Canberra out of touch

Example – politicians’ salaries

The Remuneration Tribunal’s recommendation for huge pay rises for politicians has been accepted without amendment. It involves a 31% pay rise for PM Gillard and huge increases for ministers, shadow ministers and backbenchers. Even the top departmental heads get an extra $200k. Public servants down the ladder are actually poring scorn on the decision.

At a time of international belt-tightening, this is clear lack of judgment and leadership. Gillard could have accepted a 10% catch-up, but went instead with her departmental advice. Not surprisingly, the Opposition has toed the line. A cynical electorate will edge towards the Independents and Greens.

Example – water entitlements

In the same week, Water MinisterBurkevisitedGriffithto explain the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s plan to reduce water entitlements by 2750 gigalitres/year. He too was toeing his advisers’ line, which is basically that the Riverina must embrace the same reform that South Australian irrigators have achieved.

TonyBurke’s personality and intelligence saved him from a serious incident with the crowd of 12,000 Riverina residents. But the matter is far from over. If Cockatoo members in the Riverina are looking for a solution, they might dwell on the following:

• Riverina irrigators have been through 10 years of drought – permanent cutbacks are now seen as totally unreasonable.
• Burkehas $5.4 billion to spend on water-saving infrastructure.
• The solution is surely to push the principle of ‘collaborative conditionality’ – by creating a nexus between the federal expenditure and the proposed water cutbacks i.e. if the new pipe systems and irrigation equipment delivers say 8% water savings, this triggers a commensurate reduction in water entitlement.
• As Otto von Bismarck once said ‘politics is about the art of the possible’.

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