Another one from the vault – this blog was first published on Just Humour Us prior to the 2007 election, when it looked like John Howard would step down as candidate or retire mid-term. Plus ça change…
It would seem that the Federal Liberal Party are about to encounter the type of leadership musical chairs problem that until recently plagued the Labor Party. In an attempt to avoid wasting many more years through in-fighting in both government and opposition, we have come up with the following suggestions. They seem to work quite well with infants students who suffer with the same ‘but you went first yesterday’ mentality.
Leader for the Day
One person is selected at random to be the leader. They get to sit in the big chair.
M: Looking at our next likely candidates for Prime Minister, we may need to supply a booster seat.
They can choose their own assistant leader. This is usually their BFF (BestFriendForever) of the moment. These two get to do all the important jobs that day. No-one can be leader two days in a row.
Alphabetical Order
An old favourite. Everyone’s name is written down. Start with the ‘A’s’ and work your way through to the ‘Z’s’. Everyone gets a turn, no-one misses out. No favouritism.
Pick a name from a hat
Totally random. You never know when your turn will come up, so you always have to be prepared. Cabinet portfolios could also be assigned this way – along the same lines as the family Christmas draw.
S: And no redraws because you got Environment and Water Resources last year.
M: Those darn greenies are impossible to buy for!
Star of the Week
Everyone gets to be the centre of attention for one week. They can design their own marketing campaign, they get to talk about themselves all the time, everyone else has to defer to them for the week. Next week, they are back to being one of the crowd.
We figured if these techniques work with the average 6-8 year old, they should be perfect for dealing with our federal parliamentarians.