Vic Labor allowed to hang on - for now

June 12, 1991
Issue 

By Peter Boyle

MELBOURNE — Opposition leader "Foot in Mouth" Jeff Kennett seems determined to live up to his nickname. His "quantum leap" attempt to force the Kirner Labor government to an early election fizzled when nearly everyone (even most state and federal Liberal Party politicians) rejected his attempts to blackmail Labor politicians into crossing the floor.

But there wasn't much laughter in the chilly streets of Melbourne. If anything, the public mood in Victoria is sullen.

"They are all only interested in getting their snouts in the trough", grumbled one city worker. "The opposition can't take credit simply for being out of office during the '80s", a stomach-ulcered small businessman told me as he attempted unsuccessfully to avoid discussing the recession during a meal.

When Kennett deposed Alan Brown as opposition leader last month, a Saulwick Age poll showed 58% confidence in him compared to a mere 27% for Premier Joan Kirner. Kennett thought he had the wind in his sails and announced he had a secret five-step plan to force an early election.

Step one was to become leader of the opposition. With only Alan "who's that?" Brown in the way, this worked according to plan. Step two was to demand that Labor step down. It refused. Step three was to move an amendment to the constitution to allow an election before Labor's mandatory three-year minimum term expires in October. It was predictably defeated in the Labor-controlled Legislative Assembly.

In step four, Kennett threatened to deprive Labor parliamentarians of their superannuation as punishment for mismanaging Victoria unless they crossed the floor. This earned him a contempt of parliament charge.

Before he could get to step five, the blocking of the supply bill for the next quarter, his colleagues pulled him into line. He dropped his attempt to block supply and even withdrew the threat to MPs' super. The next supply bill is due in October.

Newspaper columnists railed against Kennett's superannuation threat. They mocked his "quantum leap" — "a backward somersault with good grace, egg on his face and with the highest degree of difficulty", wrote one columnist. Another compared his five steps to carefully setting up a sequence of fireworks, but then there is a big bang and Kennett emerges singed, as in a Warner Bros cartoon.

Every mainstream paper editorialised against Kennett's attempt, calling it an affront to democracy, a threat to the Westminster system and even a resort to "lynch mob politics". The Age warned that Kennett risked a serious constitutional crisis and "massive dislocation of the business affairs of the state".

Has the same big business press which cheered on Malcolm Fraser and John Kerr when they disposed of the Whitlam government suddenly developed a serious concern for democratic practice? After years of hard Labor, there was little likelihood of massive public disturbance had supply been blocked. Even the surprise results in the NSW elections hardly indicated a groundswell of public support for Labor — and that in a state where it is out of office.

Kennett's mistake was not his choice of method but his timing. Big business sees some merit in keeping Labor in power in Victoria — at least until after it delivers the horror budget it has promised, and perhaps for the duration of the recession.

Labor politicians seem to have twigged to this. Hence Kirner's response to Kennett's "quantum leap" was to promise to axe 10,000 more public service jobs in the state which has greatest number of people out of work. Kirner certainly wasn't looking to win the support of Victorian workers. Her plea was aimed directly at big business.

Kirner was asked by welfare agencies to approach the federal government for $500 million to alleviate suffering from the recession. Instead she asked for and received approval to borrow $300 million to cover redundancy packages for the 10,000 she plans to sack.

Under John Cain, the state Labor government incurred huge debts because it facilitated massive speculation by the Skases and Bonds. Now Kirner plans to borrow money to do away with jobs while there is record unemployment.

The deafening silence from Labor politicians and trade unionists alike to this outrageous plan is one reason it suits big business to have a Labor government in power in Victoria, at least for a little longer.

If Kennett had been allowed to force an election now, there would have been no certainty of a strong Liberal-National government, if the NSW result is any indication of the mood of the public. Most voters realise that either a Labor or a Liberal-National government would seek to inflict more pain on them.

Kennett's response to Kirner's threat to sack 10,000 public servants was to promise that he could outcut a Labor government. He complained that, by allowing Victoria to borrow more money, the federal government was tempting Kirner to cut fewer jobs than she would otherwise.

The Victorian Employers Federation said on May 23 that services like health, education and transport should be slashed by $1 billion in the state budget (largely through sackings) and that business should be given $150 million in tax cuts.

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