Many former stars in either the AFL or the NRL end up with football jobs for life. They go on to become coaches, club administrators, player agents and, above all, media commentators. The same is true in politics.
Like the former professional footballers, the former politicians are doing what they know best. They are not letting go of the familiar life.
They are not much different from what occurs in other sports. John Newcombe and Fred Stolle still commentate on the Wimbledon tennis. Stuart McGill, Damien Martin and Greg Matthews bring us the Ashes cricket on SBS television.
No harm is done. They offer informed comments. They earn a decent paycheck. And they enjoy mixing with their old mates and reliving past glories. But it is not a very adventurous way to spend your life after a professional sporting career.
What about life after politics? The lists of political lobbyists published by the various Australian governments that have lobbyist registers, brought together by The Australian newspaper, are full of familiar political names.
In NSW former premier Bob Carr lobbies, as does former federal Labor senator Graham Richardson and former state Liberal leader Kerry Chikarovski. In Queensland two former Labor deputy premiers, Terry Mackenroth and Jim Elder, as well as former federal Liberal minister Santo Santoro and former Labor minister Con Sciacca have hung up their shingles for business. In South Australia, former Labor minister Nick Bolkus and former Liberal foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer lobby together.
This is not much different to old footballers hanging around the changing sheds so that they can smell the sweat and the rubbing oil. I respect the fact that as former political players they understand how the game is played and can usefully pass on that knowledge to others in the community who lack that experience. If they make the wheels of government move more smoothly then that must be a good thing.
But it still makes me uneasy, because these old pollies can play favourites to the detriment of a fair go for all. I particularly worry when former ministers lobby governments that they have been part of themselves, as senior members. At least a change of government and some passing of time clear the air somewhat.
I have some sympathy for the view of my old political science classmate at Flinders University, Dr Bob Such, who is now an Independent MP in the South Australian Parliament (after being a Liberal minister in the 1990s).
Dr Such has a bill on Lobbying and Ministerial Accountability languishing unloved in the South Australian Parliament. He reckons that what he observes is all a bit incestuous. The process of making public policy shouldn't look like a school reunion.
Dr Such mixes his metaphors between school and family but you will get his drift. He says that it's a bit like the extended family mentality. Those ex-ministers or whatever are welcomed with open arms. It's like they have been through the same private school together, mixed in the same playground, but now were mates so let's see how they can help each other.
While I appreciate the value of a good lobbyist, and defer to the right of former politicians to do what they like after leaving parliament, I do appreciate those ex-ministers who re-invent themselves in good causes and move on, rather than hanging around the political locker room.
It helps if you are offered a decent job, of course, either by your own side of politics or by the other side or by a university or private company. Whatever the motivations of the Rudd Government might be, we should applaud their initiatives in employing former Nationals leader Tim Fischer as Ambassador to the Vatican and former Howard environment minister Robert Hill to head the Government's new Carbon Trust. Let's hope there is more of such nonpartisanship.
But there are also plenty of former politicians of all persuasions who have more or less made their own way. Former ministers Robert Tickner (Labor) and Jim Carlton (Liberal) before him have been chosen to head up the Australian Red Cross. Former Liberal Minister Fred Chaney has been co-chair of Reconciliation Australia. Former Democrats leader Cheryl Kernot has become an academic and activist in the field of social entrepreneurship at the Centre for Social Impact at the University of NSW (reporting to the former head of Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Peter Shergold). Claire Martin and Kate Carnell, former chief ministers in the Northern Territory and the ACT respectively, lead community peak bodies. Martin is CEO of ACOSS. Former Labor minister Gareth Evans left Australia to be CEO of the International Crisis Group. Another former Labor minister, Chris Schacht, is president of the Australian Volleyball Association. Former Liberal finance minister John Fahey was recruited to head the World Anti- Doping Agency.
The list goes on. Undoubtedly most of these jobs involve some lobbying too; many of these individuals are registered as lobbyists. But I'm always encouraged, with apologies to those former pollies making an honest quid as lobbyists, when there is an element of re-invention and a more direct element of community service.
There must be life beyond politics. Former politicians have highly tuned skills and great experience. I'd rather see a former minister or leading politician out there in the community sector than as a victim of the revolving door syndrome by which former ministers are sucked back in to the whirlpool of politics. We would do both them and ourselves a favour by making it more difficult for them to hang around the political changing rooms.
John Warhurst is an adjunct professor of political science in the School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University.
John.Warhurst@anu.e du.au
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