- I shall have to explain to Upoverites that Mr X, as he is often known, was an "independent" member of the state parliament at one time. He got in on an anti-gambling platform and with some slick media work. He is outstandingly good at that.
Whether he is a good politician is another matter. He certainly has ideas. He has been known to support "popular" causes. He is outspoken. And yes, he can get that all important publicity by playing the media with all sorts of stunts.
He has now gone from being a single independent to running a political party in his own name the "Nick Xenophon Team" or "NXT".
As soon as he did that alarm bells rang in my mind. We have just had the debacle that was the "Palmer United Party" and, lurking in the background, is "One Nation" which is often called "Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party".
I simply don't trust anyone who names a political party after themselves. It reeks of arrogance. It also says, "I don't have ideas. I don't need ideas. All you need to know is that I am me."
I know people will disagree with me but too many people, people who should know better, have told me recently, "Oh yes, I'll vote for Nick. He's a top bloke." I have asked them what he stands for and they shrug, look confused, even say it doesn't matter.
But it does matter. This man, and possibly several more under his name, could hold the balance of power in the Senate.
He is already talking about how he will see to it that a free trade agreement is dismantled. I have issues with the free trade agreement but talk of dismantling it is simply irresponsible. Nobody seems to be taking much notice though - after all this is Mr X talking. So far he hasn't had much criticism in the media - not even for that directorship he "forgot" and failed to declare. That would be a hanging offence for the leader of one of the major parties.
So what is it with Mr X? Why is it so necessary to give him so much publicity and so little criticism? Does the media understand how much damage he could do if he gained the balance of power? He's no Senator Harradine. People knew where they were with that man. I didn't always agree with him but he was that rare thing, an independent politician who stood up for his state and stuck by his principles.
Perhaps it is time for the media to do the right thing and inform people that Mr X is not a Mr Harradine?
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4 comments:
The more the media tell me how wonderful the X man is, the more I wonder what they are not telling me. Like you, I do not trust parties named after a person unless it is a birthday party.
(1) Curious to know why you think that it is bad to stop free trade.
(2) I don't think it is bad that he doesn't stand for particular things. His strength as a politician is that he has done things because they are right at the time they are right to do them. This is much more important than having a specific platform that determines everything about you. He may have stood as a one point senator (anti-gambling) but aside from thinking yes, that is enough of a reason to vote a person in, the fact is that he has fought for many things that are good to have fought for.
For example, he fought for the Murray. The Greens weren't! It was a one-man campaign. He didn't get what he asked for, but he got a lot more than the C/W govt was willing to offer.
Having said all that, yes, I take your point about the name. However, trouble is, what would another name say?
Mr X gained notoriety and a seat in parliament on an anti-gambling platform, yet there are more advertisements for gambling in the media and the community than ever before. We are still regularly hearing dreadful stories of tragedy caused by gambling addictions. Gambling is invading so-called 'family-friendly' activities like attendance at sporting events etc. so conspicuously, we are beginning to hear new stories of gambling addictions because people are unable to separate a sporting competition from the gambling that is overtly pushed as 'part of the game'.
What sort of track record is this for a politician who said he was anti-gambling? It doesn't look like effective governance on that issue to me!
Cathy the last thing we need right now is someone thinking he can disrupt trade agreements that have taken years to negotiate and that, realistically, are the way business is done on an international level. I do have concerns about some aspects of the agreements and the impact they have but old style protectionism is no longer possible or affordable.
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