MOVING ONWARD, EVER UPWARD

Canberra Times
February 22, 2009 Sunday
Australia

IT IS not often you will find a politician willing to imitate a large
green ogre on national television.

Then again, Joe Hockey has made a career out of the unlikely.

Born to an Armenian father and Palestinian mother, both of whom had
fled Palestine amid the turbulent and violent creation of Israel,
Hockey the youngest of four reaped the benefits of his parents’
determination and hard work to create a new life in Australia.

Educated at a prestigious Jesuit Sydney school, he went on to become
the first of his family, in any generation, to attend university.

Representing the wealthiest electorate in the country, his ascendancy
to politician, minister, cabinet minister and now key Opposition
spokesman is a remarkable tale of the unlikely.

Replacing embattled Deputy Opposition leader Julie Bishop last
week as Treasury spokesman, it is the second time Hockey has been
parachuted into a crucial and vulnerable portfolio, where the previous
occupant was seen to be underperforming. In February 2007, then prime
minister John Howard appointed Hockey as salesman of his WorkChoices
legislation, coming under brutal attack from a Labor opposition.

Ousting a staid Kevin Andrews as minister for employment and workplace
relations, Hockey immediately set about introducing himself to voters
as "minister for jobs", in honour of the national employment boom.

And then there was the Shrek episode.

Affixing a lime-green headband with ears to his head, Hockey appeared
on the Nine Network’s Mornings with Kerri-Anne, imitating the unlikely
fairytale hero while explaining his government’s industrial relations
reforms.

The charade was a nod to a political cartoon that appeared in
newspapers after he reportedly said Labor’s deputy leader Julia
Gillard was prettier than he was, although Hockey maintains his
comments were twisted.

It wasn’t quite the macarena but it was a brave move.

Indeed, the Member for North Sydney owes much of his public profile
to breakfast television.

He appeared on Seven’s Sunrise program alongside Kevin Rudd for five
years, tossing around friendly political banter each Friday morning.

The pair’s segment and the network enjoyed high ratings before
the jovial arrangement was scuttled by the "fake dawn service"
scandal. Rudd had been scheduled to travel to Vietnam for an Anzac
dawn service at the site of the Battle of Long Tan.

The service was to be broadcast live meaning it needed to be held an
hour before dawn in Vietnam to compensate for time differences.

Predictably, the proposal sparked outrage among veterans and when
details of the stunt appeared in newspapers, all parties denied any
knowledge of the plans.

Cancelling the segment, Rudd offered the excuse that the pressures
of an election year were a little much for two "long- standing mates"
on opposite sides of the political divide.

The early morning banter and ogre ears may have been put away for
good not least since Labor has interred WorkChoices in a pauper’s
grave but Hockey’s unique brand of politicking is still in play.

Facing off against Treasurer Wayne Swan this week on the ABC’s Q and A
program, Hockey drew laughter from the studio audience when he labelled
the Government’s spending habits as "worse than a drunken sailor".

It would be a mistake, however, to pigeonhole Hockey as the jolly
polly.

As the Coalition careened towards election defeat, Hockey was just
one of four Liberals to let Howard know his time was up. It was a
bold move from a man who owed much of his career to Howard, who by
appointing Hockey as cabinet minister afforded him the distinction
of being the youngest to take up such a role. Additionally, there
was no larger target leading into the election for Labor’s aggression
than WorkChoices and although plenty of mud was slung, Hockey emerged
relatively untainted by Howard’s poisoned chalice.

These days, a casual observer of question time would do worse than
to surmise Hockey perhaps harbours special feelings for the dispatch
box, so often does he leap to his feet to raise points of order with
Speaker Harry Jenkins.

He has now relinquished the position of manager of opposition business
to Christopher Pyne, but will have more than enough opportunity to
face off with the Government over the economy.

But it was not Labor, however, that presented Hockey with his first
challenge this week.

He had not set one foot in the House of Representatives or issued
a single line of a press release before suggestions appeared there
were intra-party grumblings over his appointment as Treasury spokesman.

Reports emerged Malcolm Turnbull had first offered the shadow Treasury
gig to Peter Costello, making Hockey a humiliating second choice. The
veracity and origin of the offer have now come into question, but
Hockey made it clear he had moved on from the issue.

"There was no instability," he said. "As I said earlier in the week,
if you get offered a baggy green cap to play for Australia, you don’t
really care who you beat for the job."

Second fiddle? Unlikely.