Another Leak special..

𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. There’s an interesting irony in this. Perhaps Victorian voters have finally reached the point where they’ve had enough turmoil. After years of Labor govt, they want change, but not at the expense of creating even more instability. They want adults running the show, even if the leader happens to be young. And perhaps that’s the distinction. They want a credible alternative, not simply another group of angry wreckers promising to tear everything down. The Liberals & Nationals have put their ideological battles aside to unite behind Jess Wilson, offering dissatisfied voters an alternative to the incumbent govt. But the most revealing finding is that 78% of Coalition & One Nation voters surveyed prioritised having a strong new govt over shaking up the political system. Even among One Nation supporters, that figure was 71%. That suggests something rather important. Dissatisfaction with the political establishment doesn’t necessarily mean voters want to destroy the institutions that underpin it. They may simply want those institutions to function better, with experienced leadership capable of delivering results. There’s still a long way to go in Victoria, but perhaps voters are beginning to distinguish between change for the sake of change & change that offers the prospect of better govt. Sadly, federally, that distinction seems considerably harder to achieve. And perhaps that’s the real lesson. People can be thoroughly disillusioned with those governing them without having lost faith in the system of govt itself. Because that’s what understanding the importance of a functioning govt means. Recognising that the answer to poor governance is better governance, not the destruction of the institutions that make it possible. Destroying the joint doesn’t fix what’s broken. It simply leaves you with even more to rebuild. theaustralian.com.au/comment… via @australian

𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐣𝐢: $700𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐂𝐎𝐏31 𝐒𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬 Labor spent almost $700,000 to hold a series of Pre-COP31 meetings and workshops at the five-star Sofitel Darling Harbour hotel in Sydney, a Senate estimates committee has heard. Liberal senator @SenSHenderson asked department officials on Monday about a limited tender, lodged in August, for hotel, lodging and meeting facilities worth $682,000. International climate negotiations division head Sally Box said the events were UNFCCC-mandated “to support the facilitation of negotiations in our role as president of negotiations”. $700,000 for a gabfest. I wonder how many more will hit the headlines before the global gabfest .. and well done to Sarah Henderson she is relentless in estimates..