The Lateral Party

How Hard is it for the Conservatives to win in 2010?

2010-07-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

How hard is it for the Conservatives to win in 2010 if they just focus on the nanny state of Labor politics in practice.

Nearly everyone in the electoarte is exposed to the simplistic nanny nonsense in some way.
So it should not be hard - so why are the conservatives so weak in talking about government weakness? The reality is the conservatives have their blind spots too and that means they too don't know quite why things go wrong either - like why they never created smaller government when they talk about all the time ! !

It shouldn't be too hard for the conservatives, but the libs too have lost their way . The Libs haven't yet worked out that IT WAS their stupid simplistic idea idea of handing government business to business thats behind the biggest fiascos in goverenmet are now before us/ still to come.Sure Labor would be the worst managers of this idea but they didn't get the idea from their own history ( showing their own wet behind the ears vulnerability to "innoovators " in the ideas departments ).
There was a time when both parties believed in the team - now they have accountants and consultants to share their passions with over lunch . The silly dummies on both parties are singing from the same stupid and simplistic song sheet- business knows best
When it comes to planning the complex demands of the people , business doesn't know best - knows best how to complete a contract, not which contract when and where.
The drip feed of open contracts run by accountants on one end and people who don't know what they want on the other is what is Brumby's legacy; Fad driven -at best T
The libs have yet to realise, it seems, that you don't get smaller goverenment by handing over responsibility to business. You do infact get more PS's, and paid more , cause they are now manageing budgets they could only dream of managing in the decades before ( and lots more chairs for the empire group to grow into) . Not professional PServants but a blocking form of bureau full of number crunchers .( look how you pay them you parliamentry dummies!- its a wonder you have any competent people working for you when you pay the number crunchers a lot more than you pay professionals ! )
And should any business let the accountants run it? ( only govt can afford to do this and how long?). The answer is obviuos, The Mikey fiacso (this high tech non solution contrasted with the failure to invest in sustainable transport investment where the technology is not real new ....and therefore ignored ? ) would be only one of many that will be there for all to see one day .

For the sake of our children and really good jobs ( not the nit picking bookeeping bullsh and PC yes men that characterize the current bureaubrats) I mean there is probably is or was a government computer group ( maybe a few years ago now) - not accountants and CEO's who could have contracted a better ticketing system that the blokes who should be sacked over their high minded business focused approach.
The business led approach of Brumbies G will only run the country dry. ( you heard it first on Blogger)
What a disgrace that a plan for improving rail ( the most cost effective investment any Vic govt could make and our forefathers did ten time s better and more sustain-ably ) only comes when a crisis comes. they've sold the trains concentrated on fads in transport and their glory is in the number of buses ( least appropriate form of transport ) and a few token bikes they have managed to get running in the most public place they can find .

When to worry

2009-08-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

Less so now there is BLOGGER !.
But no so those who don't BLOG.
Wannabes often go off half cocked. Feine and Mitchell may be going off in slightly different ways but half cocked would be right .
After a few years in office the wannabes confidants have cloned or cleared out the dissenting voices so that the court can just be full of jesters and religious types ( sure of themselves and their rightness)
Fortunately with blogging now, the Emperor doesn't need to rely totally on their advice and he can do what the floor of parliament tells him to do -for hs own and the people's security .

This week Brumby could easily be confused about what to do to prevent more loss of life in bushfires- he could think shelters: he could think single fire service .
He could also simply tell the truth and prove that the children are not in charge .
If he can't do that , he could at least recognise what sound firefighters know - that people who choose to be anywhere near bush on TFD are kidding themselves and implement/ legislate 6.2 (in a form that is not nearly as woosy as it is suggested by the lawyesr driving the ship).
He could also tell that army of nit picking bureaucarcies that have been blatantly belingeraant about every piece of branch managemnet for decades that ITS time for them to stopwoorying about a few trees near buildings and go find a decent job.

The safest place for any poly is with the facts . Stop ignoring them

Beware of false categories - left and right

2009-08-16T19:08:00.000-07:00

Love or hate em stuff is still the plaything of the wannabes - such simple games amongst the educated or those in church suggests they are NOT thinking very deeply .

Industry is not a god to be hated or loved . Yet except for a few minpor exceptions like the ETS campaigns ads Like(targeting the evils of transport livestock and energy INDUSTRies) both labor and liberal in Australai love em.
This is not good for balance .
Like Emperors Julian's attempt to revive the stone gods of great things of the past - the imperfect vessels are doomed to be broken under the light of a greater and wider reality .
The problem seems to be that neither party seems to want to admit their simple and destined for failure faith connections here.

With believers in the god of "industry led everything" now leading both camps, any new assocaitions are likely to come acrooss as "very odd". You heard it first on blogger.

Lateral thinking on Bullying

2009-07-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

Its not quite true that "noone has an answer to bullying" as the psychologist on 774 admitted yesterday. Maybe we legitimize bullying , in a sense , but won't admit to it when we hear of it beyond ourselves - in the playground ? A problem with perspective and projection? The squashing of this option is handicapping "the debate"( herenamed as the reactionaries agenda)

In a strange merry go round of empirical ideas around this subject over the past 2days, 774 yesterday, the topic kept coming up in various forms - mentoring models ,behavioural modification, tricky people ( Andrew Fuller)and tricky kids.But rather than linking things as the ABC could have been doing and , as often happens when we listen to the Greeks, it goes around in circles without finding a centre. is it because ,at ABCchurch ,a centrepiece is sacralege and the line, always a line , uphill into the clouds , is nirvana.
The confusion was so obviuos ,because there was so much good talking and thinking.( but no linking )

Andrew ( after the psychco talk) was so clearly saying that kids need a way of overcoming the natural tendency to bag things - How was that for an answer !!!. he found one ! But it wasn't percieved as an answer on the program - which was mainly about his role in a new TV program .
Later on in the arvo the Tricky Talk is evidenec that we are all infected with versions of the same agression to gain power over others .But did we admit it?. I don't behave like the sneaky tricky ........etc and as for aggression -. That's only thems that aren't listeneing to the CD available with The Age on saturdays.

We may recognise that phycologists are unable to help us, but we still defer to them over the old remedy of going to church on Sunday . Impossibly greek !

I was teaching some third graders about Jesus's call to "love your enemies" a few weeks ago and one boy pipes up - eh "They can't stand it for too long --that's that the answer to bullying" !I could hear myself saying " Impossible " when i was preparing the lesson, so his unexpeceted comment was a shocking reminder of how little faith we have.

It is possible ! Jesus turns out to be the real revolutionary - far and away ahead of even our best and most effectively cloned psychology .

Constant Name Review - Constant game review

2009-06-15T14:49:00.000-07:00

This name well symbolised the highly destabilising of effective governance of the environment in Victoria for the past 20years ( Department of Conservation and Natural Resources CNR ). What was once a World leading edge integration of planning and rural infrastructure is a complete cot case . DOPI and DOSE ; the divorce is complete and we are back to them Vs us .
Let me suggest that after so many name changes any professional cutting edge focus in those departmnets could be expected to be completely subject to the whims of the day- You don't believe me test to see if any mentoring of the original sciences and arts is left in a professional form - that the bigest threat to environmental planning is its obfuscation cost - its nearly broken the Tasmanian government via Launceston .

Politicians may have got what they wanted ( not really its governance by the silly marginal indecisives ) but has the public got what they needed - objectivity and balance ? You be the judge
So what advantages are there in changing the name? As Yes Minister so well demonstrated " Ministers get reshuffled , so why not cabinet secretaries and their portfolios - why should departments be exempt. the 64 question .
I say permanence is well worth preserving because a strong public service is needed to curb the wind driven politics of change for changes sake . The huge wastage in public service focus resulting from the "government is business" saga (with its change everything often CEO masthead is a clear example. The libs have played their part in the nonsense - yet as we all know, the environment should be bigger than politics!

"Circulation is castration. Permanence is Power" The departmnet secretary said to sirH . Many times in the last 20 years I wonder if Anthony Jay should have let that simple secret, of all the simple things that polys can latch onto, out -

No time here to discuss it further -except to say that the choice was there and made and remade -and must be restored; Otherwise we castrate SirH completely. As someone more intelligent and experinced than all of us once said " while he is a great brick he is the best brick of all those that have been tried " .You want to be smarter than him and the hard lesson that it is for most polys?
Permanent public servants have some chance of making politics work on the ground .
If we don't use its staying power, we just have politicians and parties cloning themselves and alienating themsleves from people who used to be able to warn them that their clothes , rather than their conversation , is a matter for ridicule rather than respect.
In a consumer society - what costs the earth and doesn't work, gets' thrown out
we cannot afford that . Copyright EA june2009

Who has the bigger claim on knowledge?

2008-02-15T12:26:00.000-08:00

Even if you have no so called "faith" , its no help to deny its role in western thought and practice for hundreds of years . If the pure rationalists or if you prefer secularists are to make any headway, they need to demonstrate the force of their ideas, not just their faith in mere power - the hope of the great secular state hasn't [produced much good fruit eve in the last 100 years!

Former State President of the NSW Liberals has helped Liberals regain some credibility about big picture politics this week by reminding Aussies of the basics of our particular freedom and the 'liberal' tradition as it has hit the road here.

Too many wannabes of the recent past and many in media church are determined to deny young people access to these ideas .
The push for even more secular education in public schools will drive even more people of intellect away from them . Diversity is the price of freedom and intellectual openess; both for those who want to close the mind down, or open it up.
we can chose the boundaries, but others may disgree with us about just how far out we are prepared to set them !

"Australia is not a secular country — it is a free country," Hon Scott Morrison
"This is a nation where you have the freedom to follow any belief system you choose. Secularism is just one. It has no greater claim than any other on our society.

"As US senator Joe Lieberman said, the constitution guarantees freedom of religion, not from religion."

Skin deep

2007-11-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

Nothing is more disturbing to true democrats than apathy - you see it on the hustings and all of us who are there say "Please please... vote and think" ( The last thing any one of us we really don't want you to say is " blow the lot of you " )We all hate it when a donkey , and anti authoritarian or a breathing stone walks past . But its happening more and more .
The greens , while often having their hearts in the right place , capture part of this anti-authoritarian and reactionary mood by placing themselves apart.
Worse still, it seems , the Dem and labour can't distance themselves from the blatant reactionaries and antiauthoritarian message elements -Do they too prefer simplicity to practicality - if politics is not practical and building on the past -- its useless ( Their preferences go to greens with predictable monotony )

Playing up to skin deep amongst those who would rather not think or vote is treacherous territory . The Democrats show their ignorance of the vast majority of country people's common sense by choosing to go with the greens on all fronts - no diversity , no depth . Short term gain should be seen as short and shallow look-
The simple birdbath is very attractive,and you get a good splash effect, but there is nowhere to go once you get there.

The established opposition parties seem to think that simpleness is next to godliness -- the winning margin compromise that gets you over the line .But Does the labor party know what it stands for once it has got power this way ???? I hope they get clear message from Australians that they are not as stupid as the superficial margins may suggest.

Shakespeare ( Richard 3) got it right about when and why people really listen .
Seeking the superficial won't help Labor improve its credibility on environment in the country either.
What I can't work out is why the Democrats want to ride the greens ticket into oblivion ( Chipp would have none of this seeking after shallow stuffing stuff). Even Labor think they are going to win long term by backing the greens - great ideas, but no practical sound sense. It does labor no good to be so predictably reactionary .
If Labor took the liberals on credibly about the environment and stopped mimicking the greens and the wannabes --they could win votes in the country - where it really matters .

Labor could win on its own ( in key regions) if only its environ policy was more than skin deep . As it did in Qld in the early part of last century . If Labor wins on green preferences this year it will only be because the city is growing in influence and superficiality on tough complex earthcare matters is more satisfying for many, than substance.

As the dumb Kyoto call says so well - Thge big need is " something" that govts "should do" ... What????? so ...we we can just " " do what we BW like" .

2007 will be the year to see whether the breathing stones will say a word in the greens defense: clever 07 or coveritallupwithgovtshoulddosomethingcrap 07. 2007, now the people have some new antireactionary choices , could prove to be an election to show whether the greens are more than skin deep and are truly seen to be so.

They said not a word

2007-11-22T03:28:00.000-08:00

No party more needs to take a lateral look at itself than the liberals; they are living in the past and failing to recognise the hypocrisy of talking small government while for 11 years they help create the huge bureautcratic burden across Australia that outstrips anything Australia has ever seen before.
Its the liberals lack of intellectual rigor that has driven this still monsterous paradox of policy and project madness that alienates public good driven professionals.
2007 will go down in Australia's history ( whoever wins the federal electionin 2 days)as a time when liberals risked their future on compromises they should never have made- On uneccsary compromises to their calling . On being diverted from the sound goal of good and efficient governance .

Howard should never have promised to play grandmother and father Christmas to the states and territories, but its a habit his govt can't see the cracks in . Cabinet should have been encouraging a stouter form of discipline than the states impose on themselves- intellectual rigor on sound public service expenditure .
While its not readily discuused even now , the libs had 11 years to prove their contention that they were about smaller government They have taken their heartland for granted and confused themselves about just HOW liberalism should work.

Never before have they thrown so much money at programs and projects that exist only on paper.And they are doing it right up until election eve.

The labour party too are unaware of the reaction they will get by setting their sights in policy on paper. The huge biased advertising budgets taken by the big boys is an obscenity in a country that still dares to call itself democratic .

.

Richard 3 thought his campaign was going down well. The speech from Buckingham was overwhelming, emotional and punchy .

Like dumb statues or breathing stones
They star'd at each other with deathly pale faces

We expect more - we have heard nothing but a lot of very expensive noise from a battlefield between 2 rivals who treat us like spolit children ( esp libs ) and refuse to allow anyone to speak the truth and break the silence on the wasted words .

Lets hope the small voices, who don't get their paper and posturing paid for - get some sort of hearing -----post this election

A suggestion for MR Howard

2007-08-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

Admit the possibility that your Party have been too long in the comfort zone. You might have gone to the right schools , but you scotched the bit that says in the balence between law and gospel ---that the law isn't everything.
And don't just talk repentance. introduce some reviews to look into State function before you bring down the house with laughter at Canberra's ability to manage the local issues better . Desperation and fanaticism loom too much alike to be easily disguished ( copyright EA)

Victorian Election - feeding the frenzy

2006-11-21T05:09:00.000-08:00

Don't you wish someone would get up and speak the truth ---- that we are run by meddling bureaubrats and weak leaders . No wonder thinking Victorians are in a bad mood this election - the game is too much run by and for children and families with poor parenting practices !Prepared to give in and give away everything .

Drive a wedge between the enormous cracks

2006-11-05T18:48:00.000-08:00

The State election is coming . One shudders to think how ineffective the opposition is when the cracks are as obvious as Bracks's smile is in the papers who love him. The public have nothing to fear from any newcomers who at least can see those cracks - vote for them !

The CEO of the future

2006-07-03T05:13:00.000-07:00

The Australian government has no choice - it will one day have to abandon its wasteful play with the chief tenets of business knows best .Its a matter of time and also amount of waste .
hopefully it won't be as long a time or as scostly to our children as it took ke Russians to realise the same modern imbalance spells modern day disaster .

Brian postel is the CEO of the future . A hospital chief who realises accountability is not something you learn from accountants !

he said "if you have concerns doing nothing is not good enough"
It will take time before anyone talks again .

Avoiding problems common to the major parties

2006-01-18T15:00:00.000-08:00

Premiers Kennett and Gallop’s awareness of a very common risk with sword bearers is a beacon of hope for the country.

Depression can be nature's way of reminding us we have been heading up the creek without a paddle, up a blind alley with no way out but by recognizing the sign on the way in .The direction is fine, but distractions occur . Our leaders need to find that sign -both major parties are on the same road, singing the same silly tune that leads to depression. Cul de sac ideas like ;that efficiency leads like a beacon to effectiveness ; That industry knows best ;That what the people want is what they need.
Many leaders are in denial about whether they believe in goverenmnet at all, and that depresses those of us in the system, who do . They think they can rid the world of “ Big Nanny” . But without Nanny there is no way to deal with public governance’s biggest problem - its actual ability to be proactive in the long term interest of ' the family' , not the petty , noisy interests, or even other important noises in the household . With all the noise, coming from all directions, leaders need to know who to listen to and whose watching more carefully to what's really happening. Listen to everyone, but listen more to the voice of experience and observation of those who can stand back from the household – walking in and out from time to time . Those with the skills of observation beyond the clean cut four walls of one industry, one household, to the big picture from outside. Government is necessary, but big government can seem just like a big nuisance. Careless jabbing and jousting, like infighting, will not, however, cut it where it counts.
The big nanny will not go away. Getting the right kind of nanny is the issue, not this otherworldly nonsense about getting rid of her and the sustainable perspective she alone can bring to the situation . We need nanny’s who know , from being outside , where to cut where it counts !

Depression NOW is very common in the public service because many leadership groups have lost sight of how to be effective, but don't want to admit it. If affects both parties (Ask Mark Latham ), and that’s the key - both parties have got some serious blind spot about how to make government more efficient. Depression gets to the sword carrier after the last deaths don't make the needed difference ( see Lawrence of Arabia ) just as fickleness is the feature experienced at the battleground level by the troops when enthusiasm fails to sustain what experience used to obtain.
George Santayana knew this issue well and its relationship to the fanaticism and fickleness we see all around us. Getting to goals is like in winning in Tennis. Depends largely on how much practice and experience you have and how much you know and respect the limits of the territory -- not a matter of changing direction all the time, rather knowing what long term interest is. its risk boundaries and sticking at winning within them . .
The way out of this unnecessary nonsense involves working with the enemy in practical and sustainable ways; Getting involved at the ground level. Respect those who train and put the hard yards in and resist the flighty quick fixers and change everything often mangers now common in the court. Leaders of both parties, for example, have convinced themselves that blind competition and change is progress policies are the very swords that will cut kindly and cleanly through bureaucracies belligerence; something that is simply part of their nature. Too many leaders deny the demons they must work with and like the innocent Don Quixote, think a mere sword will kill them . Such leaders are not realistic and are heading for depression.
Much good mental health will be restored across Australia when our Don Quixote’s accept reality rather than deny it. You don't rid the world of bureaucratic belligerence - you work with it. You don’t listen just to one voice, but seek out the small one.
Churchill’s famous quote about democracies choices points to clearly to the acceptance of the reality of inefficiency in them. Now there's a realist and an effective leader. If we all model yourselves on him, much of our current depression will disappear.

Like NANNY MCPHEE, what’s looks all bad at first , may well look a lot better when you accept the critical need for her experience and wisdom. The longer view of those well educated and experienced hands on housekeeping servants who can see through the noise ; not denying any members voice or , those with a legitimately short term view, but more able to see how we can keep the diverse economia we call home together .

Is the left finished ?

2005-08-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

Are the ageing lefties moving right or is it my imagination?
What does the move say about the futute of debate in Australia . I haven't seen a good debate on The ABC for decades which seems to highlight the closet nature of the left in the new millenuem. Good on you Brocke and SBS PublicFan