Agro in politics

Not many people would try and bust their way into a Young Liberals meeting (in fact most would try and fight their way out). But this is exactly what happened at a flare up of factional rivalries at MP Alex Hawke's electoral office last month, when Hawke called police claiming about 40 uninvited people tried to force their way inside his office.

Then came the "agro husband punch up" with premier Mike Rann at the National Wine centre. These incidents have drawn the public's attention once again to the personal lives of politicians and the rivalries between them. We might not have as much biff as in other political systems. But when anything does happen, we all flock to it like kids on a school oval rushing towards a scrap between two ten-year-olds.

The Mike Rann incident — like so much in state politics at the moment — was personal. The assault led to revelations that Rann had had considerable personal contact with the estranged wife of the assailant, including phone calls and up to 10 text messages a day. The husband, Mr Rick Phillips, described the liaison as a "clandestine one-on-one relationship." Due to the public nature of the wine centre encounter, Rann has now been put on the back foot, and has been forced to explain this relationship to the community. He has even revealed threats made to him and his family.

The publicity of the Young Liberals brouhaha seemed to be intentional. Hawke claimed that a group of 40 were gatecrashing a meeting of Young Liberals. The 'gatecrashers' and the police say, however, that it was factionally motivated and, according to Sergeant Michael McInnes, "for the purposes of creating a little bit of a media stir". The group who tried to enter the meeting (many card-carrying Young Liberal members) in turn claim that Hawke refused them entry because he was concerned they were allied with his factional rival and previous boss David Clarke.

Branch-stacking is considered an art in many political circles. But stacking the odds in your favour by locking out some Young Libs and calling the police is a desperate tactic. Hawke is left looking like a fool and has incuured the wrath of some in his own party. Inter-factional rivalries have, of course, gained media attention before, notably the Peter Baldwin bashing in 1980. Baldwin, who belonged to the left faction of the ALP, was allegedly bashed by underworld figure Tom Dominican, allegedly on orders (I'll use that word again) from right winger Graham 'Richo' Richardson. His bruised face after the attack was plastered all over the papers. Hawke's stoush seems tame by comparison.

We have always had a bit of biff in Australian politics — remember the infamous handshake between Mark Latham and John Howard? And a lot of verbal biff — Paul Keating being the most prolific and the most inventive with his insulting language. But other countries make us look mild. All you need to do is type "parliament" or "politicians" and "fight" into YouTube to see what things could be like. Our parliament has never descended into physical punch ups like those in Taiwan or Korea. We have never had a political speech like that of Czech politician, Miroslav Macek, who began with a swift backhander to his rival, Czech Health Minister, David Rath, claiming "he deserved it".

But when there are scuffles, so goes the media, rumour and soap opera.
Bella Counihan is The Goanna.