Kentucky’s Bruce Watson turns his attention to Bill Shorten and “James the Plumber”.
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In March this year, Bill Shorten introduced his new concept in political theory – “TAP politics”.
The ideas all revolve around Shorten’s ideal “common man” – “James the Plumber”.
He invited us all to consider why James Hardie should be privileged over James the Plumber when it came to taxation policy.
His economics colleagues all nodded wisely.
When I went to Google to check the text of Shorten’s remarks about James the Plumber, I also discovered an interesting reference to a short salacious story called It Was Saturday Night by Alejandro Lencro.
This describes the erotic relationship between unfulfilled housewife Sarah and the obliging James the Plumber.
This was a revelation to me, and it explained why all the ALP members appear to be playing with their phones and tablets, while the Coalition government tries to explain its various budgetary approaches.
They are not texting home – they are checking on James the Plumber’s progress as the modern “common man”.
Political theory has never been more intriguing.
Even if we can ignore references to plumbers, “TAP politics” can be seen as a great improvement in Shorten’s approach.
Where before he simply refused to accept any attempts to resolve Australia’s financial problems, now he is “on TAP” – “Thinking About Policies”, perhaps?
So far, Shorten’s new way of thinking has not yet escaped the shackles of his familiar class conflict models, but we can all hope for more exciting ideas to come.