The previous Howard government, thrust into opposition, went into the worst case of denial imaginable and began imploding as leader Brendan Nelson failed to pull his troops together, failed to land a blow in question times – or any other times – and allowed the newly elected prime minister to go into full on Ruddspeak (why use 20 words when 100 will do) trumpeting what his government would do.
In those heady first days of government, after 10 years in the wilderness, some ministers were vulnerable – like opening batsmen. None more so than treasurer Wayne Swan, who was allowed to get through the first spell when the ball should have been swinging, except that the strike bowler Peter Costello had picked up his bat and gone home – to the back bench
Then along comes Malcolm Turnbull – my way or the highway. Clever, articulate and ambitious and determined to eventually come to an agreement with the government on an emissions trading scheme (ETS). This was too much for the far right of the opposition, forgetting that they went to the last election committed to addressing climate change.
Strutting PM
Meanwhile as the PM strutted the world stage intent on saving us from global warming and preparing for Copenhagen, the opposition deposed Malcolm and instead of the jocular, popular and initially reluctant Joe Hockey emerging to greet the media cameras, it was underdog Tony Abbott – albeit by one vote.
But sporting premierships are won by one point sometimes and it probably makes the victory sweeter. Finally the coalition decided it should show unity and loyalty as Abbott immediately went into questioning the government on everything and began exposing some ministerial deficiencies, helped immensely by the PM coming home from Copenhagen with the result the opposition predicted – no global agreement
More recently some of the grandiose schemes the government admits will take a decade to repay, are turning sour, and none more so than the $2bn home ceiling insulation program. The tragic deaths of four installers, and the speculation that the ceilings of 1000 of 48,000 homes treated could be electrically alive, has focused the media spotlight on a program that is being revealed as being totally ill prepared, put together in haste and devoid of scrutiny from industry safety concerns.
Insulation ban hurts
An immediate halt to the program whilst safety audits are conducted is understandable. But it is cold comfort for genuine installers like Peter Venn of Brisbane, whose company Silverline has been installing foil insulation for 23 years, without incident. He has had to lay off 25 staff. Master Electricians Australia says it warned the government of the dangers of installing foil insulation in older homes when only 20,000 homes had been fitted with it. Minister Garrett couldn’t survive this – could he?
Meanwhile Penny Wong enlightened us with the information that domesticated camels emitted less methane than wild ones. A well credentialed minister in charge of our destiny….
And then there is the “every school must have a hall or gymnasium” spendfest. There will be some embarrassing stories coming out of that program, such as 20 year old buildings being pulled down for new ones.
Then there is the back to the past industrial relations “reforms.” They are causing serious concerns for employers with the stronger and more militant unions flexing their muscles. The Maritime Union has won wages and allowances increases of up to $50,000, from shipping company Total Marine Services, for offshore oil and gas workers in WA. Couldn’t happen in the construction industry could it?
And so it goes on. The forthcoming election could be a lot closer than could ever have been envisaged just a few months ago. Totally self effacing and brutally honest about his capabilities Abbott is resonating with the punters….
Leighton posts 160% profit lift
It seems the Leighton juggernaut rolled through the global financial crisis, not dropping too many gears, to post a higher than expected $289m net profit for the six months to December 31 2009. Net profit for the full year is now expected to be in excess of $600m. Media reports show a bullish Wal King as you might expect. It’s an incredible story and one that just keeps getting bigger with King announcing aspirations to increase the company’s $38.4bn order book to $50bn in 5 years. If, as I suspect, governments have to look at creating new satellite cities to accommodate the population predictions of 35m by 2050, one could imagine Leighton being able to deliver the whole deal. It’s not as though it hasn’t been there. An awful lot of Canberra subdivisions were built by Leighton in its earlier years.
Through it’s acquisition of 44% of residential developer Devine, Leighton is eyeing off this sector of the industry, worth around $30bn. I have long expected Leighton to try to get into the traditional land development business, one dominated by a few major listed players, with construction being almost exclusively undertaken by private civil companies. It used to be that residential subdivision construction was almost tribal in the major cities. Contractors won and defended their patches with relationships built up with developers over long periods.
King also said that details of a new contract in Australia would be announced soon.
