Regular readers will be aware of my thoughts on political staffers. For others, here's a post from last year that may give you an idea. If it's not completely clear, the post is a little piece of satire. Well, an attempt at satire anyway. I'll let you guys be the judge.
Now, I may come across a wee bit cynical but it comes from working with plenty of them in my job. Not the daddy day care job I have right now. The 'real life' job that I will be returning to in the next month or so. I therefore feel I have a right to pass comment on their role and day-to-day activities because I've butted heads with them plenty of times and have seen both the good and the bad.
Which brings me to today's blog post which is all about the so-called Federal Labour stoush going on between PM Gillard and former PM Rudd. I say 'so-called' because I do wonder how much of a stoush it really is. The media are certainly running with it ad nauseum but as of a week ago I would have said it was mainly a beatup being perpetuated by 'groupthink' amongst the Canberra press gallery.
That line of thinking has been tampered somewhat though by the anonymous release of a video on youtube showing Rudd in a expletive-ridden rant. The rumour mill has it that it's the work of Gillard's staffers or at least someone sympathetic to her cause in an attempt to discredit Rudd.
It's gone pear-shaped though as it may actually paint Rudd as 'human' for once and engender support for him as opposed to against him. It has also given the media plenty of ammunition for their 'stoush' coverage and once again forced the PM to answer all sorts of questions about her leadership and loyalty among her MPs. And some of those MPs airing dirty laundry with their thoughts on either Gillard or Rudd has made things all the more worse for the Government.
The whole sorry saga is an absolute mess and takes a lot of attention away from what is a pretty solid Government that is delivering real reform. While many said a minority Government couldn't work, this Government has delivered just short of 200 pieces of legislation thus far, all in an atmosphere of constant debate and compromise and with no support whatsoever from the other side of the chamber. A hostile environment it has been, but this hasn't stopped the Government from getting on and governing.
The thing is, the majority of voters would have no idea of this and based on what they read in the papers and see on the news, you couldn't blame them for having the perspective that the Government is constantly in crisis. And it's certainly not a case of the Opposition landing any blows. Far from it in fact. Abbott's approval has actually gone down recently and the whole shadow frontbench has performed very poorly in these first few weeks of Parliament with contradicting statements and fluffed lines aplenty.
No, it is a case of Labour kicking own goal after own goal with infighting and 'staffer' wars continually promoting and perpetuating the Gillard-Rudd 'stoush'. So it's particularly galling to see that the Government's problems are their own fault and they are merely playing up to and encouraging the media beatup and unflinching focus.
From my experience, political staffers seem to need crises to justify their position and existence. I've seen it plenty of times where a contrived panic is created by them to 'get a result' quickly and instructions for briefs and co are hurriedly fired off.
Such briefs are then prepared against some crazy deadline and the end result is one without all the information or one that has rushed with no time for proper reflection for the proper advice. And then usually that brief is sent up to the staffer with all manner of urgency, only to sit in an email inbox or intray and not be read for quite some time or even not at all. Frustrating to say the least.
So it doesn't suprise me that certain staffers in the Gillard-Rudd camps are blindsided by the so-called 'stoush' and need this crisis to justify their existence and basically give them something to do. But I just wish these guys could actually realise what damage they are doing to not only their bosses, but to the Government, and by extension the country, as a whole. They need some perspective in a hurry and to just stop the tit-for-tat games and baseless innuendo.
I'm bloody sick of it all and I'm actually a bit of a political animal that loves the cut and thrust of the politics game. God help the other 90% of the population who couldn't give a shite and just see the media coverage and representations as some kind of window to reality and example of what really is going on.
Please, please, please. Can it all be stopped sooner rather than later so we can get back to the real issues in this country. All the 'noise' is ouching my ears.
EDM.
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