I've been house-bound for most of today (a nasty cold) & have listened to the ABC's coverage of Bernard Lagan's book about Mark Latham, on & off...
A few random comments, if I may, & if you're remotely interested at this stage.:
* Mark Latham didn't lose the last election single-handedly. I'm getting tired of hearing about how this one "deeply flawed" individual caused so much harm to the whole party. He gained the leadership by just one vote, remember? The Labor Party was going to lose anyway & installing Latham into the leadership was a desperate move from a desperate party, willing to try anything to minimize the inevitable loss.
* Latham was allowed too much responsiblity & freedom to decide policy on the run during the election. Inevitably he made some mistakes that went over like a lead balloon in the media & community.
* With "friends" like the NSW Right who needs enemies?
They didn't properly support Latham's bid & had already undermined Simon Crean's leadership before that. They now have an acceptable (to them)leader who is not exactly performing well at such a critical time. I'd argue that factional differences, & lack of unity as a result, had as much to do with Labor's loss as Latham's "flawed" personality & campaign. Latham has now gone. What is the NSW Right doing to improve the ALP's electoral chances? (say nothing of opposing Howard's proposed IR "reforms" in the Senate?)
* Mark Latham is absolutely right: The ALP (as it's operating at the moment) is useless! The sooner we accept that some drastic rethinking needs to be done, the better! Sure, he's probably bitter & twisted & feels used by the party (& why shouldn't he?), but it's almost a relief to have someone come out & state the obvious: We don't have a viable opposition in this country.
It's critical we do. What are we going to do about it?
* The role of the media: I've been thinking about this a lot in regard to the response to Latham's loss & also more recently, "mistakes" by Beazley. There is this smug, know-all attitude that anything perceived as vaguely "left" is patently foolish, reckless & unthinkable. Take Beazley's stand on the tax concessions: To me, the financial gains were going to the people who were already well off, not those to whom some tax relief would make some real difference: low & middle income earners & the unemployed. I thought Beazley's position was quite justifiable & reasonable, but response from the commentators! It was as if he'd suddenly gone quite mad, lost all judgement .... This was Beazley's sole attempt to appeal to ALP members, the electorate, potential voters & he's told he's inept & naive. Just imagine, for one minute, if the media had given his arguments a half decent hearing. But they haven't even addressed his any of his arguments! These are the same media commentators who constantly marvel at John Howard's skill & cleverness at getting away with everything from the introduction of the GST, involving Australia in the Iraq invasion, surviving one broken promise after another ....
* I, for one, will be very interested to read Latham's diaries. I want to know what happens behind the scenes, how the ALP machine actually works, what deals were made, why the party's in the mess it's in.
Phew! Thanks if you've read through all this! Like I said, just some random thoughts ...
:
