Current Issue #488

Slings and Arrows: Career Enhancement and the 2017 Political Form Guide

Slings and Arrows: Career Enhancement and the 2017 Political Form Guide

It’s that time of the year again, when you’re getting restless and career headhunters are full of sage advice to applicants seeking new horizons. The only person missing is the Adelaide Workplace Jargon Translator. Here’s some assistance.

Adelaide Career Enhancement – A Learner’s Guide

Variable vibrancy

But really! None of this applies to Adelaide, where the buzz market word continues to be ‘vibrancy’ and we enjoy using plain English without fear or favour. Not like Melbourne or (god forbid) Sydney. Here’s a taste of the dialect there. It may have applied to people you know there whose job history is, shall we say, flaky? Did they ever mention these?

Management material?

But for those happily consolidating their careers and in sight of the management summit, here’s the go on commerce-speak.

2017 SA political form guide

But back to reality… Last year’s findings of the Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission have increased unease among some MPs as both Labor and Liberal parties begin their yearbefore-the-2018-poll rebranding.

There are several parliamentary retirements looming for Labor, as it plans to refresh various seats (Enfield and Croydon – and perhaps Cheltenham). The tactic is to install fresh new faces to obscure the same tired old brand. The Libs are doing likewise (watch Waite, Kavel and perhaps Dunstan).

Note that Cheltenham and Dunstan are the leaders’ electorates. The big (back room) question for both parties is whether to dump and install new head prefects while there’s time. One has the pong of avoiding ministerial accountability over several terms and is very clearly coming to the end of his use-by date; the other has the pong of an inability to create an illusion that, after 14 years (and his serving two terms as leader), the Libs can offer a winning package to a very disillusioned SA voting public.

If there is to be blood on the floor of the leaders’ offices, it will have to start flowing soon, to allow time to embed a new leadership images across SA communities.

On both sides of state parliament, there’s also much deadwood dating back some time. And if Mr X (or equivalent) entices a fresh chainsaw gang to contest some electorates, anticipate a frenzy of political wildlife jumping from the canopies early and slipping into the safe retirement long grass on large superannuation payouts.

Political staffers also will be ‘considering their career options’ this year in anticipation of unpredictable times ahead. Remember, while retirement may be optional this year (for MPs), voting next year will be compulsory (for you).

Them’s the rules, folks!

Ash Whitefly is Executive Director of the Adelaide Whitefly Institute of Diplomatic Studies

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