Every junky’s like a setting sun

It is incredibly frustrating when a government is not what you wanted it to be. The problem is, that governments are almost never what we want them to be. But that’s okay, I think I can accept that. I can look past a lot of the failings of the current Labour Government, because, frankly, they aren’t led by John Howard. I can forgive the removal of a first term Prime Minister. I can forgive the ‘lie’ (mostly because it wasn’t really a lie, per-say, although that’s a tale for another day). I can forgive Wayne Swan for making me wonder by which process they chose the treasurer back in 2007 (spin the bottle?). I can forgive Albo’s speech impediment and Peter Garrett for not kicking heads when he totally got shafted on the insulation people dying thing.

I can forgive not going after a double dissolution election when they had the chance to rub Tony Abbott’s nose in it for being an obstructionist bastard. And the fucking around with immigration policy. And not doing everything in their power to get gay marriage through (just).

I wanted Julia to succeed very much. I honestly wanted a red headed, childless, university educated, atheist woman to not only be PM, but to do it boldly and bravely.

I think bravery is key word here, and I’m not just blaming Ms Gillard. In 2008 I had the dubious privilege of an audience with Bill Shorten as part of a school trip to Canberra. Two things stood out about this quickly rising Labour star. One, he dodged questions, even non-controversial ones, even from school kids in a private setting. Two, he made it abundantly clear that the government was not going sacrifice a gram of political capital unless it was on something it cared deeply about.

I reflected on this two years later when the government shelved the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, its solution to the ‘great moral challenge of our time’.

I think I lost faith with the Peter Slipper thing. It’s really irrelevant whether he’s a good bloke or some kind of sexually depraved cab-charge junky. It was an act of obvious deception, it reeked of desperation, of doublethink. Of convincing yourself that its okay to do something wrong if its for the good of the nation. Of convincing yourself that you are better for the nation than the opposition, intrinsically and eternally.

And sure, Tony Abbott believes in a lot of things that I don’t. And his front bench will be full of hacks (save for Julie Bishop, Turnbull and a select few others. As long as Christopher Pyne doesn’t get a good job. Hate that guy). But his government won’t be forever. And Abbott is not much of a conservative anyway, he can’t afford to be. Australia is a moderate place. It will be so for a while yet. It is a place where a good Labour government can prosper. Or a Liberal government, for that matter.

I’m not going to prejudge the Abbot government. I know a lot of what we are going to get, and so I won’t be angry when  it happens. Abbott is no fool. He is educated and experienced. And I have no doubt that he cares about the future of this country. I have a sharply different worldview to what I gather his to be, but if he can lead this country with integrity and vision, then I’ll a lot more satisfied with our politics than I am now.