The elevation of Peter Slipper to the position of speaker of The House is another sign of moral and political decay under the Gillard government. It is grubby politics at its worst. Here we have a Liberal with an appalling record of dirty, dishonest and shonky dealings, someone who was to have his preselection removed and who will - in all possibility - be facing serious charges in the not too distant future - being elevated to the third highest position in Australia after the Governor-General and the Prime Minister. The government's claim that Harry Jenkins resigned unexpectedly on the morning of the last sitting day of the year is laughable. Factional leader Graham Richardson said on Channel Seven that Labor had been working behind the scenes for months to bring this about. Even Harry Jenkins himself has admitted he was executed by giving a throat-cutting gesture to the cameras as he took his position on the back bench.
We all know why Gillard and Labor lobbied so hard for Slipper to get the job and why the previous Speaker Harry Jenkins was executed so ruthlessly. Gillard and Labor now have an extra vote in the House and the government has been able to step back from the abyss ever so slightly. One heart beat away from losing government is now two. As such the Gillard government will now go its full term until late 2013.
There is one bit of good news to come out of this. Andrew Wilkie and the other independents are now dead. The roosters have become feather dusters. Wilkie's poker machine reforms can now be safely dropped without any threats to the government's survival. Wilkie looked a forlorn and pathetic figure as he sobbed to the media saying the government should not burn the independents "because they might need us". No they don't. The government doesn't need them at all. Nevertheless it was disturbing to hear Gillard say that the government was committed to the poker machine reforms. She should listen to her MPs in marginal seats in NSW and Qld. The pokie reforms are electoral poison in the two biggest states and if they are implimented Labor will be annihilated at the next election in those two states alone.
The elevation of Peter Slipper is the latest in the catalog of shame for the Gillard government. We shouldn't really be surprised that it has come to this. It will be a long and hard road until we finally get our say at the ballot box.
