Premier Beattie - the long goodbye ...
Continuing the 'will he won't he' approach adopted in recent times, Premier Beattie has indicated that he might resign within the next 12 months, handing over the reins to Deputy Anna.
See - Beattie may retire before next election.
For some, the fact that he made the comments to Labor's Queensland state conference in Brisbane is significant.
For others, it merely continues a stream of hints from the Premier that he will quit at some time and probably hand power over to Anna.
Nothing new there.
It seems Beattie's long goodbye will continue for some time ...
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 8:15 PM
4 Comments:
Now that Beattie has said the words that he is considering leaving the boys in the back room will be busy to see who will replace him as it is clear that Anna is not the one.
By letting them know what he is about he has made himself redundant just like the Mayor of Toowoomba.
6:17 PM, July 01, 2007
The is less about "renewal, refresh and reinvigorating the party" and more like getting out while the going is good!!!
7:55 AM, July 02, 2007
Excerpt from the Courier Mail:
Early exit wouldn't surprise
2 July 2007
Peter Beattie isn't telling us anything new when he says he will decide his future over the next 12 months. The Premier has already told us he will stay until the water grid is finished – the end of 2008.
Beattie also will clock up 10 years in office next year, so it was always a good bet he would depart before the next poll.
If he retires at next year's Labor conference, Deputy Premier and Treasurer Anna Bligh will have a year or more to prepare for the election.
But Beattie's announcement indicates he will go sooner rather than later.
A cynic might suggest he studied the water grid's progress and concluded he just couldn't wait around.
Even this Teflon-coated Premier would not want to cop the flak over a water grid delivered both over-time and over-budget. Best leave that to a loyal deputy.
Which brings us to ponder what sort of legacy Beattie will leave his heir-apparent.
Bligh, more than anything, will want to emerge from his shadow and carve out her own distinct style.
Where Beattie proved to be a reactive premier – always responding to policy crises as they arose – Bligh may opt for a pro-active approach and a carefully planned agenda.
Where Beattie was a "fire-fighter" – locked into short-term political survival in extinguishing political spot-fires as they ignited – Bligh, by contrast, will need to keep her eyes on the policy horizon and lead Labor back to "big picture" politics.
In fact, we've already had a taste of Bligh's "big picture" in the form of the social infrastructure mantle she paraded in this year's budget.
But, ironically, Bligh's grand vision for Queensland may well be hamstrung by Beattie's own legacy of reactive politics.
By committing to long term economic infrastructure programs in his final years, Beattie has penned in Bligh's aspirations.
Future spending commitments are set, limiting Bligh's own potential stamp on government.
Bligh's big challenge will be to avoid a cycle of debt, especially given the heavy borrowings in this and last year's Budget.
A second test will be whether Bligh can market herself as a different product from Beattie, particularly as the electorate tires of the state Labor brand.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma successfully did this after Bob Carr's retirement.
For Beattie's supporters, the Premier's retirement brings to an end a remarkable public career.
For his critics, his departure won't come a moment too soon.
1:18 PM, July 02, 2007
Now it seems that Pete thinks he can tell his party who will be there leader when he goes!!!
Strange about that as I think any political party would have it's power brokers looking for what to do now the the leader is going. It is only a matter of time and I believe it will be sooner than later.(We hope!)
We all have to keep an eye on the Gordon Nuttall trail.
7:43 PM, July 02, 2007
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