Seeking a "Policy " change !

Visitors to Australia's Federal parliament were treated to "theatre " as three protesters sought to enter the parliamentary building wearing controversial clothing.  They were all men, and one had his face covered with a motorcycle helmet, another was clad in the totally enveloping uniform favoured by America's Ku Klux Klan - and the third was wearing what is often called a burqa or a niquab, a garment worn by Islamic women that only reveals the eyes.

It was a publicity seeking test of the rules that apply to face covering and the long suffering parliamentary attendants explained that both the motorcycle helmet and the KKK hood would have to be removed, and the burqa wearer would need to be identified privately to gain entrance.

Obviously, events in Canada draw attention to the threats that Islamic extremists pose and there is a noticeable increase in armed patrols guarding public places in the national capital.  Having made their point - and gained considerable publicity from all sections of the media - the demonstrators peacefully dispersed.

Another curious event of "theatre "occurred when Labor's Immigration spokesman, Richard Marles, openly admitted that the government's "turn back the boats "policy had successfully stemmed the flow of asylum seeker vessels and that the opposition would probably adopt similar measures - provided this could be successfully agreed with the Indonesians.

That was like tossing a hand grenade into a dark cellar where the myriad factions of the Labor party dwell.   Everyone seemed to have an opinion - and the one consensus that emerged was that there would be no policy change.

Bill Shorten has the job of trying to cobble together a credible alternative government and have it waiting in the wings to contest the next election.  It does not help to garner public confidence when a critical issue that is high on the agenda of Australian voters languishes in a policy vacuum.

Labor governments seem prone to excess when they finally achieve office.   Many will remember how Kevin Rudd rushed to put Socialist dogma ahead of practicability when he erased the previous government's immigration safeguards - and unleashed the "people smuggler "invasion that he then was powerless to stop.

As things stand, should Labor unexpectedly suddenly gain office, there is every chance that they would make the same mistakes again.   The fact that they still have the same policy that failed so spectacularly the last time around is hardly a vote of confidence in an alternative government !

It also raises the question of why some people join a political party when their thrust of politics runs at variance to the party manifesto.  Labor has always been a wide gathering of factions, but surely many would be more closely attuned with the Greens, the various Communist ideologies -  or the vast spectrum of single issue fringe parties.   Yet they tenaciously cling to Labor with the avowed intention of turning the party direction to their view.

Unfortunately, the casualty is most cases is party loyalty.  When this government won office it implemented a policy with which many Australians disagreed and which certainly angered the Indonesian government.    They persisted in the face of harsh criticism - and achieved outstanding success.  The flow of undocumented arrivals on our shores ceased - and good relations with Indonesia have been restored.

This stands as a prime example of adopting a policy and requiring party loyalty to give it the backing to run it's course.  Few would now disagree that the objective has been achieved, and even the opposition spokesman bows to the inevitable - but the fractious factions within the opposition are still prepared to fight on and force their political party to stick with a policy that delivered unmitigated failure - and the death at sea of many people.

It is not a hopeful sign that the opposition is finally getting it's act together !