The Ides of March beckon for Julia

04/02/12

The Hon Warren Truss MP

As Julia Gillard prepares the butcher’s paper for tomorrow’s crisis summit of the Labor caucus and BBQ retreat to The Lodge, many of her MPs are busy sharpening knives with her leadership squarely on the chopping block.

“Out of ideas, out of excuses and fast running out of time,” is how Leader of The Nationals Warren Truss characterised Ms Gillard’s motives for the think tank.

“I doubt there’ll be much love at this love-in.

“You don’t need a soothsayer to tell you March looms as ominous days for Julia Gillard. Most pundits agree that unless there is a clear, dramatic revival in the government’s stocks over February-March, Labor’s faceless men will take matters into their own hands yet again.

“By the time the Queensland state election polls close, the federal numbers will have been counted.

“It is appalling that the Prime Minister and her Cabinet, after just four years in government, have run out of ideas, but this crisis powwow is as much Julia Gillard’s desperate bid to revive her flatlining leadership as filling the ideas vacuum.

“She’ll look to embrace the Labor caucus to shore up support, and there will be photo ops and smiles aplenty, but beneath the public façade bitterness, resentment and self-interest swirl and the faceless men are circling.

“You get the sense it’s just a matter of time before they take another stab at a leadership coup.

“In the meantime, having stoked the ideas furnace at the crisis summit, Labor MPs will retire to The Lodge for a BBQ. On current form Julia will burn the chops.

“The Prime Minister would be well advised to count the cutlery, paying particular attention to the sharp pointy ones.”