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My dad worked night shifts for most of my childhood and was rarely home for dinner, but on the rare occasions he was – and the even rarer occasions we spoke about politics – he would fleetingly mention Malcolm Fraser.
Then he would begin the long spiel most children of migrants are subjected to: how my grandfather, a poor, illiterate agrarian from a tiny village in Turkey, made his way to prosperous Australia in the 1970s.
Premier Daniel Andrews, one of Australia’s most effective and powerful politicians, has changed the rule book on politics, leadership and accountability.Credit: Chris Hopkins
I didn’t really understand it at the time, but Fraser’s conviction and commitment to a diverse Australia changed my family’s life. Decades later, when my twin brothers – both disabled – were born, Gough Whitlam’s Medicare enhanced their lives and largely alleviated the financial burden on my parents.
This is what good politics does, for me and many millions of Australians like me.
It changes lives, ends intergenerational disadvantage, breaks the cycle of poverty, allows people to aspire, and gives them a chance to fully achieve their potential.
I started in The Age’s state politics bureau at the end of 2019 and Friday is my last day there. My unwavering belief in the importance of good governments, good oppositions, good crossbenchers and good institutions has only strengthened over this period.
However, another thing that has strengthened over this time should alarm all of us: the domination of the Labor Party in this state.
The Coalition is a complete basket case that has for a decade (arguably even longer) been unable to effectively hold Labor to account; the Victorian Greens have failed to wield the influence they claim to have; the crossbench is filled with people who struggle to grasp what it means to be a legislator thanks to our undemocratic upper house voting system; and the government has too many seat warmers too afraid to stand up for their values.
How is any of this good for democracy?
Privately, many current and former government MPs are alarmed and concerned about Labor’s stronghold in Victoria. Sure, they love winning elections, being in government and shaping this state in Labor’s vision.
But they also recognise a competitive opposition pushes the government to do better and govern better. They recognise that unfettered control over the legislative process and electoral cycle leads to poorer governance. And they acknowledge that democracy falters without the opposition’s scrutiny.
Premier Daniel Andrews, one of Australia’s most effective and powerful politicians, has changed the rule book on politics, leadership and accountability. He has successfully executed a lengthy reform agenda that has reshaped Victoria, but in the process steamrolled over the pillars of democracy and the institutions that safeguard against it.
The pandemic cemented Andrews’ alpha-male style of politics: centralised, unapologetic and unflinching. It worked during the dark days of COVID, but it is an approach that Andrews’ colleagues desperately hope will now change, not only for the sake of the government, but the future of the Labor Party.
There are many valuable MPs who are implementing important reform, but almost the entire 77-member caucus have been in parliament only under Andrews’ leadership. Labor loyalists – both inside and outside parliament – are now struggling to identify the next generation of Labor leaders. They worry about the calibre of the future parliamentary team, and whether the current group are setting up the party for future electoral success.
I sent a message to a long-serving former Labor MP this week to ask what the theme of this column should be and what would best encapsulate my three years covering state politics.
“The death of accountability in politics,” they immediately texted back. “This form of politics, [supercharged] by Daniel, is now a template for other Labor leaders like Anthony Albanese, and it has completely corrupted the concept of accountability in politics. It effectively killed it. Worst of all, the public seems not to care.”
In Victoria, we have a leader who dismisses corruption reports as educational, some government MPs who cower in fear, and a system that punishes ministers and staffers who dare raise that important conventions are being breached. This has been allowed to happen because we have an ineffective opposition that expends its energy hating the premier and despising each other.
Victorians deserve better than that.
We deserve to know that our elected representatives in opposition are prosecuting government decision-making and holding it to account; that every public dollar is being spent responsibly; that policies and projects stack up and are well considered; that we are provided with a viable alternative every four years.
This is what strengthens democracy and ensures our governments act on behalf of its people.
It means our schools are resourced properly; our public transport runs on time; our hospitals have the capacity to take care of us; our child protection system protects our most vulnerable. State governments touch our lives so closely and so profoundly, we cannot afford for them to operate without proper competition and proper scrutiny.
Andrews has been a reformist Labor leader, and he has not wasted his years in office.
But democracy has been undermined under his watch, and that will be as much his legacy as his Big Build infrastructure program and socially progressive agenda.
Sumeyya Ilanbey finishes covering state politics today and will continue at The Age as an investigative business journalist.
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