Cliched though Harold Wilson's quote about a week being a long time in politics might be, it is highly apt in Bill Shorten's case. The Labor leader's week began promisingly enough, with a Fairfax-Ipsos poll indicating a modest increase in his lead over Tony Abbott as preferred prime minister. It was all downhill from there, however. First, Mr Shorten had to hurriedly abandon his interrogation of the government over allegations it had authorised the bribing of people smugglers when it emerged Labor governments too had greased palms in Indonesia. Then came a reminder of Mr Shorten's Machiavellian role in the toppling of two Labor leaders when the ABC screened episode two of its documentary The Killing Season. On Thursday, there were embarrassing revelations that certain of Mr Shorten's colleagues believe him to be every bit as obsessed by the 24 hours news cycle as Kevin Rudd, without the redeeming quality of having any discernable strategy or policies in place.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Hanging over the entire week, spectre-like, was testimony from the Royal Commission into trade union governance and corruption alleging that Mr Shorten did deals with employers when Victorian secretary of the Australian Workers Union that eroded the pay and entitlements of workers in return for "signing" them up as union members. Mr Shorten responded that he'd always put the interests of AWU members first, but by Wednesday was claiming the allegations were "baseless" and that his enemies were using the royal commission to "settle old scores" – an indication perhaps of his increasing consternation.
That the royal commission was instigated by the Coalition government primarily to embarrass and discredit the union movement, and by extension the ALP, there can be no doubt. By the same token, the commission has not had to delve terribly deeply to uncover greed, corruption, malfeasance, conflicts of interest, lack of transparency and chicanery in the dealings of certain union officials.
The allegations concerning the AWU's conduct and activities will surprise no one familiar with some unions that have been captured in the past by venal individuals or groups or those with future political careers uppermost in their minds. The latter understand that membership equals money and power, and that these can be parlayed into influence within the Labor party. In that sense Mr Shorten's activities while at the AWU do not differ greatly from those of other unionists turned politicians, although of course the morality, legality and honesty of those activities remains highly problematic.
Mr Shorten's single-minded pursuit of political power is hardly unique – his apparent willingness to put this above the interests of AWU members, however, is a terrible look for a Labor leader struggling to convince voters he shares their concerns. This week's series of "misfortunes" all emphasise the poor job Mr Shorten is doing in fashioning a new political persona for himself, one capable of exciting voters with new policies, philosophies or visions. The time remaining to him to fundamentally change this perception is rapidly winding down.
