Moving forward, trust me

An astute friend recently observed that in chucking Rudd out the ALP has proved itself to be very much the party for the 21st century. Unlike earlier generations, she maintains, we don’t believe there’s a necessity to produce anything that lasts. We don’t have that same desire to mend what’s broken. If something collapses we’re inclined to give it the flick and get a new one.

This is one of the more obvious differences between the ALP and the Coalition, and there aren’t many of those left. In spite of apparently horrendous leadership difficulties and Costello waiting in the wings for years, the Coalition didn’t chuck out John Howard, and Costello never challenged him. It’s a different mind set altogether, and the voters eventually got to make the call.

There’s obviously a time and a place for both mind-sets. There are situations when the only thing to do is to chuck out something that’s not working, be it a marriage, a Prime Minister, or a washing machine. You try to weigh up the investment you’ve put in so far against what it’s going to cost you to maintain the status quo and risk complete collapse. The wisdom lies in knowing when to chuck out, and when to retain and repair.

But you’re an absolute fool if you go out and replace what you’ve chucked with something that looks and sounds a tiny bit different, yet on even cursory examination offers you exactly the same.

What matters more than anything in this election is that the Greens and Independents win enough of a voice to challenge the major parties. The major parties have to be made accountable, and they have to be kept accountable. The overthrow of a democratically chosen Prime Minister in circumstances of absolute secrecy demonstrates there is an urgent need to curb the power of non-elected interests and party factions in government.

There have been moments in the last few days when I’ve even wondered if Tony Abbott and his crowd might indeed make a better fist of it than the ALP. I’ve now arranged for a member of my household to turn the hose on me if I signal that I’m in the grip of that particular hallucination. But this is what it’s come to. What, one wonders, is the difference, and isn’t time for something altogether new?