Commission on child sex abuse a depressing example of populist politics | The Australian
THE dismal, populist and doomed quality of Australian governance has been on display this week with Julia Gillard announcing an in-principle royal commission into child sexual abuse, a panicked Tony Abbott falling into line and an ignorant media offering cheer upon cheer.
Rarely has an Australian goverment embarked on such a sensitive and vast project in profound ignorance of what it was doing, with virtually no serious policy consideration and driven entirely by politics.
This is the way Australia now works. The quest is for popular approval, moral legitimacy and gesture politics. Labor took this decision flying completely blind. Gillard’s media conference last Monday was a serial exercise in populist politics and policy ignorance. She knew next to nothing about the royal commission she was announcing. What counted was framing herself as the arch opponent of this “incredibly evil thing” determined to expose those who have “averted their eyes” and allow victims to “tell their story”.
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Gillard’s decision is classic shoot now and pass the mess to others to sort out, in this case, Attorney-General Nicola Roxon. This decision has plunged Australia into a multi-jurisdictional, multi-institutional, state-church, high-cost shambles where nobody knows how the massive expectations of victims can be satisfied.
It is, however, a perfect fit into Gillard’s political strategy. For Labor, that’s what counts. The media loved it - the combination of a moral crusade, a cast of victims and coming systemic dismantling of the Catholic Church.
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But its real point was always to distract from AWUgate, Hookergate and the rest and provide the lapdog media with a welcome excuse not to report on the many criminal scandals involving the gillard regime.
Mission accomplished.
THE dismal, populist and doomed quality of Australian governance has been on display this week with Julia Gillard announcing an in-principle royal commission into child sexual abuse, a panicked Tony Abbott falling into line and an ignorant media offering cheer upon cheer.
Rarely has an Australian goverment embarked on such a sensitive and vast project in profound ignorance of what it was doing, with virtually no serious policy consideration and driven entirely by politics.
This is the way Australia now works. The quest is for popular approval, moral legitimacy and gesture politics. Labor took this decision flying completely blind. Gillard’s media conference last Monday was a serial exercise in populist politics and policy ignorance. She knew next to nothing about the royal commission she was announcing. What counted was framing herself as the arch opponent of this “incredibly evil thing” determined to expose those who have “averted their eyes” and allow victims to “tell their story”.
.
Gillard’s decision is classic shoot now and pass the mess to others to sort out, in this case, Attorney-General Nicola Roxon. This decision has plunged Australia into a multi-jurisdictional, multi-institutional, state-church, high-cost shambles where nobody knows how the massive expectations of victims can be satisfied.
It is, however, a perfect fit into Gillard’s political strategy. For Labor, that’s what counts. The media loved it - the combination of a moral crusade, a cast of victims and coming systemic dismantling of the Catholic Church.
***
But its real point was always to distract from AWUgate, Hookergate and the rest and provide the lapdog media with a welcome excuse not to report on the many criminal scandals involving the gillard regime.
Mission accomplished.
