Mood:
rushedTopic: nsw govt
There's an old tactic in Big Politics: If you have a road block - for example the ALP Left/Union alliance against a $15 billion energy industry privatisation - then throw in some dynamite to smash the logs in the way.
More background on the sale politic dynamic here via the major press, Herald first:
THE historic sale of NSW's power assets will raise as much as $15 billion and help pay for a "new vision" for urban transport, a European-style metro rail line, better country roads and improved water management.
[and in the Daily Telegraph here]
Editorial: Iemma plugs in to the positives
Unions vow to fight electricity sell-off
THE New South Wales Government may have a fight on its hands as it moves to sell off state-owned electricity retailers and lease its generators in a move worth up to $25bn.
MORRIS Iemma has staked his leadership on a $25 billion power sell-off, but the coup was on the verge of collapse last night after a Michael Costa blunder.
In political terms a barrel of dynamite on the Left wingers in caucus, a real disaggregator, would have been the 20 year old 'Koperberg affidavit'.
Just imagine the damage it would do - targeting a prominent strongly performing ALP Left MP, indeed a potential rival for the premiership or deputy premiership - in a serious spill over an unpopular $15-25B sell off, and corroding the very will to fight given the notorious energy and morale sapping topic of gender politics, let alone one of the worst in that bracket being domestic violence. A perfect entre to the Right charging the ramparts of the Left in caucus to drive the power sell off vote through. Extremely disruptive but a fair price to pay for the political payoff in the minds of the ruthless Right?
The Koperberg affidavit has been released after the Rudd ALP was safely in place federally in govt so no collateral damage to worry about there. This timing virtually guarantees it was from the ALP side of politics in NSW.
Now Mike Kaiser very conveniently has bailed out to Qld as of the Big media late last week, if you listened carefully. Did he do the dirty deed? Now Kaiser is seeking a much safer port, possibly delivering the holy grail to his boss Iemma, and thus justifying anything he might want back up in Qld in the ALP Right coterie, not least a Brisbane based Rudd machine (or as they say officially 'working for new Qld Premier Bligh')?
It all fits, in a very Camora, Italian, Machiavelian, dare we say Iemma 'what ever it takes' style. (Always remembering we are 1/8 multicultural that way too.) There is motive and means and the only thing missing is evidence of which we don't have any to back this speculative theory.
But we like the balance and proportion of the suggestion. If it didn't happen that way we would be 'disappointed' in the ALP Right. Nor do we really expect to have evidence because Carr as a practised exponent was most fond of the "no fingerprints" principle just like Eric 'best machine is a silent machine' Roozendaal.
