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The beginning of the end? |
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Written by Austin Mitchell
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14 November 2005 |
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The pundittieri have got Tony’s defeat wrong. Not the beginning of the end. Just a change in his situation which he’s only just beginning to understand.
It was a failure of judgement not power. It was daft to say 90 days is a central part of Education and Health reform. No way to get the votes of those who don’t want either. Tony’s got so used to getting his own way that he thought he could go on as before. Worse, the Whips and Cabinet were too dim and deferential to warn him.
If the Leader wants to walk on water a sensible Whips’ Office either installs stepping stones just below the surface, or tells him not to get his feet wet in the first place. The days when you didn’t have to listen to the Party and could treat it as a dim beast of burden, like an elephant at a Durbah, are over, Tony. Not your reign. Yet. |
