The compost heap of promises

Here we are again, Tassie,

Barely a week after the ballots were counted and already the political musical chairs have begun. The election promises, polished up and paraded like prize produce at the Royal Hobart Show, have been unceremoniously dumped in the compost. It seems a hung parliament means a great big policy bonfire.

Jeremy Rockliff’s Liberals, who just weeks ago were swearing loyalty to their faithful backers, have suddenly decided that greyhound racing and native logging are, well, inconvenient baggage. Funding for the dogs? Gone. Native logging expansion? Quietly shelved. The big, shiny budget surplus they swore was just around the corner? Apparently, we all misheard.

And in a move of pure political desperation, they’ve jettisoned Guy “Safe Hands” Barnett like a faulty steering wheel mid-turn. In his place sits Eric Abetz, Tasmania’s new treasurer, who’s inviting everyone to “contribute” ideas to tackle the state’s debt (trust me, when the cupboard is bare, that’s not consultation; that’s crowdsourcing political survival).

Not to be outdone in the gymnastics department, Labor has announced its own little twist. If they get the keys to the Premier’s office, they’ll hand the Treasury over to independent MLC Ruth Forrest. Now, Forrest has the smarts, no doubt. But the move reeks of “look at us, we’re not like them” while quietly angling for crossbench brownie points. It’s a cynical play for legitimacy, an attempt to govern by committee.

And so we play this strange game, where policy is less about principle and more about placating whoever can keep you in the big seat. What’s next? Labor flogging off public assets to “balance the books”? Liberals hosting drag story time in primary schools to prove their progressive chops?

The truth is, when the parliament is hung, the promises get cut down too. The apples might look glossy in the ads, but bite into them and you find the same old worms.

Worms that are wriggling toward power, not progress.

Chuck them on the compost.