Tuesday 28 February 2017

Taking responsibility for your

own actions seems to be a thing of the past, especially in politics.
Last week the Leader of the Opposition was blaming the government for the decision on penalty rates. The only problem with this is that the decision was made by the Fair Work Commission. The Fair Work Commission was set up by the Leader of the Opposition when he was a Minister in the previous government. He appointed the people who made the decision.
But no, it is the government's fault.
The Prime Minister is blaming a previous Prime Minister for his own disastrous ratings in the polls. He is accusing the previous PM of undermining him, sniping, trying to get his old job back etc.  Even supporters of the previous PM are trying to lay at least some of the blame at the door of the previous PM. That it might have anything to do with the fact that the present PM is not doing a good job is apparently beside the point.
In this state the Premier, who has been there a long time, still tries to blame a previous government for anything and everything. It's part of the political game.
Of course if they did say, "Yes, I made mistake and I am responsible" then there would be calls for them to resign. It's probably a no-win situation whatever they do. But, should that stop the previous PM from pointing out a few faults and saying, "Do something about it"? He knows as well as anyone else that it is almost impossible to get legislation through a hostile Senate even when there is a clear mandate. That isn't an argument to ditch the Senate - although the Senate needs to look more carefully at itself and recognise that it was set up to look after the interests of the states rather than the party in power.  
When John Major took over from Margaret Thatcher in Britain it was generally thought he didn't really have it in him to be the sort of PM who would make his mark. He wasn't going to be another Thatcher - whatever you might have thought of her. Nevertheless he did things that have had a profound influence on British politics - like keeping the UK out of the euro zone and the Schengen zone. Whether you agree with those things or not is not the point here. He has turned out to be more influential than most people thought possible. 
It will perhaps be the same for the previous PM now seemingly making waves. The idea that he is deliberately undermining the government and his own party seems rather far-fetched. Is it just possible he might end up being more influential than most people thought possible?
Will all of them end up taking any responsibility for their own actions?

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