I’ve Seen the Future!
Whenever I travel along the main road between my office and my house, I go past a big billboard not far from where I live. A new poster has been put up there recently which boldly proclaims “The Future of Queensland has a Face”, alongside a large photo of National Party leader Lawrence Springborg.
I’ve seen that billboard at least half a dozen times now, but every time I do I have to double check to make sure I haven’t imagined it. Self-confidence is a good thing I guess, but there’s something about labelling yourself as The Future which just doesn’t seem quite right – especially in the absence of some clearly detectable wave of public enthusiasm and support.
I suppose so much of political campaigning is built on assertions so thin they may as well be based on air, but this one seems to be trying to graft something onto a complete vacuum.
The push for some sort of merger in Queensland between the Nationals and the Liberal Party is still continuing, with a report today that an extraordinary “97.3 per cent of respondents voted yes to the question of supporting a consolidation of like-minded non-Labor forces in Queensland.” This figure sounds like something out of a Soviet-style election, but it is apparently reflects the views of around 5000 party members, so assuming it is a genuine reflection of the views of Nationals’ members, then there’s going to be a crunch coming. Despite some significant signs of support from some figures in the Liberal’s camp, I think the Nationals’ idea of a “single non-Labor party” and the Liberal’s idea of a merger are somewhat different. If they can sort out agreement on key issues like the new party’s name and structure without some major upheavals, I’ll be amazed.
The assertion that Lawrence Sprinborg is the face of Queensland’s future reminds me of the hype about Bruce Springsteen in the 1970s, when he was touted as the future of rock n roll. I guess that one turned out to have some credibility, so maybe Lawrence can do it too. I can’t say I like many of his policies much, but in my experience he’s a nice enough bloke and I don’t think he’s as big a dud as some have painted him.
But given the big question marks still to be resolved over the merger and the fact that public support for the Nationals hasn’t been building much at all, despite the fairly underwhelming performance of Labor at state level, I tend to feel the musical parallel might not be Bruce Springsteen, but Leonard Cohen, who once did a song called The Future – “get ready for the future, it is murder.”
ELSEWHERE: Graham Young’s blog examines some of the details of the latest merger/takeover/conjoining of the Nationals and Liberals that’s been announced.
Mark Bahnisch at Larvatus Prodeo also examines where the merger is currently at.
13 Comments, Comment or Ping
Graham Bell
Andrew Bartlett:
“Nature abhors a vacuum” …. and that’s where Mr L. Springborg comes in.
It’s not so much that he is The Future as that the Liberals in Queensland are now seen as nothing but a brawling incompetent backward bunch of galoots that anything at all that is not Liberals can be called The Future.
You said
Yes – and the rest of us will be flabbergasted and astonished, Still, stranger things have happened.
May 6th, 2008
philip travers
You are being a mere mortal,Senator Andrew.!? Why.. we may have tomorrow… new cliche’s that change the present paradigm to a horizon of unseen potentials,with only the lanyard of ,people like Springborg, being Queenslanders,stopping the head from traveling to realms unforeseen. For it was often said at lower degrees of latitude that the sun had got to people early in life,beyond,the mere brain-fry that diminishes us below the Queensland border.Fear not though,as a Queenslander,for new standards are ,at this very moment of writing ,building the scaffolding beyond the implied contentious.There will be Uni. Students doing voluntary work for the Springborgians..and Queensland will replenish its souls anew,and anew.I think Springborg must of been a Lopsang Rampa fan..and they are rare in self-proclaim. Perhaps he has a spare duffel-coat as well! Must be worth heaps. Like Liberace’s tails would be today! One day,like the Southern States before you, a Graham Kennedy will test the very simple and honest toilers,as surely the Pope visiting Sydney seems like a Polar Opposite,to all that was self-claimed as Sin City.And there is no doubt Pell in whatever form he will be in,is bound to make Queensland,like a pianist from Tenterfield…..Home.
May 6th, 2008
Lorikeet
I think they have less than Buckley’s chance of getting anywhere either singly or in coalition, with the party leaders they have tried to float in recent years (e.g. Flegg, Springborg and Whatshisname – still not sure who he is).
May 6th, 2008
Austin
I really don’t like this ‘non-Labor’ idea. It is by it’s own definition a wedge. Either you are with Labor or you are with us. That can only spell disaster for our parliament. Not that the Queensland parliament is in any kind of reasonable shape. (Government maybe {very slim maybe}, but parliament requires diversity to function properly at all).
May 7th, 2008
Kris
That seems to be a pretty bleak picture!
May 7th, 2008
philip travers
The future is now minus two days,Senator!? Anything in the time travel back to now,that looked like,a Lopsang Rampa Duffel coat and a Springborg in it!? Cold frosty night here,and the stars in the sky outside look pretty good.No bad omens, I can pick that would shrink the aperture of my present state of mind to a smaller duffel coat sewed hole,for the duffel button,of course.I just wonder sometimes,in passing,but not too loudly,what if I had never seen a Duffel coat,would Springborg etc. also not have been!?And Mickey Mouse and his Apprentices also in cartoon form and mop.The mop is turning into Duffel coats,and other transformations are taking place.Is all this important!? I have troubles about that all the time!What if Springborg said and did something out of the Blue,and all the Senator and myself could say was”that’s really good”!?
May 7th, 2008
Lorikeet
Yes, and with a unicameral government (only one house of parliament) to boot!
May 7th, 2008
Graham Bell
Lorikeet [7]:
New Zealand and some other fine places do very well with unicameral parliaments.
Anyway, with the states soon to become extinct, it would be a waste of effort – and an unnecessary waste of paper – to change Queensland’s unicameral status at this very late stage.
Austin [4]:
Exactly. You have got right to the core of what’s been wrong in Queensland for decades. Good government is more than just adversarial punch-ups for spoilt little boys – somewhere along the way, you actually have to run an effective government – with wise beneficial policies and all that sort of boring stuff.
May 7th, 2008
Tony
Graham,
About 11-12 years actually. How the hell this lot remain in power is beyond me.
We are just finishing a boom in this state never before seen. Where cashflows and revenues over one year, were far greater than prevous governments received in their entire term.(Stamp Duty each year alone was more than the Bejelke Petersons entire term)
With all that boom we’ll be left with a $55 Billion Debt,(Costing Qld’ers $10million a day) not enough water storage, poor public transport and roads and only a foot bridge and a couple of football stadiums to show for it. Hmm must have spent it all on public health and education heh.
I think not. Something has to happen and it wont and never did come from the state liberals. Maybe a coalition with the nationals and some minors ?
whatever but the beattie bligh government just cannot remain.
Tony
May 8th, 2008
Don
Nature may abhor a vacuum but I think the conservatives in Queensland are going to be sucking for the foreseeable future.
May 8th, 2008
Pete from Perth
So often ads like this are being used to try to counter perceptions that have been uncovered in polls and focus groups.
Where his billboard’s presenting him as “The Future”, you can bet the polling suggests he’s seen to be a man of “The Past” ;-).
May 9th, 2008
Lorikeet
Tony: post #9
Well, where did the money go then?
We know very well where it DIDN’T go, but don’t forget we’ve had a huge influx of people from interstate and overseas.
Dentists, doctors and hospitals (both public and private) are maxed out with patients, trains and buses are overflowing with passengers despite extra services, and cars are parked all over the footpaths.
Trying to get to a bargain before other shoppers is becoming quite a challenge. Today I got the LAST pair of nice sneakers, probably because others were too lazy to trim off a bit of surplus material. If you’re willing to do a bit of minor fixing, and looking in unlikely places, there are still a couple of bargains to be had.
It would be interesting to know the current population of Brisbane’s burgeoning metropolis.
Pete from Perth:
I feel doubtful that Springborg even has a past worthy of mention. His name reminds me of Borbidge (BCC) – which reminds me of garbage – okay for local government, I suppose.
May 9th, 2008
Benjo
Um, anyone been to the north of this state lately? Get into state Parliament as soon as possible Andrew.
May 12th, 2008