One Nation ‘fresh meat’ for Labor in SA parliament
Weeks away from SA parliament sitting, Mike Smithson delivers One Nation a warning, telling of “at least one” being unsure about whether “they would need to attend parliament” during sitting weeks or to attend via Zoom.
It’s been a festival weekend of Gather Round, fans besieging the Premier for selfies, visitors loving SA and AFL officials lauding Peter Malinauskas yet again.
A long-term Gather Round deal is still pending, but the political focus will soon shift.
With the first sitting day of the new parliamentary calendar less than a month away, theatrics of a different league will be something else to behold.
In the House of Assembly chamber Labor will occupy 34 seats, with the Liberals having five, One Nation, four, and the same number of Independents.
It means the government benches will spread beyond the centre line of the arched chamber floor plan, with some new Labor MPs seated far away from their party’s powerbrokers, including the Premier, on the front bench.
But of far more interest will be the impact of fledgling One Nation MPs and the lion’s den they are about to enter.
Chantelle Thomas, Jason Virgo, Robert Roylance and David Paton are new to the corridors of North Terrace and are about to discover what it’s like being small fish in a big pond.
In the Upper House, newly elected leader Cory Bernadi will dish out plenty of political tips, but his experience is limited to the Senate in Canberra in his former political life.
His fellow One Nation legislative councillors Carlos Quaremba and Rebecca Hewett are also new to this patch which can be deadly dull at times and cutthroat at others.
I’ve seen MPs come and go and mature from ‘rabbits caught in the headlights’ into seasoned performers in what can be a ruthless and uncompromising forum of debate.
In other workplaces some of the daily barbs, comments and gestures could result in bullying claims, but parliament has always been considered, rightly or wrongly, a different beast.
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Question Time will be the first acid test for One Nation’s newly elected members.
That is when they get ample opportunity to ask questions without notice to the Premier and all his ministers, which are recorded in Hansard for all time.
A well-researched and considered question can technically bring down a minister if they deliberately mislead parliament, but don’t expect any such traps to be set on day one or any other sitting day thereafter.
Labor’s finely tuned ministry is usually ten steps ahead of the questioner, almost as if they’ve researched the question in advance.
Most often, new MPs taking to their feet and clearing their throats are as nervous as a five-year-old starting school.
The Premier and his front bench, especially the likes of veteran attack dog Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis, can shoot an ill-prepared question down in flames.
It is usually aimed at the Liberal Party in opposition, but One Nation can expect to become the fresh meat into which Labor will sink its teeth.
The veterans also know all of parliament’s official standing orders and when to interject making the poor soul asking the question feel so small that they could easily occupy the space on a pin head.
The Speaker, who’s usually the clearly favoured choice of the government of the day, is also entitled to and capable of cutting dumb questions down to size if they are out of order.
Former Speaker Mick Atkinson is the best I’ve seen at using razor-sharp wit and knowledge of parliamentary protocol to its absolute fullest.
And don’t forget that each QT is streamed live, via a bank of cameras, on the parliamentary website, so there’s no hiding from a potential worldwide audience if you’re being ridiculed by those in power.
The reason I mention this is simple.
Many in the media have been told anecdotally of the naivety of One Nation candidates during the campaign period.
Out of respect I won’t name names or even confirm if any of those I refer to have now been elected to parliament.
But at least one was not certain that, if elected, they would need to attend parliament during the dozen or so sitting weeks each year or do it via Zoom.
They also wanted to know it they would have an office to work from or staff they would need to employ.
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It was then explained to them that during non-sitting weeks they also have an electorate to serve which might have a raft of issues needing assistance including health, cost-of-living, law and order, child protection and the list goes on.
It’s a big job and it’s theirs for the next four years.
I’m not making light of the significance of One Nation’s election achievements or the increased public popularity they are now enjoying.
Don’t forget they scored a whopping 22.9 per cent of SA’s vote which was a swing to them of 20.3 per cent.
Labor’s massive victory came at the small cost of a swing against it of 2.5 per cent.
The Liberals were left embarrassed and devastated with a total 18.9 per cent of the vote with a minus-16.8 per cent swing.
So, One Nation is a massively growing force, even claiming to be the rightful opposition, but is it well enough prepared to take on all the responsibilities which go with the result?
“I have lofty goals for One Nation,” SA leader Cory Bernadi told FIVEaa listeners this morning.
“I do want to be ultimately the opposition party in this state and ultimately I hope that they can one day govern this state.”
New Labor, Liberal and Greens MPs have plenty of existing mentoring and guidance once they reach the floor of parliament or spend hours tied up in committees and Budget Estimate hearings.
I’ve been covering parliament since 1996 and still sense the power and significance of ghosts of the past every time that I enter the building.
The interior remains steeped in tradition and reverence which is felt by everyone.
Even the smell of the polished timber furniture and richly woven wool carpets are unmistakeable three decades later.
Walking past ancient portraits of former premiers Sir Thomas Playford, Steele Hall and Don Dunstan, I always get a weird sense that they’re still sitting in judgement of those inside.
No-one can fully prepare anyone who enters this unique atmosphere, but the learning curve is steep and with little consideration for the weak at heart.
To all newcomers it will be a wild ride as you feel your way into a fresh career.
How you handle it will be plain for all to see and I wish you well.
You might need it.
Mike Smithson is weekend newsreader and political analyst for 7News
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