24 Jul 04

Congratulations Karlene Maywald

I read today that South Australia’s only state National Party MP, Karlene Maywald, has been appointed a Minister in the Rann Labor Government, effectively ensuring a clear Labor majority in the Lower House.

The state Liberals are whining and the federal Nationals are suffering palpitations. The SA Nationals have been suspended from the federal organisation until after the election.

I can understand the federal Nationals being anxious, because John Anderson has about as much vision as a blind dog in the dark.

Maywald’s decision took courage, and my guess is it will be well received in her electorate. She’s going to be the Minister for Regional Development and the Murray River. In explaining herself she said:

“This job I’m taking on here is about the River Murray, it’s about being able to do the best job I can for my constituency. The River Murray is what is important to them, politics isn’t, they don’t care about Liberal and Labor and all the game playing.”

For the National Party to be relevant anywhere in Australia it needs to be a political deal maker. Only in Queensland can the Nationals ever expect to win more seats than the Liberals.

In most circumstances, the Nationals will find themselves ideologically aligned to the Liberal Party and form Coalitions when required. Sometimes though it’s worth shaking the Liberals’ complacency, or placing a brake on their excesses.

One way to achieve that is to make an occasional deal with Labor. The circumstances in South Australia were right for Maywald to do that. Rann was leading a minority government and was prepared to make concessions to secure his position.

The previous situation in Victoria, where a Coalition existed without the Nationals holding the balance of power, began a slow decay for the party in this state.

I admired Peter Ryan’s effort to turn things around at the last state election, and he’s certainly blazed an independent trail. Arguably though he could have been more conciliatory towards the Bracks Government in its first term, when the government enjoyed high goodwill in country areas.

Maywald showed a lot of guts in making her decision. Good luck to her.

These articles might be of interest:

• Vale the Nationals
• Vale John Anderson?
• National Party review

Tags: politics

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