Forever in payback mode after missing out on the Prime Ministership in 2010, Tony Abbott’s latest stunt is to announce a royal commission into unions. The obvious intention is to inflict maximum harm upon the Labor party, under the guise of “looking out” for honest Australian workers (a bit like “stopping the boats” to save lives.)
Tony Abbott and the LNP fail to remember, as per usual, that they are in government now and the spotlight shines upon the government of the day. If News Limited won’t shine the light, then Fairfax, ABC, SBS, The Guardian and the New Daily, along with countless independent media sites WILL.
Australians have suffered through six years of screaming Murdoch headlines, “Labor this. Labor that”. They don’t care what Labor is up to now, just so long as they are effectively keeping the current government to account. Australians care about what Tony Abbott and the LNP have in store for their country. After the disastrous start to Abbott’s Prime Ministership, Australians are more alert than ever to what nasty surprises this government may have in store.
Predictably, News Limited will run endless headlines about union corruption as the royal commission unfolds. The headlines could last for years. Labor could suffer severe embarrassment, but in the scheme of things, Australians are likely to shrug their shoulders and become bored with the news BECAUSE Labor are not in power anymore. Like Schapelle Corby, they are sick of hearing about it.
When the royal commission is over, Bill Shorten would do well to effectively diffuse what is likely to be Abbott’s only strategy for winning the next election. He should acknowledge the findings, then hire a top quality public relations team to assure voters that the issues are dealt with. Then he ought to clobber Abbott with a huge scrolling list of failures and broken promises. No doubt the list will be hundreds of pages long. And all in time for the next election.
Parallel Universe Down Under 