The Quagmire in the Upper House
As tempting as it is to shut the door on a mess, it does not go away. The extraordinary decisions by the NSW Labor Government to lock the doors of the Legislative Council last week and walk away – leaving the Upper House in limbo – has bought the Premier, Nathan Rees and his team some more time.
But it was a desperate move and, whatever political manoeuvres now ensue, NSW politics is plumbing new lows. Technically, it was the proposed sale of NSW Lotteries that triggered the crisis. But it has been a long, slow, ugly side towards this undignified deadlock, and there is plenty of blame to share around.
In two-tiered Parliaments the Upper House provides an additional layer of legislative scrutiny, supposedly ensuring better decision making. The present case, though, casts doubt on that proposition. The Government wants to sell NSW Lotteries to fill some of the hole left in the budget last year, when the sale of the power industry fell through.
Last week the Shooters Party – a single-interest group demanding the right to hunt native animals in national parks – found itself with the deciding votes on the $500 million privatisation. No right to shoot, no sale. The Shooters may yet be lured back with a promise of a cull or two in national parks. Parliament is now in recess and the Government has until September 1 to sort matters out.
But whether it does so now is almost beside the point. The real problems are twofold. First, the Upper House itself. The present impasse calls its usefulness seriously into question. Its reform or abolition, though, is a long-term question. The second, more immediate problem is this state’s political culture, in which principles or beliefs come a distant second to short-term advantage.
The present, regrettable measure to sell NSW Lotteries would not have been necessary if the power industry sale had gone through, as it should have, with the support of the Liberals, who are notionally at least the party of free enterprise.
As it is, Government and Opposition in the present case are each supporting the other’s philosophical stance. The single-issue Shooters Party, though objectionable, can claim to be consistent: they have no interest in the question other than naked self-interest.
The lock-out would be comical if were not for its consequences. When politics triumphs over good policy, and self-interest wins out over public service, it doesn’t matter who wins the vote. The losers are the people of New South Wales.
Source: Editorial, The Quagmire in the Upper House, The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 June 2009.