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A lesson in politics
Jul. 15th, 2011 09:24 amBecause I'm getting tired of seeing the "Gillard is a liar, nobody voted for a carbon tax" line trotted out:
Yes, pre-election Gillard said "no carbon tax" (don't have the quote handy). If we'd elected a majority Labor government, and then they went ahead and instituted a CO2 tax, that would make Gillard a liar.
We did not elect a majority Labor government. We elected a large Labor minority, a large Coalition minority, and a small-but-significant Green minority (whose voters sure as hell DID vote for a CO2 tax), with the result that no one faction could form government in their own right.
When that happens, somebody has to make a deal. This involves a thing called "compromise". The way compromise works is that two groups accept that neither of them is going to get EVERYTHING they wanted, so they figure out what trade-offs are acceptable. There are a lot of ways in which this could have happened:
- Coalition decides that of all the things they're opposed to, the carbon tax is the worst. They are so convinced of this that they're willing to lose the election as long as they can block the CO2 tax. To this end, they make a deal: they will support Labor on supply bills and confidence motions, making it a viable minority government (not dependent on Greens or independents), in exchange for no carbon tax and conscience votes on certain issues.
- Coalition decides that while they're not wild on same-sex marriage, it isn't as bad as a carbon tax. They make a deal with the Greens: in exchange for Greens support on supply/confidence, they will introduce gay marriage but NOT the carbon tax. Greens aren't happy about this but Abbott persuades them it's the best deal they're going to get.
- etc etc etc.
None of those things happened. Labor decided that "no carbon tax" was less important than some of their other priorities. The Greens decided they were willing to accept compromises on gay marriage and on the extent of a CO2 tax, if it meant at least some progress on these issues. The independents decided they also were willing to accept some compromises (although they're not the subject of this post). Tony Abbott decided that compromise is for tree-hugging pansies.
Result: Labor voters get most of what they voted for. Greens voters get a mild carbon tax, plus requirement for all MPs to consult with their constituents on gay marriage (but without any obligation to DO anything about it). Coalition voters get an object lesson in how parliamentary democracy works, which they are free to study or ignore at their discretion.
Yes, pre-election Gillard said "no carbon tax" (don't have the quote handy). If we'd elected a majority Labor government, and then they went ahead and instituted a CO2 tax, that would make Gillard a liar.
We did not elect a majority Labor government. We elected a large Labor minority, a large Coalition minority, and a small-but-significant Green minority (whose voters sure as hell DID vote for a CO2 tax), with the result that no one faction could form government in their own right.
When that happens, somebody has to make a deal. This involves a thing called "compromise". The way compromise works is that two groups accept that neither of them is going to get EVERYTHING they wanted, so they figure out what trade-offs are acceptable. There are a lot of ways in which this could have happened:
- Coalition decides that of all the things they're opposed to, the carbon tax is the worst. They are so convinced of this that they're willing to lose the election as long as they can block the CO2 tax. To this end, they make a deal: they will support Labor on supply bills and confidence motions, making it a viable minority government (not dependent on Greens or independents), in exchange for no carbon tax and conscience votes on certain issues.
- Coalition decides that while they're not wild on same-sex marriage, it isn't as bad as a carbon tax. They make a deal with the Greens: in exchange for Greens support on supply/confidence, they will introduce gay marriage but NOT the carbon tax. Greens aren't happy about this but Abbott persuades them it's the best deal they're going to get.
- etc etc etc.
None of those things happened. Labor decided that "no carbon tax" was less important than some of their other priorities. The Greens decided they were willing to accept compromises on gay marriage and on the extent of a CO2 tax, if it meant at least some progress on these issues. The independents decided they also were willing to accept some compromises (although they're not the subject of this post). Tony Abbott decided that compromise is for tree-hugging pansies.
Result: Labor voters get most of what they voted for. Greens voters get a mild carbon tax, plus requirement for all MPs to consult with their constituents on gay marriage (but without any obligation to DO anything about it). Coalition voters get an object lesson in how parliamentary democracy works, which they are free to study or ignore at their discretion.
