Who needs a unifying theme anyway?
On the left, Greens MHR Adam Bandt. On the right, Independent MHR Bob Katter. They each oppose everything the other stands for, yet will sit together and be on the same stage as they try to use what leverage they each have to get concessions out of the major parties.
Katter’s an old school National Party tribalist, so we should not be surprised by the way he is relishing this newfound power. He feels the country has been screwed over by the city for years, and he wants to help the country get its own back. He’s a comically awful person in my eyes, but he’s doing what he thinks is right and is entirely predictable.
Bandt, though, has so far been a profound disappointment to me. His talk on television last night of ‘confidential negotiations’ and his vapid blathering around pointed questions has made a mockery of the change platform upon which he was largely elected.
If the new Gang of Four can get through this in a way that doesn’t leave a sour taste in the electorate’s mouth, it will be a miracle. The independents are right in saying that Australians wanted change in this election, but there’s no way known that they ever believed that the end result offered to them would be a Unity Cabinet of the sort only ever seen in a time of national crisis. Yet if Oakeshott gets his way, this is clearly a possibility.
What a strange and amazing week.
