Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Why voting for the Federal Executive is important...

I'm not actually on the Federal Executive. Not only that, I've never run for a place on it, and nor am I doing so this time. However, it is important.

In the past, the view has been that the Federal Executive is just a talking shop, where difficult issues can be parked until they fade away. The inability of the body to get through its business in past years, so that important decisions were deferred, and some devolved to much less accountable bodies (or individuals), meant that those who were elected to take a more radical line were defeated by sheer inertia.

It is generally accepted that the body now works more efficiently. Proper agenda management, married to effective discipline and preparation, means that the Federal Executive has been rather more successful in its roles of scrutiny and strategic decision making. Meetings even end at a reasonable time...

Therefore, rather than voting for the same old people, why not, as I suggested from the platform on Sunday morning, vote for those candidates who have done things, rather than been things. I'll be looking at the manifestos but, if you want to make a pitch for my first preference, feel free to leave a comment here with your e-mail address. I won't publish your comment, because it might be seen to be a breach of the Election Rules, but I will respond directly...

2 comments:

MatGB said...

Hmm, let's see.

The current FE has been responsible for letting the Noble and *ahem* honourable Lord Rennard resign with grace, which was probably the best way to deal with the problem.

The current FE ensured we had a special conference to approve the Coalition, ensuring the party knew it was united on the matter and thus stopping media hyperbole cause more problems.

Those two, on their own, disprove the "does nothing talking shop" canard, right?

Not ended up running for any of the committees, next time maybe.

Mark Valladares said...

Mat,

I agree, which is why I noted the improvement in the performance of the Federal Executive. However, there is still plenty of deadwood, so the risk is that, with new leadership, FE might revert to type.

My fond hope is that, as the Federal Executive becomes more credible, better people will run - a virtuous circle, if you like.