Federal politics since Howard/ Today's events
There's something today that struck me as very odd - and I'm far from the first person to comment on this. Kevin Rudd's last press conference showed more of a human being than just about any public appearance since he assumed office.
I don't mean that he showed more emotion. Understandably he showed lots of emotion. I mean that his personality (which I think is fundamentally likable), was no longer obscured by glib phrases, smooth talking, evasions, the whole highly polished mask of plausibility we're so sick of. He didn't attempt his rhetorical: "Do you know something? (insert plug)", or his "that's why this Government is effectively (insert unprovable, subjective opinion)".
However, there was a genuine joke: "They are a good team led by a good Prime Minister.... I mean Julia, not me, because I'm still the... Actually I'm still the Prime Minister for another quarter of an hour! So watch out. We can DO THINGS!!!!"
There was only the sincere, sensitive nerd that I was two weeks too young to vote for. He showed very much the same easy-going, personable, intelligent idealism that endeared me to him when he first came to prominence in 2006.
What's more, there's a parallel to be made with Julia Gillard here. Gillard's cheeky sense of humor is well known, but most of the time it's obscured behind a stern demeanor, a dead-pan face and oblique phrases uttered in a monotone. Yet today - Thank Heaven! - she also made a joke. Whenever Kerry O'Brien mentioned something about it being a historic day for women, Gillard had the sense to inject with "and a historic day for red-heads!".
Now Abbott, poor thing!, I don't think has any mask at all. Not that I've noticed, anyway. Rudd and Gillard adopt the tactic of evading the question until they have run all the mental checks on their answer (can it be misinterpreted? could it offend anyone? could it upset any particular group? how could the opposition respond? does it present an appealing image of the government that appeals to everyone? etc.). Rudd and Gillard are both very conservative in their statements to the media. Howard was so good at speaking to the media that he didn't need to speak conservatively and he never looked awkward. Abbott just doesn't have a clue. He thinks out loud: what other explanation is there for a gaffe like "The statements that need to be taken absolutely as gospel truth are those carefully prepared, scripted remarks."?
What's the lesson here? Well, privately it has made me believe that our politicians are on the whole really nice people. They break the occasional promise, they can be manipulative, they can make heartless decisions (everyone has their own, but the one I remember is treating the world's most vulnerable adults - refugees - as criminals), but I think that underneath, most of them are sympathetic human beings. Not that we should be starry-eyed.
Moreover, I think that a significant number of high-profile politicians adopt a mask. These deliberately hide their personalities in order to appear plausible, professional, and to hide their vulnerability. Those who don't do this run the risk of becoming like Tony Abbott. Through their own tactless, the media's ruthlessness, and our own quickness to condemn, they appear disorganized verging on foolish.
So why can't the PM be more relaxed in the way he/she addresses the media? Why can't they be less polished and more human? I don't know the answer to this. Maybe the media warps our perspective, or maybe it warps the politicians' perspective. But if we want the politicians to drop their masks more often, we need to make sure that we are tolerant, sympathetic, and genuinely understanding in the way we listen to them.
I don't mean that he showed more emotion. Understandably he showed lots of emotion. I mean that his personality (which I think is fundamentally likable), was no longer obscured by glib phrases, smooth talking, evasions, the whole highly polished mask of plausibility we're so sick of. He didn't attempt his rhetorical: "Do you know something? (insert plug)", or his "that's why this Government is effectively (insert unprovable, subjective opinion)".
However, there was a genuine joke: "They are a good team led by a good Prime Minister.... I mean Julia, not me, because I'm still the... Actually I'm still the Prime Minister for another quarter of an hour! So watch out. We can DO THINGS!!!!"
There was only the sincere, sensitive nerd that I was two weeks too young to vote for. He showed very much the same easy-going, personable, intelligent idealism that endeared me to him when he first came to prominence in 2006.
What's more, there's a parallel to be made with Julia Gillard here. Gillard's cheeky sense of humor is well known, but most of the time it's obscured behind a stern demeanor, a dead-pan face and oblique phrases uttered in a monotone. Yet today - Thank Heaven! - she also made a joke. Whenever Kerry O'Brien mentioned something about it being a historic day for women, Gillard had the sense to inject with "and a historic day for red-heads!".
Now Abbott, poor thing!, I don't think has any mask at all. Not that I've noticed, anyway. Rudd and Gillard adopt the tactic of evading the question until they have run all the mental checks on their answer (can it be misinterpreted? could it offend anyone? could it upset any particular group? how could the opposition respond? does it present an appealing image of the government that appeals to everyone? etc.). Rudd and Gillard are both very conservative in their statements to the media. Howard was so good at speaking to the media that he didn't need to speak conservatively and he never looked awkward. Abbott just doesn't have a clue. He thinks out loud: what other explanation is there for a gaffe like "The statements that need to be taken absolutely as gospel truth are those carefully prepared, scripted remarks."?
What's the lesson here? Well, privately it has made me believe that our politicians are on the whole really nice people. They break the occasional promise, they can be manipulative, they can make heartless decisions (everyone has their own, but the one I remember is treating the world's most vulnerable adults - refugees - as criminals), but I think that underneath, most of them are sympathetic human beings. Not that we should be starry-eyed.
Moreover, I think that a significant number of high-profile politicians adopt a mask. These deliberately hide their personalities in order to appear plausible, professional, and to hide their vulnerability. Those who don't do this run the risk of becoming like Tony Abbott. Through their own tactless, the media's ruthlessness, and our own quickness to condemn, they appear disorganized verging on foolish.
So why can't the PM be more relaxed in the way he/she addresses the media? Why can't they be less polished and more human? I don't know the answer to this. Maybe the media warps our perspective, or maybe it warps the politicians' perspective. But if we want the politicians to drop their masks more often, we need to make sure that we are tolerant, sympathetic, and genuinely understanding in the way we listen to them.