Rajiv and Rann

Some questionable decisions and Italian connections have got SA Premier Mike Rann in the hot seat, not unlike Rajiv Gandhi in his heyday

BY LP AYER

South Australian Premier Mike Rann seems to have quite a few things in common with India’s late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

For starters, their handsome and youthful looks, and pretty Italian spouses. However the latter is now providing a lot of grist for the mill in Mr Rann’s case, as it did with Rajiv in the late ‘80s. The once very popular Premier is coming under constant criticism by the print media and sections of the public. While it is not unusual for politicians’ popularity to wax and wane, there is a cyclical resemblance between Rajiv and Mike, despite their taking different paths to power.

Born in the political cradle as the scion of a ruling dynasty, Rajiv could have surfed to the top job; yet he was a reluctant recruit and had to be goaded and groomed following the accidental death of younger brother Sanjay, the chosen one. Eventually he was swept to the Delhi durbar by a surging sympathy wave after his mother’s tragic demise.

On the other hand, Mike carved his way into the inner circle of Don Dunstan, the Premier of the ‘70s whose social reforms were of a kind that brought bouquets and brickbats in equal measure, helping Mike, as his minder, to master the art of media management. Sitting two terms as the Opposition leader, he eventually became premier after a quirky event of loyalty switch by a dissident Liberal, a la Gillard’s hold on the top job.

On taking charge of the nation’s wheel, former pilot Rajiv’s stock soared sky-high initially, but started to dive following allegations regarding a billion dollar Bofors gun deal that eventually blasted him off his pedestal.

Rumours were rife about some Italian sources being beneficiaries of the Bofors bonanza, though none of the allegations ever got proved. Sadly he was cut down in his comeback campaign with no chance to prove himself one way or the other.

When the Opposition demanded he disclose the dollar benefit of this Italian extravaganza, Mr. Rann accused them of conducting a smear campaign against his wife, Sasha Carruozzo, an Adelaide Italian of Puglia origin

Now closer to home, Mr Rann bolstered his first term wafer thin majority into a bulging buttress in his second term. His rating remained rock solid until the eve of his third try, but started plummeting because of some personal issues. He could only manage to scrape in at the March election and, having been humbled, he promised to reconnect with the electorate. However disclosures of some of his Italian connections are doing the disconnecting again, driving his stock down.

The cause for Mr. Rann’s popularity crash was his support for a trade fair in Puglia, a little-known corner of Italy in the south-east, and the appointment of one Nicola Sasanelli, a Puglia-raised professor, as a special envoy to Europe until 2014, costing a tidy sum to SA taxpayers. When the Opposition demanded he disclose the dollar benefit of this Italian extravaganza, Mr. Rann accused them of conducting a smear campaign against his wife, Sasha Carruozzo, an Adelaide Italian of Puglia origin. Pretty Sasha, 47, whom Mr Rann married awaiting the local authority’s approval for an upgrade. Last year she was named one of Puglia’s overseas citizens of the year and received free air travel.

Although in today’s political ethics such favours seem insignificant, their disclosure, coming at a time when his Government is abolishing trade envoys to the State’s top export nations such as China and India and cutting funds to 40 chambers of commerce promoting trade with other parts of the globe, has caused all the furore. India ranks among the top five export markets for SA with a value of $600 million, having doubled in the past few years. China, US and Japan lead the pack. On the export ladder Italy takes 41st rank, falling behind even the tiny island of Mauritius. In fact, earnings from Italy have fallen from $29 m to a mere $17 m in the past three years when the State has spent a million dollars on the annual trade fair ‘Fierra del Levante’ in Puglia’s capital Bari, and has committed to participate until 2014 with no SA business turning up at the show. On top of this it has also committed $250,000 a year engaging Professor Sasanelli as a special envoy to Europe to focus on research and education. The local Chinese commercial circles have not failed to notice that Mr Rann had visited China, the State’s top trading partner with over a billion dollars, only thrice compared with more visits to the UK, Europe and India, that he had made eight times.

Persisting with Puglia in the midst of proposed cuts to the State’s Department of Trade and abolition of established benefits like long service leave has angered sections of the public and party men who now talk of looking for the next generation of leaders.

Has Mr Rann run his last race?