The Marshall Plan

Yesterday’s appointment of Elizabeth Marshall to the Senate did not come as a huge surprise. While the two Loyola’s (Hearn and Sullivan) were considered by many, including yours truly, to be the front-runners, Marshall seems like an obvious choice.

Many see her appointment as another dig by Harper at Danny Williams in a similar vain to Fabian Manning’s appointment to the upper chamber. Marshall had been in Danny’s doghouse since she resigned as Minister of Health due to Williams’ interference in a nurse’s strike in 2004. A doghouse, I might add, that is increasing in size at an alarming rate.

Her failure to support his ABC campaign surely did nothing to endear herself to the Premier. So for six long years, she languished on the sidelines with other backbenchers, differentiated by the fact that she did not tow the party line. Not the most glamorous of positions for someone who was once considered such a bright light. But to her credit, she suffered in silence, held to her convictions and in doing so, earned a great deal of respect.

It also earned her a cushy job with an embarrassingly good salary and pension.

But the appointment may be a relief to Williams as well. He will no longer have the Marshall burr under his saddle and can claim that, in the end, he won. The six-year showdown is over and she blinked. Congratulations Ms. Marshall. Don’t let the door hit you in the arse on the way out.

So what are we to take from this? Marshall goes from one level of government to another, yet will continue to do the same job she has been doing for the past six years - sitting on the sidelines, cutting ribbons and handing out money.

When she was first banished by Williams, many were encouraged, even inspired, by her stand against the iron fisted one. But over time, I became more and more disillusioned. Why she did not sit as an independent is somewhat puzzling. Why didn’t she speak up more?

Don’t get me wrong; I have a great deal of respect for Beth Marshall. It’s just that I felt she could have been more productive if she showed up instead of shut up. Lord knows we need as many voices of dissent as we can get. And exactly what would Danny have done? The backbenches go back only so far.

It’s hard to knock her for taking the Senate job. Perhaps it is a reward of sorts. Guaranteed salary and getting paid not to show up for work. Strikingly similar to her present job when you think about it.

But, as one of her soon to be former constituents, I always felt a little short changed.