This week a by-election in Miranda delivered a hefty kick in the butt to Barry O'Farrell's state government. This seat changed hands when the voters reinstalled Labor's Barry Collier as their member with a swing of 27% - reversing the 21% swing that delivered the seat to Liberal Graham Annesley at the 2011 state election.
A number of factors can be blamed for their ire. Restructuring the rail system delivered a forty percent cut to services at Janalli and Como stations, and budget cuts resulted in the closing of some fire stations and hospital services. Many people thought that the suburb was being over developed to the detriment of local home owners.
Perhaps the biggest reason for the voting swing can be attributed to the fact that their member had chosen to resign from parliament - to take up a more lucrative position as CEO of the Gold Coast Titans, saddling them with the cost and need for a by-election.
Annesley was the state Sports minister but it seems that his heart was not in the job. His interests were elsewhere - and people complained that he was rarely seen in the electorate. He broke the first golden rule of politics - and that is " availability " !
This certainly does not herald a similar result at the next state election, but it does give a warning to Barry O'Farrell that the voters will not be taken for granted. Members are expected to serve their electorates and the government needs to take care with it's policies and ensure that changes to existing systems do not have unexpected local results.
It also delivers a warning that sitting members need dedication to the task the voters have bestowed on them with their votes. Being a member of state parliament is a full time job - and delivering anything less than that will be judged adversely when the voters next deliver their verdicts !
No comments:
Post a Comment