Playing for Kevin in the Grandstand

Friday, 9th February, 2007  - Richard Farmer 
The newspapers this morning might be talking of states baulking at the planned federal water grab but Prime Minister John Howard on television reviewing his meeting with the Premiers looked very relaxed that everything was going to turn out fine in the end.
The Premiers were doing their best to pretend that there were still serious concerns about the Howard plan but their body language suggested too that agreement was not far away.
Only as far away as this morning’s meeting in Sydney where the Premiers allowed Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd to pretend that his intervention was important in securing the future of the Murray Darling Basin. Letting their man in the grandstand get his face on the television was the least a set of Labor colleagues could do. Who knows, Kevin might be Prime Minister one day and it never hurts to have a federal leader grateful for your help.
Howard is a politician and he well understands the rules of the game. For him the reality of a major change in the way the country is run is worth allowing the other side a few moments of glory. Achieving a hand over of powers from the States to the Commonwealth to end the years of interstate rivalry will be a major plus. The votes in protecting the River Murray eventually will go to the Howard government not to the pretender.
Of far more concern to Mr Howard will be the need to further refine his climate change message. A good drop of rain would be a start with that followed by six months of absolutely normal temperatures. That would make global warming seem less important to the voters but in the absence of such help from nature there is a need to ensure that the balance is right between showing a concern for the future and the now. The busiest person in the Liberal team over the next few weeks will be the pollster charged with determining what weight to give to each.

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