EDITORIAL : THE DAILY AUSTRALIAN, AUSTRALIA

People power triumphs over Labor spin doctors 

POWERFUL national message from NSW Coalition victory.

SHAMELESS as the spinmeisters of NSW Labor have been, there was no way to spin away the devastating message from the weekend election. People power in its purest form emphatically punished Labor after 16 years in power, reducing what's been the traditional party of government in the nation's most populous state to just 20 or so seats in a parliament of 93. This was a clear repudiation of the 24-hour spin model of government, where media cycles were more important than policy achievements, and spin doctors were more prevalent than competent ministers. The dual intent of voters was clear; they castigated Labor and embraced the Coalition's promise of honest, accountable and responsive government.

This is a tectonic shift in the national political geography that will unleash a tsunami of repercussions across NSW and federal politics. Just three years ago Canberra and all the states were governed by Labor. Since the demise of Kevin Rudd, the Coalition has won more seats than Labor federally, forcing Julia Gillard into minority government; won a surprise victory in Victoria; and now an overwhelming endorsement in NSW. For population, economic clout and political influence, the Coalition states of Western Australia, Victoria and NSW dwarf the Labor states of Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. The Gillard government's ability to broker national reforms through COAG will be severely dented, but that might be the least of the Prime Minister's worries.

Arguments that the NSW poll was simply the rejection of a mutant Labor government with a Coalition takeover by default and no wider implications, do not withstand scrutiny. Opportunities abounded for protest votes to flow to the Greens, independents and other minor parties, yet these groups were the other losers. Voters deliberately chose to switch their allegiance from Labor and independent MPs to the Coalition. The conservatives have held their base, consolidated aspirational suburbia and won solid endorsement from working families in the traditional Labor regions of the Hunter and Illawarra.

With blue-collar, coalmining areas dumping Labor for the Coalition, this was a shift of historic proportions. Along with resentment at being taken for granted by state Labor, part of this must be attributed to deep concern about the impact of federal Labor's carbon tax. One of the largest anti-Labor swings occurred in Bathurst, the birthplace of the train-driver turned prime minister Ben Chifley, who gave Labor its "light on the hill". This is a sign that once welded on ALP supporters have rusted off.

Premier-elect Barry O'Farrell deserves enormous credit for uniting what was often a fractious party, creating a sense of purpose where once was drift, sticking doggedly to a plan when others called for drama, and building a closely bonded Coalition with Nationals leader Andrew Stoner. Mr O'Farrell has been an obstinately moderate leader during a time of political polarisation. It is instructive for his federal counterparts that this style of inclusive and unabrasive conservatism has been warmly embraced by voters. The Australian particularly welcomes his rejection of the "little Australia" mantra embraced by both Ms Gillard and Tony Abbott in the depths of the federal campaign. Mr O'Farrell sensibly argues for NSW to develop its regions so that population growth can be encouraged but distributed more widely. He clearly understands he will need to govern for Bathurst as much as Bondi, for Maitland as much as Mosman, and he'll be able to do this with members on the ground in all corners of the state. He will need to be diligent about delivering projects because voters are heartily sick of governments talking about what they'll do, instead of doing it. NSW does not lack challenges, with the transport infrastructure deficit looming large. Mr O'Farrell is right to demand that Canberra reallocates funding from the Paramatta-to-Epping project to his preferred North West rail link. Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese needs to recognise the failures of his state colleagues and ensure that projects in the nation's largest metropolis are allocated a fair share of federal funds.

Mr O'Farrell also needs to enliven business in his state, tackle entrenched union power and commit to shrinking the relative size of the public sector if he is to contain costs and encourage economic growth. He inherits a budget apparently in surplus, although there is no doubt he will want his incoming treasurer Mike Baird to closely assess the books. Highly credentialled, Mr Baird will need to tackle the critical economic reforms to buttress the O'Farrell government, and Gladys Berejiklian will also be pivotal in transport. This trio, and their colleagues, will need to be bold, and while they might find they are short on cash, they are not short on political capital, given their massive mandate.

After flexing their muscles in Canberra, the Greens will be disappointed with their NSW showing. It demonstrates they remain a long way from the mainstream of Australian politics. Their extreme agenda quickly loses popularity when you move away from the inner city into areas where people are reliant on cars, aspire to personal improvement and often hold socially conservative values. Voters delivered a well-deserved rebuke to Marrickville Greens candidate Fiona Byrne who not only promoted an offensive anti-Israel push but also was dishonest about it. Her failure, along with Pauline Hanson's, is a reminder that voters value integrity and find extremism unsettling.

Ms Byrne's failure was about the only bright light for Labor because it enables the capable former minister Carmel Tebbutt to remain in parliament. The rest of the news for Labor is abysmal. As we have noted before, outgoing premier Kristina Keneally deserves credit for her pluck but she was rightly punished for failing to reform her party or confront the union and factional bosses who installed her. She was right to point out that the people of NSW had not left Labor but that Labor had left them. Perhaps if she had recognised this earlier and done something in office to repair the situation we would have more sympathy. Labor must now work to democratise itself and reconnect with its base. A shift to the Left cannot be the answer because the ALP was deserted by socially conservative voters in middle Australia. History shows the middle ground is where politics must always be contested in our nation. Labor must again become a party for mainstream Australians who strive for the "light on the hill" rather than a vehicle of the radical elite who want to lecture the population on issues from carbon taxes to border protection.

If Labor installs former Unions NSW boss John Robertson as opposition leader it will demonstrate it has learned nothing. Mr Robertson led the charge against former premier Morris Iemma's plan to privatise the state's electricity assets. Aided, it must be said, by the political opportunism of Mr O'Farrell at the time, Mr Robertson used the power of the unions and factions to vandalise the policy of an elected government, doing lasting economic damage and accelerating Labor's decline. For him now to be rewarded with the spoils of a humiliating loss, and charged with rebuilding the Labor movement, would be high farce. Former prime minister Paul Keating wrote a scarifying letter to Mr Robertson when he was sworn in to parliament in 2008, predicting that if Labor lost government, Mr Robertson would share much of the blame. Accusing him of "opportunism" and "reckless indifference" to the government, Mr Keating said he was ashamed to be a member of the same party. "Let me tell you," wrote the former prime minister, "if the Labor Party's stocks ever get so low as to require your services in its parliamentary leadership, it will itself have no future." Well, it seem Labor's stocks are now that low and with such matters of substance and personal animosity to be played out over coming months, the repercussions of Labor's electoral destruction in what has been its strongest state are immense.

Ms Gillard must ruminate on the implications carefully. There can be no doubt about the impact of cost of living issues in this campaign, exacerbated by her carbon tax, which will impact especially on commuters and people in mining areas. The electorate's shunning of the Greens is a warning about her cosy arrangement with them. Of most pressing concern, however, is the strong showing of the Nationals in the state's north where they defeated independents in Tamworth and Port Macquarie who were strongly aligned with federal independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, upon whom Ms Gillard relies for power. This is a clear indictment of the independents' decision to support the Gillard government and its carbon tax. The message about their own political mortality at the next federal poll is clear. Labor is left to ponder whether it will change their behaviour or cause them to reconsider their allegiances.