Richardson: Weatherill wary of the enemy within
I’ve heard of South Australia being colloquially – and not very convincingly – dubbed the Athens of the South. It was, I’m sure originally intended as a compliment, though these days it’s probably more apt as an economic metaphor.
Yesterday, the Premier – as ever, doing his bit for SA tourism – suggested a new moniker: the Israel of the South.
He was addressing an Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce lunch, so this might have been playing to his audience, but even then he didn’t manage to get things off to a ripping start.
Jay Weatherill’s speech kicked off with him recalling (with strangely-inappropriate amusement) a visit to Israel when he was Environment Minister, describing how (hilariously) an official engagement was interrupted by the impending threat of falling missiles.
When this jocular reminiscence surprisingly failed to garner a laugh from the audience, he tried a different tack to win them over, noting that as he drove around the Jewish Holy Land he was struck by how it was basically “just desert”.
Then, still displaying the warm charm that won over 47 per cent of the electorate, he observed that these experiences led him to appreciate the Israeli mindset, upon which they had built their society: that they are surrounded by enemies.
And this, he seemed to suggest, is something from which South Australia can learn a thing or two.
You might like
Sure, this week’s Treasurers’ conference might have had a few heated disagreements over broad-based consumption tax, and true, we have a few friendly football rivalries with Victoria, but I’m not sure that any of that is really analogous to the conflict in the Middle East.
Weatherill’s point, though, was a serious one: that a bunker mentality can make people impervious to change, and that when you have few natural geographical advantages “the nature of the challenge is inspiring people to rise to the challenge so we can make the changes necessary”.
Reform is necessarily difficult at the best of times and in the most progressive of places. This is not the best of times, and Adelaide is not the most progressive of places.
The public and the media, no doubt frustratingly for the governing classes, tolerate neither wholesale change nor inertia.
It surprises me in a way that Weatherill has engaged with business to the degree that he has since last year’s election. His political agenda was the obvious realisation that he did not carry the support of the rural or business constituencies. But another reading would be that he won despite that fact, and that the Liberals have long failed to win despite their strong backing.
Which suggests his agenda is less about shoring up votes and more about an epiphany that this is a time in SA’s history that demands good government, and that good government demands substantial reform.
This, of course, suggests the uncomfortable notion that good governance should really be a constant requirement, but in truth when revenues are strong, state government is a relatively easy task – more a matter of prioritising than governing.
One’s legacy thus depends on one’s priorities, and putting several eggs in relatively few baskets makes for a far more marketable sales pitch, provided it pays off.
Stay informed, daily
For SA, the mining and defence baskets haven’t quite done the trick, and the economy is now less a question of picking the right baskets than of avoiding a complete basket case.
Weatherill came to power with a mantra that he would govern for the whole state – that it’s time Labor realised South Australia didn’t stop at Gepps Cross.
After Labor was almost universally (the Whyalla-encompassing Giles electorate notwithstanding) rejected in the regions, he won over Geoff Brock with promises of rural representation and regular country cabinets.
But in truth, Weatherill has continued to hone his political philosophy in high office, and his is a uniquely city-centric vision.
“No-one else has the city of Adelaide: it’s unique, it’s ours,” he said yesterday, before going even further, appearing almost disdainful of suggestions he should be just as dogmatic about areas … well … beyond Gepps Cross.
“People say ‘What about the regions’; well, French people don’t say that about Paris,” he noted.
Actually, I’m pretty sure they do.
Hasn’t he heard of Normandy? Lyon? Bordeaux? Champagne? Burgundy?
They’re often synonymous with wine, which they apparently do pretty well. Which sounds a bit familiar; maybe we should have dubbed ourselves the Paris of the South?
But if Weatherill’s alternative analogy, while a stretch, has a ring of truth it’s because Labor has reached a point where it is no longer resorting to glamorous sales pitches and positive pep-talks.
Government is SA right now means telling a harsh tale of a brutal reality, and encouraging every South Australian to suggest alternate narratives that may somehow provide an unlikely happy ending.
We may not be surrounded by enemies, but apathy and risk-aversion are the enemies lurking within.
Tom Richardson is a senior reporter with InDaily. His political column is published on Fridays.
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
