On Tuesday 8 February – hardly a significant day in the calendar – John Barilaro, deputy premier and leader of the New South Wales Nationals (part of a conservative political party with its roots in rural and regional areas) was up against questioning by Greens Member of the Legislative Council David Shoebridge.
The subject was the use of funds allocated for projects to offset the negative impact of heavy bushfires last summer. Shoebridge was later shuffled onto the set at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s for display in the evening’s ‘7.30’ program (see photo).
He’s a tough adversary to have and his points were well taken by the community, many of whom sympathised with local government areas that missed out on allocations. Barilaro said that such submissions were eliminated from competition due to not meeting various elements of the guidelines set by the state government.
But his words had a hollow sound. Gladys Berejiklian – the state premier – faced similar accusations put by counsel at Independent Commission Against Corruption hearings last year. The Liberal-National coalition seem, despite their clean sheen, to have some form.
There’s plenty of time left before the state election due in early 2023 – a date that is impossibly far into the distance in political terms – with opinion polls promising to roll in, regular as clockwork, providing fodder for the outrage machine.
Berejiklian will be hoping that the chimes ring smooth but would’ve taken heart from the tenor of today’s public discussion as the Nationals’ refusing to endorse a net-zero target (by 2050) in terms of CO2 emissions pushed NSW’s embattled deputy premier out of the limelight.
“Embattled” is a media word. It’s not real.
But Matt Canavan – a Nationals senator from Queensland – butting into the public sphere with his stubborn ideas about carbon and such messy details seemed to have been scripted. For a while there it looked likely that the bushfire allocation thing would resurface but it wasn’t to be.
Comments