I refer, of course, to the blossoming affection that Dominic Perrottet and Daniel Andrews have for one another.

It is, on its face, little short of astounding. Until, that is, you reflect for a moment on the nature of post-ideological, PR driven politics in Western democracies, and, in particular, on the east coast of Australia.

UNDEMOCRATIC

The new-found alliance tells us much about the politics of the early 21st century – how the politics are played, what the priorities of leaders are, and the strategies and tactics used to achieve their largely undemocratic objectives.

The still-fresh and extremely active NSW Premier let the cat out of the bag in a Q&A session that followed a speech given by Perrottet to the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) in late February 2022.

This set of admissions should be regarded by all as a primer for the new order of cynical, people-ignoring political management.

He began: “I get criticised for being the open-up guy. He (Daniel Andrews) gets criticised for being the lock-down guy. If we could somehow work together…”

So the two of them formed a “strategic plan” to “mirror” one another’s settings, even coordinating announcements.

Hence, they would avoid media, bureaucratic and Big Pharma criticism by each being able to say, “well, look at what NSW is doing”, or “look at what Victoria is doing”.

An afficionado of crime fiction might call this the political equivalent of giving one another an alibi. Perhaps even of committing one another’s murders.

I am not the only one onto this. The former Liberal, now Liberal Democrats NSW Senate candidate, John Ruddick, has addressed the same material and has drawn similar conclusions about the Lib-Lab unity ticket.

As has the International Committee for the Fourth International (the World Socialist Web Site), not an outfit I ever expected to be quoting.

But we do live in strange political times, where old ideologies, predictable allegiances and embedded modi operandi are no longer the norm.

We now have a Left which hates the working class, for example. And Liberal Parties for which “conservatism” is, seemingly, a legacy belief system and an embarrassment for the likes of Tim Wilson and Dave Sharma.

DICTATING

A benign interpretation of this unexpected alliance might be, they are simply being pragmatic, or they really want the best outcomes for their constituents – like getting the children back to school – and don’t want the media or interest groups dictating their decision-making (Perrottet’s own explanation).

Or they are outwitting the media and this is a good thing for all of us, or even that Perrottet has been clever at nudging Andrews towards more middle-of-the-road policy positions.

Another take on the bromance, not so benign, is that in the age of the win-at-any-cost politician, this rare glimpse behind the very opaque curtain of current governments reveals what really goes on.

Maybe it reveals just how cynical they are, the ends to which they will plot and scheme to achieve political longevity, the lies they are willing to tell and the tactics they wish (normally) to conceal from us.

In the CEDA Q&A, the NSW Premier also noted the wars between the Departments of Health and Education over returning children to school.

Education officials are no doubt simply reflecting the bully-boy positions of the teachers’ unions – who are quite happy to see thousands of their members on the job scrap heap because of their refusal to get the jab.

They have insisted on rapid antigen tests (RATs) for pupils and teachers, while Health was arguing they were unnecessary. Guess who won out?

And how much was wasted on buying RATs during an Omicron surge where it was (and is) likely that every man and his dog in both Victoria and NSW will get COVID.

Hence, for Dominic, the “victory” was in working with Daniel Andrews to together buy gazillions of RATs. The process becomes the objective, almost.

HANDBOOK

Yes, we get it. Government is a game in which there are competing interests – nothing is straightforward and perception reigns. The end justifies the means. Straight from the Niccolo Machiavelli handbook.

Nothing really new, you might think. But what we have lost along the way is genuine differentiation between the major Parties, which gave voters a real and meaningful contest.

Further, that a Liberal premier is willing to, in effect throw his interstate Liberal co-leaders under the bus, shows how far we’ve fallen in terms of honour, morals and standards of political behaviour.

(One can only wonder what Victorian Liberal leader Matthew Guy and NSW Labor leader Chris Minns think of the behaviour of Perrottet and Andrews respectively).

Perrottet’s political behaviour mirrors that of the Prime Minister, who has been willing to sacrifice our federation and our international reputation as a liberal democracy since the very start of the COVID fiasco in March 2020, and who now dares to seek a fourth term of Liberal-led government.

For ScoMo’s strategy, borne either of fear or cynicism or both, was, from the very start, through various acts of commission and of omission, to pass the buck.

He said one thing (about his abhorrence of COVID mandates) while meaning another.

His praise of the actions of political opponents committing relentless acts of bastardry on their own people, to pivot without apparent cause, to imprison Australian citizens, and to claim the credit for saving lives is risible.

To say that there is no longer a sliver of difference between the legacy Parties, and to say that nowadays politics is utterly cynical and mischievous, are not new claims.

It is just refreshing, even if perversely refreshing, to see a political leader actually admitting what they are all up to.