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June 24, 2009
There is a parallel to the Goodwin Grech fake mail saga currently consuming Canberra, and the event happened in SA several weeks ago. Just like Turnbull + Co, the SA Liberals were hoodwinked by a political hoax. Odd isn't it--the lust for a "silver bullet" solution by those desperate to get back into power at any price. It means that they see Labor rorts and cronyism (behind which stands a looming Labor corporate state) everywhere and so they go for the smear strategy.
The dodgy documents event in SA is a good example. It refers to the false emails, which appeared to have come from Labor Party headquarters. They suggested that Mike Rann, the Premier of SA, had links to a company connected with the Church of Scientology. They were anonymously dropped off to the Liberals and Martin Hamilton-Smith, the Liberal leader, then spruiked them inside and outside Parliament, without bothering to check them out, even though he said that he had.
Hamilton-Smith then accused Rann and others of serious criminal misconduct, and he released the documents that he claimed supported his allegations. He accused Mike Rann of being involved in plans to give a company associated with the Church of Scientology favourable treatment in return for $20,000 in donations organised by Labor fundraiser Nick Bolkus. Rann's Government was corrupt.
Now documents in brown envelops turn up to oppositions all the time. Oppositions rely on these leaks to get a foothold in criticising the government of the day and making them accountable. Rann gives many genuine examples from his time as Opposition leader. But the Church of Scientology? That should have been a red flag, surely, despite the Rann Government being very socially conservative.
The fallout from the dodgy documents saga is that Hamilton-Smith has had to apologize, and is currently facing legal action for defamation from both the ALP State Secretary Michael Brown and Nick Bolkus. The Liberals in SA are desperate in their desire to return to power, but they are divided, are in a bad way in electoral terms, and they appear as a rag tag party rather than as the alternative government. They need to win 10 seats to govern and have around 9 months to get their act together.
The affair has significantly damaged the Liberal Party's standing in the electorate and that of the Opposition Leader, who it is charged, doesn't have the right character (ie., trust and reliability) to be Premier. The SA Liberals have become consumed by leadership speculation, and there have been calls for Hamilton-Smith to throw in the towel. As they say, he is one bad poll away from being dumped as leader. He fights on, but he is badly damaged--a "lame duck" leader.
It is still unclear who was behind the dodgy documents hoax. No one seems to care. All the interest is focused on the rag tag Liberals who face a state election next year, and they have made little headway in making the Rann Government accountable. Instead of standing on their principles and showing why state intervention into the market economy is a bad thing--- (their core economic philosophy), they aim to show that Labor, as always, is the party of mates, rorts, special deals, cronyism and patronage.
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The Australian reports that Hamilton-Smith, the Liberal leader, had promised Ms Vicki Chapman and her supporters he would quit as leader if the party lost the next state election to ensure a smooth leadership transition.
It's probably not enough to save him, but Ms Chapman still lacks the numbers for a successful leadership spill.