The NSW Liberals are the perennial B team of Australian politics. Since the emergence of the current two-party system, they (and their UAP/Nationalist) predecessors have held office only when incumbent Labor governments have either split or been so long in office that the accumulated arrogance and corruption is too much to take*. On those criteria, the performance of the Iemma government suggests that the Libs may finally be due for a turn. But there are a couple of obvious problems: the next election is not due for a couple of years, and the Liberals have never looked capable of presenting a credible alternative than they do now (to be fair, they look marginally better for the change from Debnam to O’Farrell).
So, I’d prefer it if Labor had a go at internal renewal. John Sutton’s suggestion that Iemma be replaced by his deputy, John Watkins, looks like a start. There’s also the possibility of an old-style party-Parliamentary leadership split over electricity privatisation, with threats to force the resignation of Treasurer Michael Costa. Again, the sooner the better, as far as I’m concerned.
If Iemma and Costa lose their jobs before pushing their privatisation through, it will, no doubt harm their prospects of well-paid post-political sinecures. But the financial sector looks after its own, and I’m sure something will be found for these loyal allies.
* I can’t recall ever reading much about the 1965 election which brought the startlingly corrupt Askin government to power, and introduced the one sustained period of Liberal rule with (I think) four election wins in a row. Still, Labor had been in for 24 years and the rightwing machine that has produced so many of our current hacks was already in charge, so I don’t think this can be a big exception to the rule.
John Quiggin 
Sorry, I meant “Mary River Cod” and not “Mary River Cos”.
And the source of the quote was “Bligh rejects call for population cap” in the Courier Mail of 22 April (presumably the online publication date as 22 April was a Sunday). I can’t the URL, but a less complete version can be found on the ABC at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1903565.htm
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Can anyone tell me whey this comes up when I try to post?
Have I been banned / censured?
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Tony,
This sort of thing happens to a lot of us (although not lately to me).
Can anyone comment on claims made the story Private power ‘cheaper’ in the Australian of Friday 29 February:
They do admit the record of privatisation in SA was “less clear-cut”. (I thought it was a total fiasco), but manage to conjure up a favourable spin to put on the whole experience:
All these these claims appear to superficially lend plausibility to the case for privatisation in a very narrrow limited sense, but one can be practically certain that we are being given far less than the complete picture.
What we are certainly not being told of will be the loss of employment and training opportunities (i.e. ”feather bedding”) as has occurred withthe privaisation of Telstra.
Tha Australian’s Editorial of the same day, perversely named Power to the people seized upon this study to push it’s usual pro-privatisation message. Naturally to the Murdoch editorial writers, the wishes of two- thirds of the NSW public whom it claims to have been duped by “a union-funded scare campaign” counts for nothing.
I see further heartening developments in the fight against privatisation in the SMH article “ALP Left ready to fight Costa” of 29 February: