ON THE WALLABY- 4th December 2006

“The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The Baghdad communiqués are belated, insincere and incomplete. Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows. It is a disgrace to our Imperial record, and may soon be too inflamed for any ordinary cure. We are today not far from a disaster”- Lawrence of Arabia in a letter to The Sunday Times, August 1920.

I have often mentioned in these OTW’s the thoughts and actions of Colonel T.E.Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and when I came across this quote which, as you can see, was written 74 years ago by a man who knew the Arab psyche and territory better than anyone of his time , I wonder at the paucity of knowledge amongst today’s Western world leaders and the enormous cost that it has, and will continue, to cost us.

Lawrence’s Mesopotamia (the Iraq of today) ended up being an absolute shambles for the British (just as Afghanistan did like wise for them as well as the Russians and countless invaders in the centuries prior) and yet today, night after night, we look at the carnage of that war and we appear to have learned nought from history.

And history will also be playing on the mind of Australia’s latest (as of this morning) political leader in Kevin Rudd, who, along with the very talented Julia Gillard, became the latest Parliamentary Leader and Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party and hence Leader of the Opposition.

Mr Rudd, who’s beginnings were certainly humble (and very sad in that his father died when he was a youngster, they were evicted from the family farm and he hauled himself up the ladder of life through effort and opportunity) and it is to is credit that he has never played on the hearts strings of the Australian population to enhance his political rise.

Question is - Is he to be the Rudd-er that can turn the Labor ship to a win at the next election or will he join a growing list of men who have tried to wheel Howard & Co but have become political shipwrecks?

In my view, what he does with his new front bench will be his litmus test.

If he selects on a factional basis, as has been the way over past generations, he will have shackled himself before he even gets out of the gates.

If, however, he calls the Party hacks bluff and selects people of talent (e.g. Craig Emmerson, Lindsay Tanner, Tony Burke, Kelvin Thompson) then he is in with a show.

It will be interesting to see which portfolio Julia Gillard chooses.

Judging by today’s Question Time in parliament, Treasurer Peter Costello believes she will be shadow Treasurer although my line of thought is that given her very strong legal background, and Attorney General Phillip Ruddock’s record, she would be far more use to Labor trying to punch holes in his considerable ego and leaving Treasury matters to Lindsay Tanner.

I have my major doubts that by election time, the union backed ( and therefore Labor) opposition to the industrial relations package of the Government will give Labor the runs they think it will.

In an observation of ordinary Australian’s day after day as an auctioneer, I think the majority of working Australian’s nowadays are looking after themselves and many are happy indeed to trade off extra holidays etc for extra pay, much to the chagrin of the ACTU.

Interestingly enough, Kevin Rudd’s wife, Therese Rein, is no slouch in “real world economics”, being the founder and Managing Director of the employment group Ingeus which, since she single handedly founded it in 1989, has grown to 61 offices in Australia and Britain and some 800 employees.

I would imagine there are some interesting conversations around the Rudd breakfast table on economics and real world, as against dinosaur era union era view, business!

There is also no doubt at all that the Government will utilise ACTU Secretary Greg Combe’s gaff when he commented at a function that “he wished the unions ran the game like they did in the past”. Methinks the ad for THAT blue is already in the can!

Hopefully Messrs Rudd and Co can give the government a real run for their money. If they can, Australia will be the winner.

Carpe diem

Tony

Tony Fountain

Professional Speaker, auctioneer and author

Sydney NSW Australia

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