In 49 BC Julius Caesar led his legions across the Rubicon river, the line that separated ancient Gaul from Roman controlled Italy. Ever since, the term ‘Crossing the Rubicon’ has entered the lexicon as describing passing the point of no return.
Last week the Liberal Party crossed its Rubicon, and I guess we will all get to judge the result in May next year. However, history tells us exactly what will happen.
Bill Shorten is in the middle of his “Steven Bradbury’ moment. If he keeps his head down, he will be the last man standing, and as such, he will be PM next year. Perhaps not the next PM, that may be some apparatchik from the depths of the Liberal party, just before Christmas, but the next one to face the electorate rather than their mates in the house.
In this case, the Rubicon is not a river, and not even about the leadership, screwed up as that is, it is about that most elusive and challenging to define words: Trust.
We the electorate needs to trust our elected leaders to do as they say they will, and to act in our best interests.
Political parties in a democracy rely on trust to gain and retain power, trust in the institution the party represents, and in the people who are its face.
Both sides of politics have utterly blown it!
A political brand is a most fragile construction. In the Australian context, with compulsory voting and an institutionalised two party system, change is really hard, so to successfully make it, trust is an absolute pre-requisite..
Two words are missing from the whole debacle, which together go a long way towards building trust, along with the behaviour exhibited on a daily basis. The trouble for the political classes is that they are also a foundation of trust, acting in a virtuous circle,———-or not, as the case may be.
Courage
Honour.
Courage is something you find on the football field, or in the face of some adversity, according to the popular press, but is it, really? I suggest not of the sort we are seeking in our leaders.
Truly courageous people find moral courage, which is being prepared to stand against the tide for something you believe in.
There seems to be a significant lack of moral courage in the big house, just as we are facing problems that need it to be exercised.
I see very little evidence of honour on display, just tides of expediency and self interest, although there are a few small green shoots in the desert to give hope. Warren Entsch is one prepared to speak his mind, and my local member Craig Laundy stood himself down from the new ministry, it seems on principal. I am sure there are a few others, voices smothered by the political bullshit blanket.
Were any of our current crop of political ‘leaders’ to drop off the perch today, would they attract the sort of words that have accompanied the death of John McCain on Saturday? I doubt it very much. It would just be another scramble for pre-selection and a chance to jump onto the gravy train.
The long term challenge is how do we, as a community, attract good people, those with the moral fibre we so desperately need, to the political table. The same disease seems to infect leadership in many places, as evidenced by two Royal Commissions currently in the headlines. I do wish I had some sage and positive advice to replace the sarcasm and disaffection I feel.
Cartoon credit: nicked from the great David Rowe in the Fin Review.
