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With his decision to cut parliamentary office staffing to independents and minor parties from four senior advisers to one, Anthony Albanese has kicked an own goal. He's alienated the very people who helped bring him to power. And, some argue, he's ignoring the will of the Australian electorate, which has sent record numbers of independents to parliament.
His rationale - that it's unfair for independents to have more staffers than backbenchers from the major parties - doesn't stack up. Recent but rare exceptions from the Coalition aside, backbenchers generally vote along party lines - invariably if they're Labor MPs - so their need to deeply analyse proposed legislation before voting on it would not be the same as for independents. Independents, on the other hand, are elected to put a very close eye over every piece of legislation - not just follow the party. They're elected to be independent, not warm seats on the backbench. Sometimes, that means drafting legislation, a time and labour-intensive undertaking.
Albanese's other argument - that increased resourcing of the parliamentary library means it can provide advice - is also paper thin. Essentially, it means the independents will have to rely on one source of advice, which will be of a generic nature and therefore unlikely to be tailored to their own perspectives and the viewpoints of their own electorates.
Politically, the staffing issue might not amount to much in the lower house, where the government enjoys a slim majority. But the Senate can potentially cause problems. It's in the upper house that the government needs the support of the Greens and the independents on the crossbench. In some quarters the staff cut is seen as a political decision designed to nobble the power of the teals.
It should be remembered that staffing allocations are traditionally decided by the new government. They've bounced around in recent years, with the Morrison government being the most generous, allocating four staff to the parliamentary offices of independents. Morrison's staffing decision, too, could have been seen as political, a ploy to keep the independents on side. Perhaps that's where the problem lies. In leaving staffing allocations to the government of the day, accusations of politics intruding on the workings of the parliament are bound to persist. If these decisions were left to an independent body at arm's length, they most likely wouldn't.
Over in Twitter, amid a squalling cat fight between those who back the independents' outrage and Labor's cheer squad, one thread from David Mejia-Canales, an adviser to Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe, is worth reading. It sheds light on how tough the job of political adviser can be.
"In Parliament, at the end of the day the gov with the full support of the opposition would ram through 180 amendments to a bill that is already five hundred pages long so they can vote on the bill first thing tomorrow," he tweeted. "As a staffer you have to then go through every single amendment and work through the entire Bill line by line so you can advise your MP on how they should vote. So you have to get through 1000 pages of dense legal text all over again to see where the [devil] is in the detail."
It is worth also considering the pain this announcement brings in the offices of established independents like Zali Steggall and Helen Haines. They are being asked to cut their parliamentary adviser workforce by 75 per cent. It's a horrible choice for any employer to have to make. Regardless of who they work for, staffers are people, with families to support and mortgages to pay.
The decision is also a terrible dead cat for Albanese to drop on the table as he jets off to Europe - a mess he's left his ministers to clean up. Within the new parliament, it could even be the end of the political honeymoon he's been enjoying. We'll know when parliament sits in late July.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Is Anthony Albanese going to lose credibility by slashing staff for the independents? Has he made a rod for his own back by alienating the crossbench? Should parliamentary staffing be decided at arm's length by an independent body? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- A woman who chained herself to the steering wheel of her car and blocked the Harbour Tunnel is one of 11 climate protesters arrested in Sydney. The protesters were among a group of 50 to 60 activists who kicked off a week of disruption in Sydney with an illegal march through the city centre yesterday.
- Australia's greenhouse gas emissions increased in the last year, according to new data. A quarterly update of the national greenhouse gas inventory says there was an 0.8 per cent increase in emissions in 2021, equal to 4.1 million tonnes more than the same period in 2020.
- G7 leaders have pledged to raise $US600 billion ($A864 billion) in private and public funds over five years to finance infrastructure in developing countries and counter China's multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road project. US President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders relaunched the newly renamed Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, at their annual gathering in Germany.
THEY SAID IT: "If a policy is wrongheaded feckless and corrupt I take it personally and consider it a moral obligation to sound off and not shut up until it's fixed." - David Hackworth
YOU SAID IT: "I do see a similarity, in that he is going back to the Labor ideals of a better Australia for everyone. More a quiet achiever I think, than Hawke. My two fondest memories of Hawke were his announcement at the America's Cup win, and his integrity and self awareness to give up alcohol when he ran for prime minister." - Deb
"In the lead-up to his first federal win as leader in the Canadian election in 2015, Justin Trudeau was cognisant of the fact that his party was starting in third place. His country was beset with differing groups vying for a voice and power. His maxim was to acknowledge that everyone was different and everyone had their own opinion. His task was to listen and get everyone to work together despite their differences ... for the sake of their country. He is still the leader and PM. Anthony Albanese has this same opportunity now. And he should call out the Opposition and those negative interests who simply want to have a cheap pot shot at his government. The opportunity is now for better governance - from all sides (and the media)." - Dave
"When discussing Hawke's legacy one must never forget he was surrounded by some of the most able front benchers in Australia's history. Walsh, Kerin, Young, Button, Evans were the best ever in their portfolios and, interestingly, all had worked in occupations generating wealth before entering parliament (although Button and Evans were in law practices and academia so the point is debatable)." - Ross
"Absolutely poles apart from what I've seen! Hawke was very open, what you saw was what you got even if you didn't like it. Can't really work out Albanese. Does a lot of dithering and changing his mind. Nowhere near Prime Minister material!" - Sue