EDITORIAL : THE AUSTRALIAN, AUSTRALIA

Faine delivers a Boyer lecture

JON Faine does not always see eye to eye with The Australian, nor we with him, but we are delighted to congratulate the ABC morning presenter for overtaking 3AW's Neil Mitchell to become Melbourne's most engaging radio host.
Winning 15.8 per cent of listeners in a competitive radio market is no easy task, although he should prepare for a ferocious fightback from 3AW which, unlike the ABC, needs listeners to attract the advertisers who pay its bills. Faine is not afraid to let his political views show but, unlike some of his colleagues, he is prepared to concede that others might legitimately hold different views and give them a fair hearing.
Former ABC chairman Richard Boyer would encourage his staff not to pander to the closed-minded minority but broadcast instead to "the great bulk of our people (who share) a native and kindly tolerance and . . . a readiness to change their minds in the face of new evidence, new ideas and more complete information". Boyer's ABC was far from the "market failure" niche broadcaster which it has become.
Faine's narrow victory should send a message to other ABC morning show hosts that when their audience share is smaller than the Green Party's primary vote they are in trouble. They should never forget that the ABC's obligation is to broadcast to all Australians.



Enough, already. Time for Tony to take the long view

THERE was a noticeable improvement in behaviour on both sides of the House of Representatives yesterday - although the manager of opposition business, Christopher Pyne, still managed to get himself thrown out.
Tuesday's question time reflected poorly on the government and opposition, leaving the impression our elected representatives operate in a bubble. The repeated and mischievous calls for a quorum in the house later that night only reinforced that view. It could blow up again today, but if indeed both leaders have decided voters have had enough, then it is not before time.
The opposition, in particular, has much to gain by a more constructive strategy. In the anniversary week of Labor's destructive change of leaders, Tony Abbott can justly claim to have won the first 10 months of the "rainbow coalition" government. Choose your sporting reference - one-nil to Tony, Julia on the ropes, first set to the Coalition - the brutal reality for Labor is that the country likes Mr Abbott and overwhelmingly supports the Coalition. Newspoll figures of a primary vote for the Coalition of 46 per cent and 31 per cent for Labor mean the government has its work cut out.
Mr Abbott and Mr Pyne cannot be blamed if they feel vindicated in the disruptive tactics they have pursued with constant points of order, interjections and suspensions of standing orders for censure motions. Indeed, the Coalition can point to a rare victory in last week's decision by both houses to condemn the government's Malaysian deal. The reiteration of a single line against the Prime Minister, that she is a liar, has bitten.
But it is now time for Mr Abbott to draw breath, not blood, and shift to a more positive strategy that marks him out as a prime minister, not a pugilist. The present approach reinforces a perception that Mr Abbott is a negative politician who takes his title rather too literally. There are real dangers for the Opposition Leader in thinking he can force an early election by applying this constant pressure on Labor and on Ms Gillard personally. The Prime Minister has her weaknesses, but they do not include a lack of intestinal fortitude. Like a certain former British female prime minister, she gives every indication she is not for turning and certainly not for cutting and running.
Since the last election, Mr Abbott has been on a poll footing, running a campaign against the concessions Labor has made to the crossbenchers who keep it in power, not against Labor. But the more he does this, the more the independents feel the need to back Ms Gillard to save their own necks.
The Prime Minister is likely to grow in confidence (once this messy week of anniversaries is behind her) in the knowledge she cannot be challenged easily from within her own ranks for risk the independents will desert a minority Labor government led by anyone else. The added danger for Mr Abbott is that the mud slung by Labor that his is the longest dummy spit in political history will stick. It was a bad look for Labor on the evening news on Tuesday when the Leader of the House, Anthony Albanese, repeatedly screeched "no, no, no" across the chamber. But Mr Abbott must beware the charge that he is negative.
The Coalition cannot bank on an early election and must open up some new lines of attack by trying to advance its views through legislation and by attempting to amend government legislation by negotiating with the crossbenchers. This is less spectacular work than announcing plebiscites that even Mr Abbott did not want to succeed or trying to curry favour with a minority of disaffected and angry voters who still want Pauline Hanson.
The Opposition Leader is so much better than that, so very much better and broader than that. He needs to think hard about issues beyond carbon pricing and asylum-seekers and start talking about health and social policy issues that have a direct impact on ordinary Australians. His appeal to voters who were once rusted on to Labor is obvious, but he cannot rely on holding them with a populist agenda that does not deliver real improvement to their lives.
Ms Gillard's lack of authority has helped Mr Abbott to a stunning lead in the polls. Now he must ensure that his own authority as an alternative prime minister is clearly established with the Australian electorate.



Meanwhile, in the other place

IN his maiden speech to the Senate almost 18 years ago, Nick Minchin vowed that "the restoration of faith in the parliamentary process is a worthy goal", but as he arrives for his last sitting as a senator today this might be one goal he ruefully accepts was unfulfilled.
In his valedictory speech on Tuesday, the former Senate leader was disarmingly frank about the successes, failures, passions and regrets of his impressive political career. Prime among his achievements were six years as finance minister in the Howard government when, working with treasurer Peter Costello, he only ever delivered surplus budgets, and his stewardship of the final privatisation of Telstra. Senator Minchin also became something of a conservative hero for his marshalling of the monarchist cause in the 1999 republic referendum. He understood the political weakness of republican differences over a preferred model and exploited them ruthlessly to defend the status quo. It is a victory and a cause he still treasures.
Raised in Sydney and a law graduate from ANU, Senator Minchin's career path was unusual on the conservative side of politics, working for the Liberal Party's federal secretariat, then moving to Adelaide to run the state division. So, for 32 years, he has been a professional campaigner who has helped nurture sophistication in his party's operations.
An acolyte of John Howard, Senator Minchin regrets not convincing his leader to retire in 2006, on the 10th anniversary of his prime ministership. Unlike Mr Howard, and more like Labor premiers Carr, Beattie and Bracks, Senator Minchin is author of his own exit plan. He laments failing to make progress on his liberal cause of voluntary voting and conservative cause of defending state rights. But his most fascinating revelation is regret that he didn't argue more strongly against the coalition of the willing's war against Saddam Hussein. This dissenting view is especially surprising now the emerging democracy in Iraq and the popular uprisings elsewhere in the Middle East suggest the Iraq war is finally bearing some fruit.
Senator Minchin has also been an important factional player and a leading climate sceptic. He was instrumental in reversing the Coalition's carbon-pricing policy in 2009 and installing Tony Abbott as leader. Since then Senator Minchin has been a wise and tempering counsel to Mr Abbott and will be sorely missed in our ongoing parliamentary fracas.