when he appointed the long-serving former mayor of Sorell, Kerry Vincent, to the cabinet. Kerry was elected to the upper house seat of Prosser only months ago and it is customary, no matter what their previous experience, that new members should suffer a parliamentary apprenticeship before serving as a minister.

It is nonsense of course. There were rumblings of that kind back in 1980 when Bob Hawke entered federal parliament and so he had to wait three years to take leadership of the ALP.

Yet no one was more qualified for the job. Bob had been running the ACTU (back then some said the country) for 11 years and had served as president of the ALP national executive for five years.

Even after the obligatory time-biding when Hawke took over as opposition leader some party noses were out of joint. Particularly that of then Labor leader Bill Hayden who later declared “a drovers dog could have won the 1983 election”.

But in Tasmania today making Kerry Vincent serve time twiddling his thumbs before elevation to a ministry would be as stupid as keeping Saul Eslake on the backbench should he ever be attracted to putting some real expertise into the role of treasurer.

The fact is, the Premier with his depleted front row has really lucked out with the big bloke from Sorell.

Newly appointed Minister for Infrastructure and Local Government Kerry Vincent. Picture: Chris Kidd.

Kerry never sleeps. He is a workaholic detail guy and a successful businessman. He knows the ropes of government at every level and now is his time to run things.

Not since travelling with Bob Hawke have I been around a politician who knows every aspect of governance great and small and reads every report no matter how leaden and stultifying. From potholes to ports, in infrastructure he will get things done.

And no, he would not have forgotten to build berthing facilities for the new ferries.

Our overburdened Premier can rest assured that on the big bloke’s watch that kind of stuff-up is not going to happen again.

I don’t want to drown the new minister in praise nor deliver a kiss of death. You don’t know him yet, but I predict you will soon be as impressed as I have been watching him running the affairs of the Sorell council.

From front left: Deputy Premier Guy Barnett, Governor of Tasmania Her Excellency Barbara Baker and Premier Jeremy Rockliff. Middle: Minister Jo Palmer, Minister Jacquie Petrusma, Minister Madeleine Ogilvie, Minister Felix Ellis, Minister Jane Howlett. Back: Minister Kerry Vincent, Minister Eric Abetz, Minister Nick Duigan, Minister Roger Jaensch at the swearing in of the new Tasmanian Cabinet at Government House in Hobart, earlier this week. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

He impressed the major political parties too. He was courted by both sides and, just quietly, the opposition approved of his ministerial appointment to infrastructure.

Even if you aren’t yet captain of the ship you don’t want it to sink before you get command.

Kerry Vincent’s other portfolio is local government.

Fixing that system will be no less onerous than infrastructure. There is something wrong with the structure of the way we run Tasmania from the grassroots level up. It is absurd with our small population and lack of representative talent that we have 29 councils. That’s 29 mayors, 29 deputy mayors (I am presently one of those) and about 300 councillors.

Everyone knows this is sheer extravagance and outrageous folly. Everyone, except most of the 300 councillors, and self interest will trump good governance every time, for as long as we let it.

And for as long as I can remember, premiers and governments have wanted to severely reduce those ridiculous numbers, but no-one has had the political courage.

In our Lilliputian land virtually everyone is sleeping with a politician or is related to someone who is.

Every party has had a bash at reforming local government, and they have all ended up leaving it in the too hard basket.

Building ports and bridges might prove easier than pruning the root-bound administration of regional Tasmania.

At the declaration of the polls at the Legislative Council steps, Hobart Greens Cassy O’Connor, Prosser Liberal Kerry Vincent and Elwick Independent Bec Thomas, in May this year. Picture: Chris Kidd

But someone has to do it. And the poisoned chalice has now been handed to Kerry Vincent, the big bloke with the skills, the heart and the integrity to fix a system that is definitely broke.

And another thing.

If you hang around politics in any capacity you soon learn that there are some very good and admirable people and some dreadful self-serving ones.

Would I be wrong to consider Senator Lidia Thorpe in the latter category?

She loves publicity and succeeded in going international this week in an expletive-laden rant directed at the King of England in the federal parliament.

“Give us a treaty. We want treaty in this country. It’s not your land. You are not my king; you are not our king.”

Now as my readers might know I am a republican but yelling “f--- the colony” at a benign old Englishman who is half the time away with the pixies and playing Mozart to his tomatoes; that is just dumb.

Senator Lidia Thorpe has been widely criticised over the royal protest she conducted earlier in the week. Picture: Victoria Jones/ Pool via Reuters

It’s not poor old Charlie’s fault that we are not yet a republic. It’s ours. I’m sure he would rather stay home in the Duchy than fly half a world to be sneezed on by an alpaca and yelled at by an angry woman in a possum skin.

I lip read Charlie’s aside to Albo during the tirade.

I think it went like this: “Elbo, who is that dreadful person and I do hope that possum skin is a fake fur.

“I con’t abide cruelty to enimals. Er except for selmon, deer, foxes and bedgers.”

I have always thought of the present monarchy as merely silly and us as even sillier for letting them reign over us. But the craziness of Lidia probably kicked an own goal. She helped sabotage the recent Voice referendum and this week has probably only created sympathy for our weird and remote monarchy.

Meanwhile hating Australia while decrying a representative form of democratic government that pays you $260,000 a year … well even by Australian political standards, her hypocrisy is stunning.

Charles Wooley is a Tasmanian-based journalist