THE pantomime nature of Australia’s adversarial political system was brought into full focus this week as parties went to war over the so-called “backpacker tax”.
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Months of brinkmanship meant the policy did not pass the Senate until a deal was struck between the Coalition and the Greens in the final hours of the sitting year.
The opportunistic Greens seized on a chance to end the stand-off and get something they dearly wanted in exchange for backing the bill.
What they wanted – and secured – was for the Coalition to pluck an extra $100 million out of thin air to fund Landcare groups across the country for the next four years.
This marriage of convenience between two sworn enemies is another example of just how dysfunctional the new parliament is – and most likely will continue to be – this electoral cycle.
The Coalition might have won this stand-off against its Labor rival, but it seems likely with such a volatile Senate that there will be many other days when the result goes the other way.
Labor is, of course, perfectly entitled to oppose every single piece of legislation the Coalition puts forward between now and the election.
Unquestionably, the country will suffer. This time, it was farmers who so desperately rely on backpacker labour during harvest season who were the big losers.
Next time it will be another group innocently caught in the crossfire as Labor tries to cripple the Coalition and the Coalition tries to prove it can govern effectively on the slenderest of margins.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, his deputy Barnaby Joyce, and other senior Liberal and National Party figures have slammed Labor for their obstructionist stance.
Such is the double-standard present in politics these days, they all conveniently forget that this was the exact same approach that worked so effectively for the Tony Abbott-led opposition a few short years ago.
The end of parliament for the year cannot come quickly enough for the Coalition and its beleaguered leader. According to pollsters, the Coalition now trails Labor on a two-party preferred basis, while Mr Turnbull’s approval rating continues to plummet.
It would take a remarkable turnaround in the Coalition’s fortunes if 2017 doesn’t bring Australia its sixth prime minister since 2007.
- Ross Tyson, deputy editor
