Where The Hell Is The Leadership?
I live close to the water in Sydney. Sometimes after work, I’ll head for the ocean and wind down from a long day with a long walk. Not much ever happens on the walk, that’s why I like it. But tonight felt eerily different.
Everywhere I looked, the locals seemed to be out and about and restless, observing the unusual conditions. The forecast read blue skies, however all above us loomed a total blanket of smoke. It was the sunset though that besotted everyone. As it ended its day by slowly setting in the western sky, the colour of the sun was red like blood.
When you walk on by people, you sometimes overhear things. “It goes like that when the fires are really bad,” one said. “Those poor people whose house burnt down,” said another. Everyone’s thoughts were with those on the front line. “Where the hell is the leadership?” I also heard a young woman say to her man.
Watching this strange, red, setting sun as I walked next to the water – the young woman’s question made me think of some wise words once said by a very, very rich man (Warren Buffet):
“When the tide goes out, that’s when you learn who’s been swimming naked.”
When emergencies happen or disaster strikes, that’s when you see what your leaders are made of.
And that seems to be the sentiment on everyone’s lips. As our state burns, as people lose their homes, as many lives become at risk – where the hell is the leadership?
Look, we know fires happen in Australia, just like we know these ones are bad – but where is the reassurance you’re doing everything you can? We’re worried about the fire fighters and those in danger – where are the daily updates on the situation? We understand how difficult this challenge is and we don’t expect you to have all of the answers. However, we want to know you’re throwing everything we have at this.
If the backyard of your house is on fire and your family or neighbours are in danger, you don’t back the car out of the drive each morning to head into parliament or the office to work on other things that are less important. You do everything you can to make sure your house, your street, your village is safe – first and foremost.
The correlation between the ferocity of these fires and climate change is undeniable. Scientists know it, the firefighters protesting at Parliament House know it, the lady who placed the remains of her house on Parliament’s lawn knows it.
This whole climate change debate has got our conservative leaders spooked. So, they’ve figured it’s probably better just to say nothing and maybe it will all go away.
But that’s not leadership and it’s certainly not the leadership we need right now. It is weak and selfish. Bush fires care nothing for petty politics and probably feed on weakness and silence. The last thing we need right now are excuses.
When Hurricane Katrina tore-up New Orleans in 2005, President Bush’s hopeless response is widely believed to have undermined the entire rest of his presidency. President Putin’s bungled mishandling of the dreadful Beslan massacre in 2004 is understood to have been the most vulnerable point of his entire powerful reign.
People notice the absence of leadership during emergencies, just like we all notice the blood red sun. Dithering leadership during disasters white ants even the most powerful leader’s credibility.
Our backyard is on fire. We all know its bad because we can smell it and we can see it. So, to our so-called leaders – pull your socks up and tie those support boots tight, because we need you. Find that resilience and the guts you promised all of us you had.
Throw everything we have at this, demonstrate that you’re trying, tell us what is going on. After all, your entire reputation may depend on it. And with the tide noticeably falling right down to its lowest, we can now see everything.
