Glory Daze by Jim Chalmers

Author:Jim Chalmers [Chalmers, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Public Policy, Political Economy, Political Science, Economic Policy, General
ISBN: 9780522864137
Google: Y8fE0TlnTXgC
Goodreads: 18215315
Publisher: Melbourne University Press
Published: 2013-07-01T00:00:00+00:00

Excessive partisanship is not just something that afflicts politicians and journalists, but increasingly the business community as well. Not just because ex–Howard government partisans are housed in the resources companies and banks of this country, or that it was a Woolworths corporate affairs person who helped arrange the infamous auction at which Alan Jones dishonoured the death of a prime ministerial father. Or even because partisans are so prominent in business peak groups, like former staffers who have cycled through the leadership of the Australian Industry Group and Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in recent years. But also because the tactics of the business community, in lockstep with a compliant media, have created a place for hyper-partisan lobbyists who seek to create maximum chaos and division, hoping that no government would have the courage to take on specific sectors in the name of broadly beneficial national economic reform. The tools are varied but well worn: dodgy economic modelling; business surveys and roundtables that only provide a platform for critics of the government; and the like.

Unsurprisingly, the hyper-partisans in the media and parts of the business community don’t just seek to change policies, they seek to change leaders and governments. And when the two groups work together, as they did during the middle of 2009 to try and bring down the Prime Minister and Treasurer with the assistance of fabricated emails from a disgruntled mole in the Treasury, they can be fearsome. In this ‘Ozcar’ affair or ‘Utegate’ as it was called at the time, we saw all the signs of the hyper-partisans doing coordinated work to try and secure the scalps of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan, who had just helped save Australia from recession.

The story begins on the Friday morning of 19 June 2009; a difficult one for our office, following a boozy farewell function the night before for staff who had been promoted to more senior positions elsewhere in the government or who were returning to Treasury. We weren’t in our best form when a handful of us gathered to witness an extraordinary moment in Australian political history. A middle-ranking Treasury bureaucrat called Godwin Grech was appearing before a parliamentary committee to allege that a senior prime ministerial adviser had asked him to act improperly in securing assistance for a car salesman who was a distant acquaintance of the Prime Minister and the Treasurer.

Grech was a lonely, awkward figure and it was subsequently proved that the Opposition had played on his need for influence and attention by cultivating him for some time. A furore followed his accusations, which included the threat of a ‘smoking gun’ email proving that favours were requested. The Opposition leader, Malcolm Turnbull, called for the resignation of Rudd and Swan. We had days of breathless commentary calling for that outcome as well. Rudd was brilliant in his gutsy press conference on the Friday night to beat back the allegations. Swan was also strong on Laurie Oakes’s Sunday program two days later.

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