We’re seeking to understand the questions: Who governs us? How are we governed?

Whether as Opposition or if they were elected to govern in Canberra the Liberal-Nationals Coalition are one of the major Australian players in governing us.

While we have locally elected representatives for Dickson and Ryan (Peter Dutton and Jane Prentice both Liberal) the leadership of the party determines much if not most of how we are governed.

Every morning when Federal Parliament sits the Coalition leadership meets to plot the day ahead. They are:
[ul]Tony Abbott
Julie Bishop
Warren Truss (National)
Barnaby Joyce (National) (QLD elected Senator)
Eric Abetz (Opposition whip)
Christopher Pyne (Opposition whip)
George Brandis (Opposition whip) (QLD elected Senator)
Joe Hockey (shadow treasurer)
Brian Loughnane (current Federal Director of the Liberal Party of Australia)
[b]Peta Credlin[/b] (Abbott’s chief of staff)[/ul]

Brian Loughnane and Peta Credlin are husband and wife.
[ul]Insider quote: Peta and Brian have got stars in their eyes. They’ve got ‘soon to be PM’ fever. They think they are going to be in the Lodge in the next 10 minutes.[/ul]
Both are political junkies drawn together in the party’s engine room. If Abbott wins control of Federal Parliament Credlin has her name of the chief of staff door. Her sole mission for now is to get Abbott into the Lodge. The power couple are focused on victory.

Peta Credlin as Tony Abbott’s chief of staff holds a very powerful position in our governance. The chief of staff position is:
[ul]not an elected position
an apparatchik
unknown to the public
stand a heartbeat away from their boss
follows Abbott everywhere
serve as a sounding board
sentry
touchstone
battery charger
keeper of the flame
juggle schedules staff parliamentary sittings policy
navigating the future as well as the next five minutes
anchors the leader’s office.[/ul]

Credlin defines her job as:
[ul]providing strategic political and policy advice
managing shadow cabinet
coordinating the opposition’s legislative proram[/ul]

Another way of looking at her job is:
[ul]cracking the whip
collecting scalps
copping flak
shepherding rogue backbenchers
mood manager
bouncer
alter ego
“javelin catcher”
bad cop to Abbott’s good guy
the leader’s shield.[/ul]

“If there’s bad news to deliver to a colleague or a staff member who needs disciplining you do the deed…your unspoken role is to soak up pain on behalf of your boss.”

Peta Credlin is a personally powerful woman:
[ul]Tony Abbott routinely refers to her as ‘the boss’ – “What does the boss think?”
Abbott also calls her “the force majeure”
Tony’s wife Margie Abbott says: “I’m scared of her”
she’s an alpha female
Credlin describes herself as “the Queen of No”
a control freak – “She controls absolutely everything”
Peta ‘full back’ Credln
at school she used to take the teacher to task – she seemed to know more than everyone else
very good at assimilating information and turning it to strategic advantage
oodles of ‘erotic capital’
the ‘princess of process’
runs through all the invitations with a red pen
Coalition staff live in fear. She lets it be known she controls jobs and resources.
potentially career-limiting price of disappointing her
can be very combative confrontational unreasonable a micro manager very frustrating at times lays into people from time to time pretty savage
can’t get ahead in the office if you disagree with her
some count 8 out of 10 staff members who left during her tenure
during her tenure as deputy she boosted 4 media assistants from a large office she bagged for herself
“No one person should have this much influence”
“She’s on the road with him [Abbott] al the time making herself indispensable. She does everything for him; whether he needs a cup of tea or an important policy paper she’s there. He shrieks ‘Peta Peta Peta.’ It’s too close.”
answering questions on the leader’s behalf – “She shouldn’t tell people [backbenchers] what to do and what not to do”
a strong woman
obsession with details
her conversation crackles with ‘West Wing’ sound bites
she is the person most insistent on maintaining message the least likely to be spooked by adverse events
shapes positions and takes authorship
[/ul]

Peta Credlin’s background for the position:
[ul]Aged 40
from a devout Catholic family in country Victoria
eldest child of 4
standout student at Sacred Heart College
deputy captain in her final year
Graduated in law and worked with Kay Patterson
swotted up on tactics strategy Odgers’ guide to senate rules and procedures and picked the brains of parliamentary clerks
married newly appointed head of Victorian Liberal Party Brian Loughnane
worked for communications minister Richard Alston
worked for 3 years with Racing Victoria’s executive to manage public relations
worked with defence minister Robert Hill on getting WorkChoices and the Telstra sale through the Senate
joined consulting firm Gavin Anderson
Turnbull initially appointed her his chief of staff then demoted her to deputy
began a Masters of Law
appointed Abbott’s chief of staff
[/ul]

…and they call her the ‘cockroach’ – “The cockroach lives on!”

extracts from a story by Kate Legge in The Weekend Australian Magazine 5-6 November 2011