Mopping up the Mess

Startled looks

from the Ginger Nut

Gallery

Well well, surprise surprise, we have a new Prime Minister. A week is a long time in politics so they say, and the unfolding of today’s events in our nation’s capital evidenced yet again that the leaders who we expect to do what we elected them for, are not above pursuing other agendas and undermining each other, supposedly for the good of the party they say, and in the long run if you believe the spin, for the good of the country too.

I find the term ‘Leadership Spill’ an interesting one, and quite apt when you think about it. When anything is spilt, it’s usually as a result of knocking something over, after which someone has to come in and clean up the mess. We’ve seen various personalities troop in and out the swinging door on the Prime Minister’s office these past few years, with both Liberal and Labor parties showing their worst when it comes to being distracted from the real job at hand, running the country.

The Australian public are not fools, and they’re not fooled either. Voting is compulsory in this country unlike many around the world, so we all fulfil our responsibility, whether we feel well informed or not, ticking the boxes to choose who we believe should hold positions of leadership at local, State and Federal levels. For us as voters it is an act of trust. We are entrusting the good of this country into the hands of those who will be making decisions that affect not only our lives, but the way our country responds and is perceived globally.  

And for those who hold office, believe it or not, they haven’t been elected into a position of power, but rather one of service. They are there to work on our behalf, but to see the antics of the past few days, it’s no wonder the general population loses faith in its political leaders.

And the upshot of it all, what many thought was on the cards didn’t eventuate, with the expected candidate losing in the final Party room vote. So in the long run, what will the whole debacle have achieved. Apart from doing some serious damage to the Liberal Party and causing internal division, ending a Prime Minister’s political career, and maybe several others to boot, a Cabinet reshuffle, front and backbenchers playing musical chairs, probably not a lot.

The political machine will roll on regardless, and the Labor party will have a field day gloating over the whole mess, despite their short memories of the knives drawn and backstabbing in their own ranks in the not so distant past. And we the public are left to roll our eyes and agree yet again that unfortunately they haven’t surprised us at all and have behaved just as we expected…badly.