Political Corrections

with Mungo MacCallum

One man's meat is another's poison

Treason doth never prosper – what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.

– Sir John Harrington.

And the same applies to so-called political bribery.

If an inconvenient member accepts the offer of a cushy job outside politics in return for early retirement, well, that's fine – it's just part of the rich and varied fabric of life in a parliamentary democracy.

If, on the other hand, the member indignantly rejects the proposal, and moreover complains about it in public, then it becomes a shock horror criminal subversive breach of ethics and of the law, a dastardly attempt to undermine the Australian way of life and society as we know it.

In order to survive such embarrassment, it is necessary either to pick your mark with some care or at least to put yourself in a position to deny that it ever happened if things go wrong. It would appear that in the case of independent Tony Windsor the Government and its agent got the first bit wrong, but will probably get away with the second.

Let us be clear that the idea of buying inconvenient politicians off with the carefully dangled bait of congenial employment outside parliament is neither new nor particularly uncommon. A diplomatic posting is frequently presented as a reward for meritorious service, but it often has another, more important purpose as well. A leader might want to rid himself of a rival, as Menzies did with Percy Spender and William Casey. A member or a minister who has outlived his usefulness might be persuaded to vacate his seat for a more favoured candidate – former speaker John Halvorsen is a good example.

The offer of the bribe to a political opponent is less common – after all there is seldom much to be gained – but it is by no means unknown: Gough Whitlam's celebrated and unsuccessful attempt to gain control of the Senate by buying DLP Senator Vince Gair off with the Ambassadorship to Ireland is the most notorious of such cases.

With the National Party steadily losing heartland seats to well-known independents, it could be argued that the oh-so-pious John Anderson would be positively derelict in his duty as party leader if he did not at least investigate the possibility of getting rid of the interlopers and regaining the party's traditional territory before it is too late.

As it turned out, Windsor was never going to play the game. But it is very hard to believe that he was not at least sounded out by businessman Greg Maguire, who had his own reason for seeing Windsor as an impediment to his project for an equine and livestock centre and, as it now appears, a still better reason for snuggling up as closely as possible to Anderson and the government.

We now know that Anderson had told him bluntly that there would be no government support for the centre unless it was "non-political" – meaning that Windsor, the hugely popular elected local member, should withdraw altogether and let Anderson take the credit. Unless Windsor is telling a lie of positively Howardian proportions, Maguire gave him a clear wink that a new career would be forthcoming if he agreed to resign, and despite Maguire's comprehensive denial it is hard to imagine that he would have held out the prospect without a clear nudge from Anderson that it could be delivered.

Purists will see this as morally corrupt and even as a possible criminal offence, but in terms of Australia's political history it hardly amounts to jay walking. And of course if Windsor had accepted, it would have been hailed as a political triumph. Oh well, back to the streaker's defence: it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Has there ever been a sillier or less credible statement than that of the spokesman for the bosses' organisation, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Peter Hendry, that there is no longer any need for trades unions, the Industrial Relations Commission or any of the associated structure, because in these enlightened times individual workers can bargain with their employers on a level basis?

This mind-boggling line was the spiel with which Hendry delivered his latest wish list to the government, a wish list which essentially involves removing all the protections, safeguards, checks and balances workers have won in Australia since federation – indeed, in some ways it goes even further. One gets the impression that Hendry and his supporters will not really be satisfied with anything less than a complete return to the feudal system.

In his fantasy, an applicant for, say, a cleaner's job with BHP-Billiton, is perfectly capable of negotiating on equal terms with the full might of the firm's management and legal teams, secure in the knowledge that she will be treated with scrupulous honesty and openness; the lamb can walk trustingly into the lion's den and everything will be for the best in the best of all possible worlds. There may have been a need for unions and arbitration courts in the bad old days, but now everything is sweetness and light, with fairness and justice for all.

Sure, and I can take Rupert Murdoch on one-on-one as well. Of course it's crazy, but the scary bit is that Hendry means it. And scarier still is the thought that Howard and Costello just might give it to him. Truly, we live in interesting times.