The Reign Had To End

“Howards End: The Unravelling Of A Government”

By Peter Van Onselen and Philip Senior

It is a marvellous thing to look back using hindsight on the political landscape. Especially now that the man who, as the subtitle suggests, unravelled a govt, has himself since been sent packing by the people that got him the top job in the first place.

With hindsight perhaps we should have seen it coming. Yet as a nation the people wanted change so much that a multitude of personal weaknesses in Rudd were overlooked. The sentiment was strong, was it a good enough reason to oust a strong, capable government? The last three years have gone some way to answer that question. Still, depending one your philosophy the question will be debated for a long time.

So much more happens in an election campaign than we will ever know. A multitude of factors contributed to the events of 2007.

Firstly there was the strong sentiment for change for the sake of changing. Add to that an unknown entity in Kevin Rudd who despite his nerdy and awkward demeanour managed to capture the attention of a nation. He played heavily on the desire for change while gaining some profile on channel 7’s popular morning program, Sunrise.

On the other side of the coin was an over confident government that didn’t see Rudd coming, who did? They were rarely able to set the agenda and were playing catch up most of the time. Any thought of succussion planning or generational change came too late. This didn’t help counter the strong public sentiment for change.

Rudd had cleverly neutralised most issues through what was called “me tooism”. The government tried to inform the public that there is no point of distinction between then and the opposition. But they didn’t care.

The opposition had a distinct advantage in the issue of workchoices. The union campaign was very successful in scaring the public that the world will end if workchoices were allowed to continue. Admittedly the legislation went a tad too far but was nowhere near as bad as the unions would want you to believe. There were in fact some very good and well-needed aspects of the legislation. But once again, it didn’t matter, the government had no chance to counter the well-funded union machine once it had gained ascendancy.

It is ironic to read this book three years after the events. In particular to read quotes that resonated with the public back then. Such as examples on how committed the Rudd government was to being fiscally responsible. He even bagged out Howard for what he considered “reckless spending”. Yes, ironic.

Think of the Children

Childcare has made its way back into the media spotlight recently. This is mainly due to government legislation dictating certain qualifications for staff and specific ratios of children to staff. These changes naturally result in increasing costs for service providers. Costs that will be passed on to parents, and you can’t blame them for doing that.

So with that begins what can feel like and endless cavalcade of sob stories from parents who proclaim they cant afford such expensive childcare. The sob story is only part of the big picture though, you never get told the rest. It would be interesting to inquire the parents’ rationale for requiring full time childcare.

Even if the reasons were purely financial, what has led to the circumstances that required two incomes? We don’t hear about this from the media. They could be very genuine and doing it tough. Or conversely they could be merely overextended because they wanted the house in the suburb that was extending beyond what was realistically attainable.

Whatever the reason, as a nation we forget that children are a blessing. They should be treated as such, however they continually get treated as commodities with their upbringing pawned off to the cheapest tender.

From the government’s point of view it is all short term thinking, in the name of productivity. They want to get the highly skilled women back into the workforce as soon as possible. This is all well and good but what about the children who now have two limited or non-existent parents. Their most formative years spent with someone very qualified yet not their parent.

Of course it is difficult to make ends meet on one income. But perhaps we all just need to be content with not having it all.

The New Sherlock

Sherlock Holmes, the character made popular by the genius writing of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, has now been reinvigorated. Imagine the same eccentric character placed in modern day London and you have the clever crime thriller aptly titled “Sherlock”.

This show definitely does the character justice in how it portrays Sherlock’s obsession for detail. The finer details that no one with a normal mind is able to see.

Brilliant casting as well for not just Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) but his bland offsider, Dr John Watson (Martin Freeman). Even his landlord, Mrs Hudson (Una Stubbs) steals the odd scene.

Truly a brilliant show!!

It’s a shame though that they could only make three 2-hour episodes for the first season. Although even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle found it difficult to maintain the genius. The ending of the first season has me hanging out for season two.

No Ordinary Coach

“Quiet Strength”
by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker

I assume that most in Australia would have heard of Tony Dungy. He is well worth knowing, especially for men interested in sports.

Tony Dungy was a professional athlete but is better known for his success as a coach in America’s National Football League (NFL) with Tampa Bay and Indianapolis.

He’s more than just a coach. In his book Tony celebrates his Christian faith, being a father to five children, a husband to one wife and his mentoring of his players, colleagues and friends. He created a culture that was rare in the NFL, one that a lot of people thought could not win the coveted Super bowl.

Tony was different. He enjoyed success but wasn’t driven by it in the same way others were. He promoted family time with players and coaches as a healthy balance between life and work. He encouraged all to get involved in community events as he accepted that a town’s sports team should be part of the community.

A novel idea that ultimately brought success with the Indianapolis Colts after almost making it all the way with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Proof that doing things differently can work.

I enjoyed this book as I grew up playing football, having to deal with a culture focused on boozing, shagging and swearing. I loved the game but the culture at times was especially hard to deal with. Tony Dungy shows that there is a different way, in fact a better way.

Mouth Or Marvel

“Open Season”
by Jason Akermanis with Gary Smart

Jason Akermanis is a sensational footballer that speaks his mind. He is as honest as they come, sometimes too honest. His tongue has proved indeed powerful and his words have come back to bite on multiple occasions. Whether it’s justified for him to have been sacked by two different clubs for his comments to the media is up for debate.

Seriously, I don’t think his sackings were justified. He did make mistakes and he openly admits that in this book. But at the end of the day he is a character that seems sorely lacking in a competition that seems to have become a sausage factory churning out the same homogenous product.

So now unbound by any contractual obligations to a football club, Akermanis is once again speaking his mind. Not for the last time I suspect. He opens up about his latest dramas with the Western Bulldogs regarding a particular newspaper column that ultimately ended his career. It gets quite personal but possibly not as much as the media hype suggested.

A worthy read for all footy fans.