Author Archives: Seamus C

Why Lynton Crosby has ruined the London Mayoral elections

Posted on by
15

Would the real Boris please stand up?

I am not a greedy man. Ever since it was announced that the London Mayoral elections would be a contest between Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson, I have had to confront the fact that I would not be that happy with whoever ended up as mayor. Ken, in fairness, has done a good job in the role: a successful London congestion charge, the 2012 Olympics, a host of green regeneration projects, an impressive ability to placate Londons business folk and financiers. But after 8 years, recent controversies, the worst involving the allegation his race advisor misused public funds, have shown a dangerous arrogance and a growing distance from the electorate. Boris on the other hand, is a curious beast: clearly intelligent but with no experience of running a large organisation and a foot in mouth problem that makes Tourettes syndrome appear modest. Neither candidate deserves to run the UKs largest city.

Continue reading →

Hello possums: An expats view of Australia 2020

Posted on by
5

I didnt want to let the Summit pass completely without sharing a few thoughts about it from an overseas Australian.

Australians at home may be sick of the saturation media coverage of the 2020 Summit, but for many overseas Aussies these are exciting times. I cant obviously speak for all Australian expats, but amongst the people I know (admittedly mostly liberals), theres a buzz about Australian politics these days. This isnt a feeling just about the Summit, its been a mood captured by the ratification of Kyoto, the apology to indigenous Australians and the appointment of Australias first female Governor General. Though its early days, theres a sense of genuine anticipation in the air.

The Summit encapsulates those good feelings. Yes, it is a talk fest. Yes, we should be extremely dubious that anything substantive will come out of it. Yes, the selection of the candidates was too biased towards academics and other insiders. Yes, more could have been done to involve ordinary people not least, allowing a live message board or chat room to generate debate in peoples living rooms. But the Summit is fundamentally an opportunity to usher in a new way of thinking, to capture a reinvigorated enthusiasm in politics and I applaud that.

A few brief comments on the substance then. The Summits conclusions provide a potential sense of direction for a nation but are vague enough to allow the Government of the day to fill in the detail in any way that it sees fit. I particularly liked the recommendation Create a “seamless national economy” to reduce bureaucratic overlaps and improve competitiveness- which was perhaps the most meaningless of the lot. But I thought this was a wise decision – we dont want national policy coming out from a few hours deliberation.

Continue reading →

Hus in charge

Posted on by
5

In the furore that has broken out over Chinas crackdown in Tibet, Ive been surprised that so little has been said about President Hu Jintaos previous administration of Tibet as a rising communist party cadre. After all, it was Hus iron fisted handling of the last riot in Tibet in 1989 that marked him out as one of the future leaders of the CCP. By demonstrating his ability for toughness when required (having already shown himself to be an intelligent and capable administrator), Hu proved to Deng Xiao Ping that he had the necessary intellect and ruthlessness to become a future leader of the Party. When analyzing recent events, its impossible not to consider the current Chinese position as part of a long term policy rooted in the personal incentives of the top Chinese officials.

Willy Lam, in his detailed book on the current President, gives a fascinating account of how Hu dealt with the riots in 1989:

According to sources close to the Hu camp, the then Tibet boss [Hu] played a crafty game. The head of police [in Lhasa] had sought instructs from Hu by telephone since the afternoon. The police chief wanted to know whether they could use force to disperse the mob. Hus reply was: Keep a close watch on the situation. Dont act yet wait for my instructions. By early evening, however, the protestors had started throwing stones in the premises. Still Hus instruction on the phone was the same Remain on high alert and wait for my instructions. Then, shortly after nightfall, the policy chief called again saying the rioters were trying to burn the place down. Hus reply was the same. After this the party boss [Hu] ordered aides to unplug the telephone so that the policy chief could no longer get through.

Continue reading →

Blair was a bit of a flibbertigibbet, Iraq and future interventions

Posted on by
16

Jonathan Powell, Tony Blairs former chief of staff, has given his first interview about life inside No.10 during the Blair government. For those unfamiliar with him, Powell (pronounced Pole) was amongst the former PMs longest standing consiglieres; he was there the day Blair entered No.10, he was there the day Blair left and outlasted Campbell, Mandelson and Blairs numerous policy heads (Mandelson called him Blairs echo). As a former civil servant and decidedly not part of the Labour machine, Powell has more credibility than most, in fact his older brother once served in No.10 under Margaret Thatcher.

While Powell has a lot of comments about life in No.10 and the character of the former PM, none of which will be too surprising for followers of British politics (the former PM had courage in spades the real test of political leaders, but was a bit of a flibbertigibbet when following through with decisions) his comments on the Iraq war are interesting. Asked about Iraq and liberal intervention, after admitting the mistakes that have been made, Powell continues

We should have been clear we were removing Saddam because he was a ruthless dictator suppressing his people. But the lawyers said there was no legal basis for proceeding on those grounds and so we would not be able to make the case as wholeheartedly as I would have liked.

Continue reading →

Aussie Aussie Aussie

Posted on by
4

[Seamus C, a new Club Troppo contributor whose first piece is published below, is an Australian working overseas, and has interests and expertise in public policy areas - KP]

Would this man have won a popular election for Australian of the Year? Sadly, as Foundation President of the Country Music Revilers Association (despite Nicholas’s outrageous and defamatory accusation), I suspect the answer might be yes – KP

Ive just been watching the Australia Day ceremonies.  Now Im a rational man, but there is nothing I like better than a bit of over-the-top pomp and ceremony.  The more fancy medals, kitsch costumes and absurd honorifics I reckon the better (the Order of the Thistle is a personal favourite*). The Brits do it well, and though its often amusing, there is a serious side to it – its an important part of the nation building process. Its a chance to recognise national values like a fair go, reward service to the community and celebrate being Australian. Unfortunately, Australians dont do pomp and ceremony very well.  Were a young country without trappings of empire and aristocracy and perhaps more importantly, we dont like grand shows. As a result, Australia Day is frankly a tad mundane.

So short of awarding an Order of the Wattle and calling in Baz Luhrmann to completely redesign the process what could we do to improve the system? If we cant make the process more glitzy, perhaps at least we can make it more participatory. I favour some experimentation with popular real-time voting for awards like Australian of the year focused around an annual official ceremony. Twelve or so people could be nominated each year by committee and a winner selected by an annual televised public vote. Such a process would have several benefits: it would involve ordinary people more in the Australia Day process, it would better publicise the efforts of remarkable Australians and it would give us a glamorous national occasion but with a hint of good fun around which we could coalesce. Last but not least, it would give us our own Australian of the Year.   Australia Day pop idol any one?

* The official name of the honour is Most Ancient and most Noble Order of the Thistle, there can only ever be 16 living members. Surely the humble banksia deserves equal recognition?