Last week’s news was draining.
Climate change is happening faster than we thought and Australia is set to fall well short of its 2030 renewable energy target of 82 per cent.
If climate change doesn’t kill us then AI probably will. Domestic violence killed three more women, benchmarking reports reveal our high school students have fallen further behind in global performance; economic data shows average rents have increased eight per cent in the past 12 months; petrol prices are rising again; productivity is flatlining: and persistent inflation and another rise in interest rates.
Trailing through this chaos, like a snail weaving through weeds, has been the long running ICAC Rosny investigation into $3 million payments to NSW Liberal Party operatives and lobbyists.
It has been a complicated, and at times tedious inquiry. We will have to wait months for the lawyers to work out whether legal definitions of ‘corruption’ apply.
Putting aside the law, ICAC has shone a valuable light on party political culture and how the factions actually work. If you have ever wondered how one small group of boys can hijack and wield so much power – then Rosny has the answers.
The anchor concept is ‘fealty.’ Power brokers in political parties rely on brain-dead fealty; a bunch of supporters who are evangelised and willing to turn a blind eye to unethical behaviour. ICAC heard Dallas McInerny refers to such people as ‘solid citizens’. They are the bedrock factions – whether it’s MAGA or Democrat Socialists in the US – factions require blind loyalty and crushing of dissent.
ICAC hearings revealed former Liberal Minister Damian Tudehope MLC, aided the Catholic Church when he became aware of plans to reform management of cemeteries on Crown Land.
The proposal had the potential to upend a $160 million Catholic Trust and reduce its access to more Crown Land for cemeteries. So he connected hard right Liberal operatives with the church to lobby against his own government. Clearly Mr Tudehope’s fealty to the Catholic Church and his own right-wing faction proved greater than his loyalty to his ministerial colleagues and his duty to the public.
‘Fealty’ is not ideological – it is a power strategy. When Donald Trump told mourners at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service ‘I hate my enemies’ it was a message about fealty is good, dissent can be fatal. Before the Greeks destroyed Troy and the Romans burnt Carthage they requested capitulation. Show us fealty or we will destroy you. Choose wisely!
The second reason political factions accumulate so much power is ‘collaboration’ with powerful enemies. In the Liberal Party the Hard Right and Moderate factions are long-time enemies. But they have been willing to collaborate against smaller factions like David Elliot’s ‘soft right’ – not because it helps the party or delivers better services to the public – simply because it enhances their own power.
The is how Liberal Party councillors associated with the soft right, who were blocking dodgy Toplace development applications, found they had all been dumped for re-election by the Liberal Party Local Government Committee and replaced with developer-friendly candidates.
This required the agreement and help of the Liberal Moderates. This support continued during the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Toplace when a Moderate Liberal MP broke the parliament’s confidentiality rules to help witnesses evade summons to appear before their inquiry. This perverse behaviour is what happens when you do deals with enemies. The moderates ceased to fight their own agenda and started helping the hard-right instead.
This ‘collaboration’ model is often called ‘transactional’. Instead of valuing the merits of an argument, the value of your positive is measured purely in terms of ‘what’s in it for me.’ ‘If I agree to this what do I get in return?’ So there is no need to bother with the history of a problem, or the facts, or the options. All that is discussed is the ‘quid pro quo’. Over time this focus erases experience, philosophy, principle, and even care for the public interest which the Liberal Party was formed to serve.
Labor is also featuring in Rosny at council level. After all they have the same factional system as the Liberals and this has already been showcased at previous ICAC inquiries so none of this helps them.
This system of self-serving deals and decision-making is not helping our community. The faceless party power brokers in Sydney care nothing for the Northern Rivers and the neglect of our region is palpable.
This Friday evening in Bangalow a forum is being sponsored by Climate 200 to discuss how to elevate integrity, the role of Independents, and how they might get better outcomes for our community. I think it’s worth a look!
♦ Lennox Head-based Catherine Cusack is a retired NSW Liberal MLC.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
