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- 13 November 2001
Political Commentary
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Page: 18422
The Hon. AMANDA FAZIO [10.33 p.m.]: Tonight I shall talk about the lacklustre quality of some of the political commentary that the people of New South Wales have had to suffer both during the Federal election campaign and this week. In particular, I draw honourable members' attention to the phenomenon of failed political operatives who reinvent themselves as political columnists. I recognise that the need to have a string of commentators forces some media outlets to resort to employing people who have either failed in the political process or who are well past their use-by date. I comment specifically about the columns written by Remo Nogarotto, former State Director of the New South Wales Liberal Party, and Gary Punch, the former Federal member for Barton.
Those two people are close friends and were engaged to give different perspectives by the same newspaper during the Federal election campaign. It is interesting to examine the credentials of these two so-called expert commentators. When Remo Nogarotto left the Liberal Party his legacy was an organisation that needed major structural reform and Federal intervention in order to attempt to regain the confidence of the people of this State. Gary Punch is a former Young Labor activist who held the Federal seat of Barton until he resigned his candidature in the run-up to the 1996 Federal election when he thought that the party was facing defeat at the polls and his seat was likely to change hands. This is perhaps the greatest service that he has ever performed for the Australian Labor Party because he was replaced by Robert McClelland, a genuine Labor star as opposed to a spluttering catherine-wheel.
Who is this man who was tried to reinvent himself as a key political player and who now defines himself as a "former senior faction member"? Gary Punch was a junior Minister who coped with the pressures of the political process so well that he used to throw up before he faced Parliament at question time. He is a man who put himself forward as the "dream candidate" in the preselection process for the Auburn by-election. He thought he would have done well if someone had driven him from Oatley to Auburn in his Mercedes-Benz and shown him around the electorate. What a pity no-one else shared his dream. I am pleased that commonsense prevailed and Barbara Perry was preselected to stand for the seat. Barbara campaigned very well and has so far proved herself to be a very effective parliamentary performer who will represent the people of Auburn in an exemplary fashion.
Gary Punch thinks if he can manage to find a seat in State Parliament he can be a future Premier of New South Wales. Let us be realistic: Gary Punch does not have the commentator credentials of former senator and New South Wales General Secretary of the Labor Party, Stephen Loosley, who is well known for his in-depth knowledge of political processes in Australia, both State and Federal, and also overseas. He has a highly developed understanding of political history, and Gary Punch is a pale imitation in comparison.
Let us consider the career path of Gary Punch since he left Federal Parliament. He had a short period of employment in private enterprise and then worked as a lobbyist for the cotton industry, which is not one of the most environmentally friendly rural industries. Apart from being a Daily Telegraph columnist, he now wears two hats: he is an industrial relations partner at Phillips Fox and a cake shop proprietor in the southern suburbs. It is time that Gary Punch put his carpetbag in the boot of his Mercedes—perhaps it is too big to fit—and drove back to the southern suburbs where he belongs. He should stop hosting candidates' lunches as he is not in a position to bring any influence to bear with genuine decision makers in the New South Wales Labor Party. It is time he stopped masquerading as an informed political commentator, which he is not. The people of New South Wales deserve better commentaries on politics than those offered by these yesterday's men, and I hope that the major newspapers will be a little more selective when employing columnists in future.
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