Reflecting on WA Journalist Gary Adshead's report on the turmoil within the WA Liberal Party (*Link below) there's some things within apparent & some things that aren't. Gary has yet again laid open the cracked egg & nothing is left unseen.
Firstly, the WALiberals knew they had a problem, they installed some respected people to engage in a review & no punches were held. The very damning WhatsApp exchanges from the so called group called "The Clan" weren't very central initially because they hadn't been established as authentic. Once they were the review committee did not hold back.
What followed was a signed letter from past & some still present lumminaries of WA Liberal life.
Some might have been viewing this as the beginning of the end of the WA Liberal Party.
If viewed in broad terms the review committee results could be applied generally to every political party in this country & most likely overseas as well. A mix of top down management, or rather top down control. The lack of proper checks & balances are now out in the sunlight. This is what happens or at least is accelerated unchecked when the shadowy practices of behind the Speaker's Chair and all the other dark knifery from a Parliamentary wing of a party drifts into the Organisational side of the party.
If you have the ability, show me the political party in this country where the line between Parliamentary players & the Organisation has genuine and proper arm's length distance. When they morph its process, the integrity & the lay members who suffer.
On the vulgar level of pure politics, this presents a double stacked problem for the WA Labor Party. Firstly a rebuild in the Liberals as the tide turns on WA Labor is a serious threat to political control of both houses of Parliament. Not immediate, but looming & slowly building. The other is it holds up a stark mirror through a magnifying glass at the workings of the very factional & very cut throat WALabor Party.
You can expect greater sledges & slurs in Parliament from the Government towards the Liberal Party over the report to try & demoralise the opposing troops. However, the contagian has been identified, all is laid bare in the sunlight of the very public square & the recovery vaccine is rolling out.
That vaccine is good corporate governance, accountibility, transperancy which will eventually result in the longer term to the rise of people with Statesmanship traits, not Machiavellian.
There are really one a two problems the WA Liberals face going forwards.
1) Patience & persistence. These fixes will be slow but they will be big. Their lay members can take heart. I expect due to the size & nature of the pendulum swing the wrong way the reboot will be slow but unstoppable. The repair that results will give rise to a new successful era in the party. But it'll be slow, glacier slow in the beginning
2) Some of the members of "the clan" are actually some of their most effective parliamentary performers. I don't mean fairly good bit players in Parliament, I mean serious participants punching vastly above their weight. Collier & Goiran are high level legislators & political brawlers that each out performer many token red bench warmers on the Government side. They are methodical weapons. Whilst there is the signed letter calling for some to consider their positions, for now that's not resign from the party. Think it might be better if some get on board & stick to solely to their electorate & parliamentary duties. Stick in their own lane. If all members of the clan can do that, perform greatly on their own ground and not be tempted to slide into over reach the party will reach good and lasting reform & recalibration of their party much earlier, much easier.
They need everyone to get on board the bus with little or none going under the bus.
Where the WA Liberals will be exactly in one, two or six years I can't say or comfortably predict except I expect it will be far better off than it is now. I expect this letter signed by well known WA Liberal lumminaries to go down as a milestone moment in their earth moving shift to success.
If you're a member of the WA Liberal Party, seize the moment to rip Victory out of the mouth of defeat.
If you're a political disinterested member of WA Society, take heart. WA needs tension between 2 or more sides in Parliament and a new & improved WA Liberals 2.0 will benefit everyone in WA.
Those that fear the Reboot are the Machiavellian types of all party stripes. Both Liberal knife bearers and Labor. I think if the Liberal blade carriers still have enough conservative reserves in their DNA they will get on board the bus & rebuild for the sake of their party & the for the sake of WA. Those that should fear this recovery most are the players in the WA Labor Party machine. Not for losing government, although that will happen at some point, the pendulum always swings. It's the structure of WA Labor that will also be in the sunlight as the WA Liberals reboot. Labor has rules on its MPs, you cannot stay in the party if you cross the floor, you must do as the Party Room says. Lay memebrs are loyal, hard working and largely duped for their lay members do not control the party. Their power brokers & union leaders jostle for position and some openly rejoice in the internal fight.
Those of poor memory only need to look back at a WA State Conference of the WA Labor Party to recall how well over half the room walked out of the room as Mark McGowan started his address to their gathering.
Yes, I think that although it may not feel this way now, this point in political history will be a watershed moment, a pivotal turning point for the WA Liberals even if it doesn't feel like it. WA Labor will know that & as they have so many players wilfully infected with the anti-Statesmanship contagian they are probably more nervous than "The Clan".
I expect the clan if they're wise will disband and either get on the bus or stay at the stop because for now the Liberal bus is moving forward.
The report into WA Liberals rot is extensive and thorough. I think its a good thing for everyone in WA.
* Liberal review authors call for reform after ‘The Clan’ WhatsApp messages declared valid (watoday.com.au)
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