Davies deja vu

By Danny Buttler
NOT many people know how Tony Windsor, Bob Katter and Rob Oakeshott are feeling this week, but Susan Davies is one of the few.
The former member for Gippsland West, Ms Davies was one of three independent MPs who held the balance of power after the 1999 state election.
With Russell Savage and Craig Ingram, she ousted Jeff Kennett to form a minority Labor government under Steve Bracks.
More than a decade after the momentous events of September/October 1999, Ms Davies can still recall how she felt when it dawned upon her that Victoria’s future was in her hands.
“Ill, very ill … it’s a huge weight,” she said.
The similarities between current events and 1999 are hard to ignore.
The death of Frankston East MP Peter McLellan on election morning left the final seat tally undecided for another four weeks. It may be weeks before the West Australian seat of Hasluck is decided in this election.
The balance of power in 1999 was held by three rural MPs – the same as the current situation.
“I watched Kerry O’Brien (interviewing the three independents) and they were very similar questions to those we were asked in 1999,” she said.
A major point of difference between then and now is that Ms Davies was a former Labor candidate and was clearly on the left side of the political spectrum.
But when she and the two conservative independents got together to shape the government, Ms Davies claims party politics was the furthest thing from their minds.
“Even though Russell and I had very different values in a lot of areas, we were both very conscious of how parliament was working,” she said.
“There were a whole lot of democratic issues that we were concerned about that were at the forefront of our minds.”
Unlike Craig Ingram, who demanded increased flows into the Snowy River as the price of his support, the other two had no ironclad guarantees of support for their electorates.
“In retrospect, I should have got some written guarantees for my electorate. I regret that – from a political point of view it did not help me,” she said.
But despite some regrets, Ms Davies remains proud of her role in guiding Victoria through one of its most turbulent political periods.
“I remain very proud of the honourable role that we played,” she said.
“I think Parliament was better and Victoria was a better place because of the way we had managed the process.”
While the memories came flooding back, Ms Davies clearly had an eye on the future as she watched events unfolding over the weekend.
“I would have to say for those three rural independents, they are very thoughtful and seem to be going beyond featherbedding their own electorates,” she said.
While pundits make predictions and politicians head into election extra-time, Ms Davies said there was no way to tell which way the independents might swing their support.
“I think that is far too early to talk about that. I think they have a very difficult job.”
Whatever the outcome, the Outtrim farmer said she was confident the Australian people had made the right call.
“There is a great wisdom in the people Australia-wide. They have said we don’t like the government, but not enough to throw them out.”