Neil Holm

Dear Leader! Sounds like North Korea, doesn’t it?  But I used the term ”Dear Leader” deliberately in a message to the Leader of the Opposition, Brendan Nelson, to remind him that he has an amazing opportunity to offer the kind of leadership that Australia needs in these challenging times. 
We face many challenges that include the environment, indigenous affairs, inflation, turbulent international finance issues, and Commonwealth-State relations. 

I sense that Kevin Rudd is trying to offer a new form of leadership: some elements of bi-partisanship,treating the pubic service with the respect it deserves, trying for a more inclusive style of government. 
His attempt to make Fridays a “peoples” day, a backbenchers day, a day when parliament is not dominated by the “celebrity” ministers, may be misguided but at least it is an attempt to bring fresh ideas to parliament, trying to return parliament to the people.

For too long the House has not been the house of the people.  It has been the house of the celebrities, of the starring, sparring ministers and shadow ministers, who perform and put on an act that too often amounts to no more than bluster, hot air, obfuscation, and at times, lies.  We have had lousy government on both sides of the house.

Kevin Rudd may or may not be genuine in what he is trying to do but at least he appears to be trying to do a new thing.  Unfortunately Mr Nelson’s side seems locked in the “old thing” — and recent Friday debacle was the perfect example.  What a farce!  How shameful!  

The Liberal party is often portrayed as the party of business and commerce.  If the Opposition was a company the shareholders would be selling off in panic because the executives had been seen to be totally irresponsible.  Instead of working together to turn the company around these “executives” spent a whole day fooling around, laughing at the competitors, giving an image that this company is a run by a cadre of careless, inattentive, irrational show-offs.

I urged Mr Nelson to exercise some leadership, to convince his team that “it is not all about them” — it is about us as a nation.  We all deserve more than that team is giving.