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Desperate Jay pulls out the big guns

Oct 21, 2013
Jay Weatherill will today announce a transport plan for SA.

Jay Weatherill will today announce a transport plan for SA.

In the wake of his worst political week since he became Premier exactly two years ago today, Jay Weatherill has decided to go for broke.

Shortly today, InDaily understands the Government will reveal the draft of a long-awaited comprehensive transport plan for South Australia (Update: the plan was announced – see our report here).

It will be the biggest – and probably the best – of his “Building a Stronger South Australia” policy announcements..

In the backrooms, Weatherill has also taken decisive action.

On the weekend, news trickled out that former Rann Government media man Rik Morris would be returning to the State Administration Centre to try to  right Weatherill’s listing ship of state.

Two years ago, no-one would have predicted Morris’s return – as he is closely identified with the Rann years – but neither would they have foreseen the mess in which Weatherill has found himself.

Last week was a disaster for Weatherill, with more disturbing revelations about the terrible performance of the Education Department, and the leaking of internal political strategy documents. One of Weatherill’s advisers was accused of the leak and stood down pending the results of an investigation.

The week topped a poor 12 months for Labor – one that started last October with the first revelation in Parliament about the Education Department’s disastrous handling of the aftermath of the rape of a child by an out-of-school hours worker.

That issue has become the kind of corrosive, slow-burning controversy that is most threatening to Weatherill’s carefully constructed political strategy.

His approach is based on the methodical and almost downbeat establishment of policies and priorities, in contrast to the Rann Government’s more conventional political blitzkrieg approach.

Weatherill’s strategy has always been more risky than it appeared. In our noisy, cluttered media world, would anyone pay attention?

The Premier’s personal and political penchant is to speak quietly and carefully; the horrible static of the Education Department debacle has meant that no-one can hear him at all.

Now, the very strength that caused the party to turn to Weatherill – his contrast with Rann – is damaging him and Labor.

In this regard, the return of Morris is both ironic and smart.

Morris was always one of the best media and political operators in the Rann government, both in his time with Kevin Foley and running the media show in Rann’s office.

Known amusingly as the “Velvet Fog”, Morris is one of those rare political types who can maintain good relationships with journalists while running a tight and disciplined agenda.

Having said that, he’s not a miracle worker, and the Government will need iron discipline and great policy ideas – communicated pretty much perfectly – in order to have any hope of survival after March next year.

The factional differences here have had little impact on the pragmatic decision to invite Morris back into the political fray (he joined the SA Tourism Commission at General Manager after Rann left Parliament).

Morris is from the right; Weatherill is from the left.

Above and beyond any factional allegiances or differences, however, both want Labor to win.

Morris will coordinate the Government’s overall media efforts, as well as provide bigger picture strategic advice, beginning from the middle of next week.

Today’s policy move is the most potent of Weatherill’s list, which has been fairly bland so far.

South Australia has lacked an overarching transport plan, and every interest group wants one. The Rann Government produced a draft in its early years, but never released a final report.

With all of the political attention on the Education Department, we can forget that public transport has become a huge negative for the Government.

Today’s transport plan should provide a very long-term vision for public transport and roads – everything from buses, to road freight, rail, a vision for metropolitan and regional road networks and more.

As another Rann era adviser, Jill Bottrall, noted last week, the Government’s only option to get itself out of its current hole is to crash through – keep making announcements, keep putting forward a vision for the future.

The question remains – will anyone hear what it has to say?

Disclosure: David Washington worked as a media adviser for the Labor Government from January 2011 to July 2012.

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