CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 15
Minister Bellingham nodded at the PM’s personal assistant. ‘Good afternoon Minister Bellingham. Please go right in, the Prime Minister is expecting you.’
‘Thank you Patricia,’ he said and crossed to the main office door.
‘Solomon, come in. Glad you could come on short notice.’ The PM rose from his desk and walked to one of the sofas.
‘How was question time?’ Bellingham asked, taking a seat on the opposite sofa.
‘Long.’
‘Any surprises?’
‘Nothing I wasn’t expecting. The leader of the opposition put his usual request. He’s like a lion with a carcass. He reframes the question, but it always means the same; when are we going to release our new climate change statement.’
The PM settled back while Patricia placed a tray of refreshments on the table in between the two sofas. ‘Shall I pour sir?’
‘No, it’s fine Patricia. We’ll take care of it. Thank you.’ He smiled.
‘I told our esteemed colleague we would be making a formal statement two months from now. He wasn’t happy of course; when is he? The man’s a fool if he thinks he can bully me into making a statement before we’re fully prepared.’
‘Two months? Will we be ready by then?’
‘We will. With an election on the horizon we can’t stall over this much longer. There’s a lot of public noise on the climate change thing Bellingham. We’ve got to move quickly on it now. People need direction. They need leadership, and by God we’ll provide it.’
‘So how do you want to package this?’
‘Good God man, we’re not releasing a new brand of washing powder. We don’t have to package; we just need to decide on the best course of action for the nation.’ The PM looked sternly at his minister. ‘As you know I’m still not convinced this whole global warming thing isn’t just a natural cyclic event, and as such, nature will find its own solution and restore the balance it needs; in whatever form it sees fit. If I had my way we’d sit tight and do nothing more than reign in our over use of fossil fuel, decrease our reliance on artificial heating and cooling, and then let nature do the rest.’ He sighed, ‘But of course that’s not an option. People expect the government to find solutions. We have to be seen to be doing something; something of consequence.’
‘I agree’ said Bellingham, ‘If we don’t put forward our climate change plan soon the opposition will gain massive public support. The polls show their popularity is already climbing.’
The PM frowned, ‘Look Solomon, I’ve never let the polls influence my decisions before and I’m not about to let them now. Our job is to run the country, not to take part in popularity contests.’
Bellingham could see the passion in his leader’s eyes; his voice had a determined edge as he continued. ‘The Australian people may not recognise the depth of our commitment to them; they may not always agree with our decisions; and they may not even understand the ins and outs of some situations the country faces.’ He looked straight at the Minister for the Environment, ‘But regardless of the people’s mood we can’t make our popularity the primary driving force for what we do. Our job is to run this country in the best way possible, and to make decisions that will make it prosper and keep our people safe.’ His body stiffened, ‘Like it or lump it Solomon, we’re going to run the country according to those core beliefs. If we lose votes, then so be it. You can’t force people to stay safe. If they choose to dump us because they don’t believe we have their best interests at heart, then we will accept their decision and step aside graciously.’
The PM paused, leaned over and poured himself another cup of tea. Bellingham’s brow creased. He respected the PM’s sentiments, even though he didn’t share them. For him politics was all about winning office and then staying in it for as long as possible. Even if it that meant changing one’s beliefs daily, to make sure you gave people what they wanted, whether it was good for them or not.
As if reading his mind the PM looked across at his senior minister and said, ‘I know you enjoy being the ruling party Solomon. It’s easy to get sucked into the glitz and glamour side of politics, but I have to remind you again, we have a duty to make good decisions for the country. Even if it sometimes makes us unpopular. If the Australian voter fails to see why we’ve made our decisions, then it’s part of our job to help then understand, but if they do understand and they still don’t want to support us, then that’s democracy at its best. Voters are a bit like teenage children; they sometimes have to learn from the bad decisions they make, even when they’ve been advised otherwise.’ He sipped his tea, but continued to hold Bellingham’s gaze.
‘With all due respect Prime Minister, I do agree with you, but you fail to take into account the power of the media. How often do they distort our actions, or the information we release? How often do they deliberately distort our findings or our policy statements, just to make good headlines?’ Bellingham challenged, ‘I’m sorry sir, but I think you’re forgetting how powerful the Australian media is. And if I may add sir, you sometimes give the Australia voter more credit for sound political analysis than they deserve. You’re forgetting that a large chunk of the population rely on the media for their information, and that’s what influences them when they vote.’ He cleared his throat, ‘I’m sorry sir, but I honestly believe too many people haven’t got a clue about good and bad political decisions. They vote according to media hype and self interest. They don’t think about the country as a whole; they think only about their own little section of it. They can be as selfish as hell when they’re asked to weigh up local and national issues. If it’s close to home, they’ll vote in their own best self interest every time.’
Bellingham sat back and looked directly at the man opposite him, ‘Take the city versus the bush divide for example. City people don’t give a damn about the plight of farmer’s until they see empty shelves in the supermarkets, or the cost of milk increases.’
‘I guess we just have to agree to disagree on this Solomon. I believe Australians are smart people, and they do think about issues that affect them. They might listen to the media, but when they go to the polling booths, they’ve already worked through the big issues. They do care about the country as a whole, and they vote according to their conscience, not the latest media bash.’
The two men sat observing each other. The Prime Minister spoke first. ‘Let’s get down to business Solomon. You asked me how we should handle this. Well I think we should start with the EcoLogic predictions. We can rely on their silence for the time being, but sooner or later their timeframe will become an issue. If the media starts hammering a four-year disaster-strike, we’re in trouble. We need to make a statement on their projections, and we need to do it before the press is printing disaster headlines.’
He smiled, ‘Here’s your chance Solomon. You want to tilt the polls, then work with the EcoLogic people. Find out the best and the worst case scenarios and examine the effect of both on Australia first, then the rest of the world. If their projections are correct, the country will face the biggest threat in its history. Get your best people on the job and report back to me in four weeks. I’ll meet with Thomas Turner and Claudia McBride privately, and then you and I can compare notes, decide on the best course of action, and prepare a press release.’ He smiled at Bellingham, ‘but that’s not going to happen for some time yet, so don’t get too excited about it.’