Sleeping With The Enemy! In Fremantle, WA!

In political terms it’s not in keeping
To find one side with the other ‘sleeping.’
There’s sometimes a merging of red with blue
But crossing the floor makes a hullaballoo.
Still, parties known by the colors they choose,
Sometimes coalesce their various hues.
The Nationals with their green and gold
Have joined the Liberals true blue and bold.
When the Liberal party went for the blue
They thought it stood for all that’s best and true.
Of course we know why Labor’s flag is red
It tells of all those workers’ blood once shed.
It’s clear that Greens stand up for conservation
Of the world’s environment and vegetation.

But it seemed as if all that was changed,
All the colors completely rearranged
Just because a Green MP had gone to bed,
Not with an honest Labor party red,
But with a Liberal of repute so ‘blue’
At first no one believed the story true
Until she confessed to her affaire
With Perth’s chair sniffer extraordinaire!
The man, in State Cabinet’s been retained,
Having survived much more perverse a stain.
Her party would have expelled the harlot.
Who would vote for a Green so scarlet?
But she, as an Independent, ran for cover,
And supported the party of her lover.

POST SCRIPT

Later, explaining her conversion
After her romantic excursion
With a man of known perversion
She claimed no political subversion
Nor masculine coercion.
“It was,” she said, “a mutual diversion!”

 

Today’s big story in “Perth Now” is that ABC gardening guru Josh Byrne is the candidate the ALP are hoping will recover the state seat of Fremantle for them.   Fremantle, the heartbeat of WA Labor was lost at the May, 2009, by-election to the Greens candidate,  Adele Carles.   A personable, even charismatic figure, I gave her my first preference after Peter Tagliaferri, a solid ALP candidate and former Mayor.   The loss of Fremantle was a big  blow to Labor which till then had held the port city seat for some ninety years, even more grievous since it put them at further disadvantage to the Liberal minority government of Colin Barnett.  After the 2008 election had returned a hung Parliament he became Premier only after a hard driven deal with the Country party, known as  Royalties For Regions whereby 25% of state royalties from mining and petroleum were to be invested in regional and rural infrastructure and social services.

Any advantage Colin Barnett thought he’d gained by this Labor loss must have seemed illusory when in April, 2010, Adele Carles publicly acknowledged that she and Treasurer Troy Buswell had been having an affair. She had previously denied persistent rumours of this, claiming to be a victim of a Labor party smear campaign.  As you can imagine it created quite a stir.  I and many others believed her because it seemed such an unlikely alliance, not just politically but personally too.   Buswell had already quite a reputation as the bad boy of the Liberal party, particularly over a chair sniffing incident.   I wrote this pome in response to the whole affair and my personal sense of betrayal!  But I didn’t post it, still not wanting to join the gossip frenzy,  having some sympathy for both their partners and children who must have suffered from all the publicity, scandal and eventual family break-ups.   Buswell had to resign from his position as State Treasurer.  Carles looked likely to be expelled by the Greens but she preempted that in May by walking out and declaring herself an Independent.

Later in the year though the affaire assumed even weightier political dimensions when it was revealed that Premier Barnett had brokered a secret deal with Carles which did greatly strengthen his minority government.  Buswell is now back in Cabinet.  He and Carles are now ‘partners’ and living together. She will undoubtedly be running for election here in Fremantle again in 2009, this time against Josh Byrne, celebrity TV broadcaster and ‘greenie’ Labor party member,  if he accepts the ALP endorsement.   The Liberals won’t run a candidate, as they didn’t in 2009 which contributed greatly to the Greens victory.  As well there would have been some Labor drifters.  Will the Greens run a candidate again?  Somehow I can’t see many soft Labor or Greens votes and preferences going to Carles this time round.   Time will tell!