Duplicity, p.1
Duplicity, page 1
EPISODE TWO OF THE DEMOCRACY TRILOGY
DUPLICITY
RICHARD EVANS
First published in 2019 by Impact Press, an imprint of Ventura Press
PO Box 780, Edgecliff NSW 2027 Australia
www.impactpress.com.au
Copyright © Richard Evans 2019
This book is a work of fiction. The characters and incidents are the products of the writer’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any other information storage retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-920727-99-4 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-920727-98-7 (ebook)
Cover Design: Working Type, www.workingtype.com.au
Internal design: Working Type
For Jan
Your love and care for Rena was appreciated and will never be forgotten.
THE STORY SO FAR
Prime Minister Andrew Gerrard had it all. He was at the top of his political game, leading the parliament and the nation with his charismatic style for twenty years. The only thing he didn’t have was enough money.
Six months ago, after a boozy dinner with his friend, the president of Indonesia, Gerrard agreed to a funding deal for offshore immigration detention centres. Gerrard would take a clip of the money on the way through. Retirement sorted.
Until two weeks ago, when tragedy enveloped the parliament prior to the crucial vote to approve the first tranche of the funding for the immigration centres. A plane crash killed all politicians on board, and consequently Gerrard did not have the numbers to get his funding legislation through the House of Representatives as the opposition had the majority.
Using his devious influence on the Speaker, Gerrard demanded the entire legislation for the full amount of funding be rushed through the parliament, and thus ensured a plan to provide him $40 million secret commission in the process.
The clerk of the parliament became aware of the manipulation of the parliament and ultimately forced the Speaker to resign over her indiscretions with the prime minister. During the procedural confusion in the chamber, it was determined that the parliament has lost confidence in the government, a very serious action that causes the nation to be sent to an immediate federal election.
CHAPTER ONE
DAY ONE – THURSDAY
Robert Wong knocked respectfully on his professor’s wood-panelled office door. Finding it slightly ajar, he peered into the gloom and saw her concentrating on student papers. ‘Professor Rukhmani? Have you got a few moments?’
The professor looked up and smiled as she recognised the student, pushing her marking pen into her tied-back hair. ‘Sure Robert, come in. I’ve been meaning to contact you about your last paper.’
Wong tentatively ventured into the overstuffed office, wondering where he could sit.
‘Grab a seat. Here, pass me that pile of papers.’
He removed the large stack of student work from the chair and the professor slapped them onto another pile behind her. There seemed no order to the paper chaos surrounding the walls of the office, even the floor seemed to overflow with it.
‘You seem really busy, sorry to interrupt.’
‘No, not at all. I welcome the break. Don’t worry about the mess—’ The professor laughed, a little embarrassed by the state of her office. ‘It’s always like this. I seem to know where everything is though,’ she said dreamily, perhaps thinking she should be more organised.
Wong sat on the edge of the chair, a little nervous about talking to his politics professor about his grand idea. Leaning slightly right so as to see around a high stack of papers on her desk, he asked apprehensively, ‘What did you want to discuss with me about my paper?’
‘This interesting idea you have about the legacy of Obama being a reason the Republicans eventually lost Congress and the presidency.’ The professor reached up behind her toward another stack of papers, flicked up two assignments and with a quick flourish, withdrew Wong’s paper with her attached notes. ‘We haven’t studied Saul Alinsky and his doctrine for community organising, so I wanted to ask why you referred to him so much in your paper. In particular, his nineteen-seventies ideas of collective community action to achieve political outcomes. Don’t you think these ideas might be a little dated?’
‘Just like everyone else in the United States, President Obama never accepted the legitimacy of Donald Trump as president, becoming, I think, very protective of his own legacy. It seems to me he encouraged his supporters to resist Trump by strategically initiating a targeted campaign against the president during the first term. It is highly unusual for a retiring president to remain politically active – even more so during the next election campaign. Bush, for instance, never campaigned against Obama.’
Wong opened his canvas satchel and fleshed around, pulling out a tattered book. ‘I found Alinsky’s handbook in a second-hand bookstore a few weeks back. The campaign methods correlate with how Obama ran his entire administration for eight years – and his community activism after he left office.’
The professor took the dog-eared book and carefully flicked through it. ‘Alinsky was considered radical—’ The professor paused as she flicked the pages. Without looking at her student she asked, ‘Do you think Obama was a radical socialist?’
‘Not really. Actually, I don’t really know. Probably not, not strictly, but there is strong evidence that Obama was subtly using Alinsky’s suggestions to incite division in the community.’
The professor smiled as she leaned back in her chair. ‘That’s a big claim. Can you cite any examples?’
‘Well, in my view, there are plenty.’ Wong sat forward, shifting the stack of papers aside to lean on the desk. ‘During his time as president, Obama was consistent in blaming wealthy Americans for the social problems that beset the United States, especially after the financial crisis. He often suggested low-income earners were the victims of the greed of the wealthy and was always quick to support accusations of racism against police when black or brown Americans were involved – even when there was little evidence of actual racism.
In other words, he rubbed raw the resentment toward the police and the political system with his rhetoric – which mostly focused on the black community – and agitated almost to the point of inciting conflict. This could be interpreted as classic Alinsky teachings. His rules for radicals basically says: look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty in the community. No-one could deny the increased community demonstrations after Trump won.’
‘Oh sure, who could forget. Everyone came out to demonstrate and many didn’t even know why. They were angry with the result of the election and hate was stoked – it didn’t help that Trump was an obnoxious dud either.’
‘In my view, a lot of that disorder was driven by one of Obama’s supporter groups, Organizing for America,’ suggested Wong, pushing his glasses back up his nose.
‘What makes you think Obama was instrumental in Trump’s ultimate defeat?’
‘The OFA started campaigning immediately after Trump won office. Every time Obama spoke, he incited community action to reclaim America. Remember he was out in the hustings on a regular basis asking citizens to resist and reclaim? And he hardly ever mentioned Trump by name; he just referred to the many challenges and lies from the administration.
‘Like everyone else, he didn’t think Trump was worthy of high office, framing him as an enemy of American values. Everyone spoke against the president, community action groups mobilised, and it virtually became a community revolution, which is classic Alinsky.
‘In 2018 there were many congresswomen and men elected for the Democrats who came from a community movement. I found out the OFA recruited over fifty thousand community organisers to be disruptive against the administration by organising anti-Trump events.’
Wong reached back for his book, admiringly flicking through the pages before putting it back into his satchel. ‘When you think about it, Obama was a little more politically covert than historians give him credit for. In my view, he was very manipulative and massaged his image extremely well. Obama is still loved the world over in lots of ways, but the truth is, he didn’t achieve much as president – yet history has been very kind toward him, recording him as one of the best.’
‘Interesting. I hadn’t thought to link any influence of Alinsky on Obama. I probably wouldn’t share your view – there are a lot of differing thoughts when it comes to politics – but you have made a good case for it in your paper, so well done.’
‘Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes these organised community tactics get things done – it is used a lot more by the major parties in a lot of western democratic countries at the moment.’
‘Create division in the community and force the government to provide a solution.’
‘Exactly.’ Wong leaned back into his chair with a big smile, enjoying the moment with his favourite professor. ‘The Democrats in the States, especially in places like Chicago, have been influenced by this kind of community organisation strategy for years – we now see it in action at most elections.
‘This is the new power, I imagine. Community groups are getting organised and campaigning on single issues impacting elections. They are usually well organised too, just like these so-called progressive parties emerging in Australia. And it’s the reason, I think, Andrew Gerrard has been prime minister for so long
‘Not because of his policies?’
‘I think he’s a populist prime minister who speaks directly to the have-nots in the community in order to maintain his power. He wedges policy all the time, but I finally sense a mood for change.’
‘You think the electorate is in the mood to change the government?’
‘Gerrard has made some really provocative procedural reforms to the parliament over recent years yet remains popular because he subtly drives community division on other policy. He is silent on his parliamentary reforms, which suggests to the electorate there’s nothing to see. His party is better organised, using a whole raft of causes to get people out supporting him. Gerrard does exactly what Alinsky suggests – he picks a target, frames it to his advantage then personalises it, polarising the community to get active.’
Professor Rukhmani squeezed a slight admiring smile as she listened to her A-grade student.
‘Get discontented voters who believe society is fundamentally unjust to take their lead from community organisers speaking about unfairness and suddenly you have a revolution.’
‘One Nation and the other conservative groups?’ she asked.
‘Exactly. They’re growing because the conservatives are not strategically geared to organise the community. They seem too pompous to do anything other than act ethically, which is probably why they have remained in opposition for nearly twenty years. They don’t want anything to do with the socially and economically handicapped, which leaves a gap in their policy for One Nation and others to fill.’
Rukhmani’s chair squeaked as she leaned back. ‘Are you going to use your study to advance a political career?’
Wong chortled a little, then said, ‘That’s exactly what I want to talk to you about.’ The student leaned forward again with a broad, excited smile. ‘Why don’t you seek preselection for the federal election? I could be your campaign manager.’
The professor raised her eyebrows, flinging her arms out as if on a cross and looking to the ceiling in mock shock.
‘You’re kidding me, right?’ the professor scoffed as she straightened to address Wong. ‘And anyway, the election is too far into the future to even contemplate such a preposterous idea.’
‘Haven’t you been listening to the news?’ Wong said, tossing his hands into the air in bogus exasperation as he sat back.
‘If I could find my radio within this mess—’ the professor looked glumly about her office. ‘I’d be listening to music.’
‘Haven’t you heard about using technology, Professor?’ The student sassed her. ‘The government has been sacked by the governor-general.’
‘What?’ Rukhmani bolted upright in her chair. ‘When?’
‘About an hour ago. Apparently the speaker resigned, and the clerk prorogued the parliament, or something like that.’
‘You’re kidding me?’ Rukhmani fell back into her chair. Bewildered by the news, she ran her fingers absent-mindedly through her tied thick hair.
‘There’s a federal election called for the ninth of December, and it’s anyone’s guess what will happen. I hope Gerrard loses.’
‘They say a week is a long time in politics, and this week has been awful.’ The professor slowly shook her head before slapping her hands to her thighs. ‘This is unbelievable. First we lose politicians in a tragic plane crash, and now this – unbelievable.’
‘But with every misfortune comes opportunity,’ Wong smiled, nodding excitedly with eyes wide. ‘So, are you going to run in the election?’
‘Me? No! Why?’
‘You teach this stuff. Why not get real-life experience from an election campaign?’ Wong was almost bouncing in the chair, his tongue squeezed between his teeth. ‘We could treat it as a case study and film it for further academic analysis and research. We can have a website with our own social-media feed, and you could publish a daily diary linking back to theory.’
‘Hmm, I’m not so sure it’s a good idea,’ said Rukhmani, screwing up her face as she considered the idea. ‘For starters, the university would never allow it ethically and secondly, which party would I even stand for?’
‘Does it matter? We could only do this in a seat where you couldn’t win.’
‘The conservatives would never endorse me, and the socialists challenge me with their extreme liberalism. The Greens, well? Yeah, nah. Not a good idea.’
‘Either major party could select you in a seat that no-one cares about – and they think they will lose.’
‘Such as?’
Wong laughed like a young child wanting to blurt out a secret. ‘Why not run against Gerrard in Melbourne,’ he announced triumphantly. ‘It would be a fantastic story for the media, and we could have some really great fun.’ He was speaking staccato-like, his tone rising and quickening.
‘You’ll get preselected easily if you make an application, I’m positive. But we’ll need to move today. I’ll run your campaign for you, and you’ll get an applied political experience from the campaigning. This has got to be a great case study for you. We run the daily diary online and as I say link it to political theory. Plenty of your students would be willing to help. We may even get a documentary out of it.’
‘What about constitutional issues?’
Wong’s eyebrows raised, ‘Which ones?’
‘Citizenship, and perhaps office of profit.’
Wong considered the question for a moment, pinching his chin between his forefinger and thumb. ‘We renounce any citizenship duality immediately just to make sure, and you apply for extended leave from the university, just for a month, before you submit your application.’
‘That’s a ridiculous idea,’ said Rukhmani, punching a pointed finger at Wong. ‘Anyway, the conservatives would never select anyone like me to run against Gerrard.’ The professor placed her elbow on the desk clutter, tapping her fingers to her mouth and reflecting on the idea. ‘It took them years and years to have Italians and Greeks elected who weren’t born in Australia – they would never preselect an Indian woman federally.’
‘You wouldn’t be expected to win Melbourne against Gerrard. And there’s always a first time for selecting an Indian woman. Think of the media you would generate.’
‘I’m the wrong skin colour for Australians.’
‘We’ve had plenty of people with colour elected. Remember the Kenyan senator from South Australia? There’s still a Koori man in the Senate, and Speaker Bagshaw is Indigenous.’
‘Yes, but they’re not as black as me.’
‘It’s over.’ Prime Minister Gerrard sat at his parliamentary office desk, pinching the bridge of his nose as he gave the news to his friend the president of Indonesia. ‘The earliest we can get the money to you will be February.’
‘That is not good for me.’
‘There is nothing I can do about it now. I’m officially not prime minister for now.’
‘That is a sad news, my friend. I will now have to withdraw the order for clemency on your citizens.’
‘Amir, come on. You can’t execute them now just because you won’t get your money until next year. It’s only a few months, for fuck’s sake.’
‘There is no guarantee that the money will be transferred next year. You may not win the election.’
‘I will win the fucking election and I’ll get you your money!’ Gerrard barked into the phone.
‘Andrew, I cannot be sure, so I will stop all site works for the immigration detention centre on Ambon, withhold the clemency order on your drug-trafficking citizens, and recall my ambassador. You can forget any deal we may have had.’
‘What! Why?’
‘My country cannot trust you to maintain your word. If you want to regain our confidence, I suggest you win the election.’
‘I blame you actually,’ Anita Devlin said as she sipped sparkling wine from a plastic disposable cup.
‘For what, exactly?’ Barton Messenger had brought a bottle to the second-floor newsroom in the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery to celebrate the events of the day. An allegedly corrupt prime minister being sacked was definitely something to celebrate.
