On the Herald and Mr McGurk

When Kristina Keneally appeared in front of estimates committee this month, she said:

I am going to bell this cat … All this smoke is no evidence of fire. It is evidence only of a dry ice machine operated by a media outlet 

Well, when you bell the cat you expect to cop a swipe. And she got one. Two days later, the SMH in its lead editorial responded. Ironically, it claimed that her criticism of their coverage showed that she was not made of stern enough stuff. Given the editorial and the op ed piece they have devoted to reacting shrilly to her single comment in an estimates committee hearing, I think it is really the SMH that has the glass jaw.

In any case, the editorial went on to say of their coverage:

we are … printing stories we believe are true, and in the public interest. …We believe.. that the McGurk case raises serious questions, as it offers evidence of a network of … relationships, which is unhealthy for the future of democracy in this state. We believe that the case hints at a web of influence-peddling and deal-making between developers, lobbyists and government which relies upon the decisions of public officials, but which is conducted largely out of the public gaze, and to the public’s general detriment. … Labor has lost interest in serving the public and is interested only, as the McGurk case is showing, in serving itself.

These are strong and serious allegations. And they are deeply revealing. Because they lay out what it is that the Herald truly believes –the beliefs that have shaped the Herald’s coverage – rather than having been derived from their reporting. The Herald claims to believe that the McGurk case “offers evidence.” But it does no such thing, and despite their editorial claims, the SMH has not adduced any evidence of any government “relationships” with Mr McGurk, of any “influence peddling” involving the government, of any “deal making”, or of any self serving behaviour by the ALP in this case. Indeed these beliefs can only be sustained if you deliberately close your mind and your ears to alternative evidence – and indeed this is exactly what has happened in this case.

A Response to Elizabeth Farrelly

Our first post responds to a column that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald last Thursday by Elizabeth Farrelly. Her column commences by describing the world of pure bred dog breeding, which actively selects for unhealthy characteristics that are regarded as essential to the breed. She goes on to write:

Our repeated election of politicians we know to be defective similarly selects, over the years, for perfidy, cronyism and prioritisation of tribal ritual over public good…

Tribes that – like the NSW Right – demand that their members prioritise group values over those of the general populace are deeply, dangerously anti-democratic… This is how we get John Robertson, who once promised to “put D9s and chainsaws through Currawong if I want to” as Minister for the Environment, as well as Climate Change and Energy. It’s how Minister Keneally can approve a massive 188-berth marina (half as big again as the proposed Rose Bay marina) at Lake Macquarie, with five-storey residential units on bushland – proposed by Pitt Town developer Keith Johnson ($438,000 to the NSW ALP) and call it “a lively new foreshore precinct.”

There’s no law against Labor MPs filling their offices and departments with spouses, relatives and friends. It’s not illegal for the party to cultivate legions of the biddable who play musical chairs between departments, consultancies and ”independent” panels – then, when the Libs get in, dive underground like mudskippers awaiting rain. It’s not illegal, but it’s cosy, nepotistic and wrong. Wrong because it produces a private clubby atmosphere where party and personal interests coincide so emphatically as to obscure all else…

Let us put to one side the apparent fact that Ms Farrelly is so lacking in empathy that she cannot but impute bad faith to anyone who disagrees with her views. Let us also put to one side the fact that Ms Farrelly offers no evidence whatsoever for her charge that private interests are out ahead of public interest or for her paranoid claim of a deeply networked conspiracy. Let us finally ignore the delicious irony of the SMH labelling the NSW Right “in-bred” on the very day that the Fairfax family came blustering out of the conservatory, sherry glasses in hand, to re-assert their control of the family company.

Rather, let us consider the sheer improbability of the comparison of the NSW Right to a pure breed of dogs.

Welcome to ALP Right

Welcome to ALP Right – a blog established to defend and promote Australia’s greatest and most successful political tradition of the lat 50 years – the NSW Right.

We in the NSW ALP Centre Unity grouping – commonly referred to as the “NSW Right” – are a favourite whipping boy of both the Tory establishment and the broad left. While we would rather be getting on and doing than engaging in debate, some of us feel it is important to defend and promote our ideals, aims and agenda.

While this blog will unashamedly promote the perspective of the NSW Right, it will do so in line with our core commitment of loyalty to the broader party and the leadership. This will not be a venue for prosecuting internal debates within the NSW Right or the broader ALP. It is a venue for promoting our perspective on policy and politics and for defending the NSW Right against the many accusations that are launched at us.

We look forward to your comments and suggestions.