Joseph Poprzeczny

LONG-TIME State Scene readers may recall a March 2001 column highlighting research by Dr Bob Catley, then of New Zealand’s Dunedin-based Otago University.

IT’S finally happening, and it’s happening much earlier than expected. But in politics nothing’s lost by getting things out of the way sooner rather than later.

GROWING numbers of Labor and Greens activists are concerned that the Gallop Government is the weakest link in Labor’s current hegemony over all States and Territories.

FEBRUARY 18 – ‘hot Wednesday’ – clearly showed how reform of Western Australia’s energy sector has been bungled, for the time being at least.

WHENEVER controversies surface at the national level that impact, even indirectly, upon State affairs it’s hard to hold back premiers and/or State opposition leaders from commenting.

BUREAUCRATIC fashions, like those in clothing, constantly change. And the changes invariably sweep across the globe.

THE Barnettled Liberals are heading towards the February 2005 election in what can only be described as a deplorable state.

THE month of January brings with it several inevitabilities.

FEW realise that the Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Standing Committee (L&CSC) is considering “the most appropriate process for moving towards the establishment of an Australian republic with an Australian Head of State”.

AS it has been two months since Labor’s factional chiefs moved to replace Simon Crean as leader, it’s worth asking whether the change has significantly altered Australia’s political landscape.

WITH sport so major an ingredient in Australian cultural life it’s not surprising new Labor leader Mark Latham announced he’d welcome, with “open arms” outgoing Test cricket captain Steve Waugh should he ever seek a political career.

IF elections, complex internecine party machinations and factional imbroglios aren’t your favourite – and you qualify for long service leave after mid-2004 – take some time off and go interstate or overseas for that long-planned holiday.

A PUZZLING feature of 2003 was the fact that, despite the Liberals being in disarray, and with a weak and unpopular leader, Gallop-led Labor sometimes found itself trailing the conservatives in the polls.

SIX months ago a contact close to the Liberals’ parliamentary leadership group told State Scene that Colin Barnett’s number cruncher, Darling Range MLA John Day, was deeply concerned about losing party endorsement.

THE Australian High Court’s decision not to overturn vote weighting arrangements across WA’s farmland and outback regions is the second time it has rejected Attorney-General Jim McGinty’s approaches on this issue.

THE debacle arising from the secretly agreed upon McGinty-Barnett $1.28/vote compulsory vote levy (CVL) plan that consumed so much time and energy, especially within Liberal ranks, rested upon two essential ingredients.

ALTHOUGH politicians work assiduously refining their interview skills, occasions arise when those efforts fail them badly.

EFFORTS to introduce daylight saving (DLS) into WA have failed at three referendums – in 1975, 1984 and 1992 – having been initiated by premiers Sir Charles Court for the liberals, and Brian Burke and Carmen Lawrence for Labor, respectively.

THERE’S no law of politics that postulates political parties are essential for the effective operation of our representative form of democracy.

MOST of us have either read or know about George Orwell’s prescient and terrifying novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, which highlights Big Brother Government, an all-knowing, all-powerful overseer.

TEN years ago the newly elected Court-Cowan Government received a report from a team headed by CRA’s former chief, Sir Roderick Carnegie.

WHILE State Scene rarely bothers analysing parliamentary answers there’s always the chance of an exception arising...

LAST week State Scene highlighted South Australia’s recent Constitutional Convention...

ASK any West Aussie if they’re living in a democracy and, Sydney-to-a-brick they’ll say, yes.

MOST of us have been told, or have subsequently worked out, that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

WITH the next State election likely in mid-2004 rather than early 2005, and set to be a close encounter, it’s worth asking what kind of premier Opposition leader Colin Barnett would make.

AUSTRALIAN prime ministers, like democratically elected leaders worldwide, are under constant pressure from published opinion polls that tell voters how leaders are faring between elections.

LITTLE has improved for the Gallop Government since it passed the half-way mark of its term in office six months ago.

IT’S sobering to be reminded that there are limits to science, technology and Western engineering marvels such as, say, electricity distribution grids.

ALTHOUGH WA’s 116 State and Federal MPs don’t publicly refer to July as ‘conference month’ they could, because that’s when Labor and the Liberals now hold their annual State conferences.

WA has its fair share of local government controversies, among them the bizarre Wanneroo Council royal commission.

POLITICIANS call it informing constituents. Journalists generally dub it, junk mail. Most voters refer to it as propaganda.