Roxon’s 10 points for good government

Former Labor Attorney General Nicola Roxon delivered a speech on ten housekeeping tips for a future Labor Government. In one sense it is a catalogue of how bad Kevin Rudd was, but the ten points are worth highlighting as general good practice:

  1. Labor must always focus on the fact that good policy improves people’s lives and that is why the party exists.
  2. Governments as a whole, and the prime minister in particular, need to keep their focus high level – spending time and energy on the things that really matter.
  3. Good leaders are good delegators.
  4. Labor needs to welcome debate, not fear it.
  5. Be polite and be persuasive. Or I could call this “Keep yourself nice”.
  6. Always ask what you can do for the party (and the nation) not what it can do for you (with apologies to JFK).
  7. Good governments run best with good diaries – so boring, but universally true.
  8. Choose good people – as leaders, as MPs and as staff.
  9. Accept you are not always right, and cannot always fix everything. It’s easier with this as your starting point.
  10. And lastly, never forget polling is only a snapshot, not a predictor.

No 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are ones I especially endorse.

Comments (15)

Login to comment or vote

Add a Comment