Politics generates myths. No doubt we will be treated to all sorts of myths about the marvels Julia Gillard would have performed if she could only have stayed in office. The truth is Julia was one of the most cack handed prime ministers of all time.
Take the election date, set for 14 September 2013. Not only is it perilously close to the G20 meeting, which Australia will lead, it's also Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the most solemn day on the Jewish religious calendar. Even most secular Jews will want to go to the synagogue or stay at home. As a Jewish friend of mine said "Maybe Julia thought she had the Jewish vote in the bag already." Kevin Rudd has lived his whole life to show the world how great he is, so he will milk the G20 for all it's worth.
Expect a much later poll date. Kevin doesn't have to go until at least 30 November 2013. He likes being PM, so he doesn't want to rush things. As for the Kevin 747 sobriquet, he loves flying here and there, bringing light to a benighted world, for example Indonesia, to which he will give his helpful advice on stopping the asylum seeker boats. This, of course, will help undo the mess Rudd made when he overturned John Howard's asylum seeker policy, which had stopped the boats. Let's see how that plays in Sydney's western suburbs.
As for Bill "The Knife" Shorten, who knows where he will strike next? Bill is a graduate of Xavier College, the preserve of Melbourne's upper crust Catholics. Xavier is run, as one might expect, by the Jesuits. Bill's Dad however had some dubious friends, among them the leaders of Melbourne's most notorious criminal union, the Painters and Dockers. Few members of the Painters and Dockers did not have an extensive criminal record. His Mum was a clerical worker who went on the earn a law degree and did some teaching.
As far as wielding the knife is concerned, Bill "has form" as they say. He knocked off the sitting member for Maribyrnong (not much of a loss) Bob Sercombe, who was also, rather unusually, a member of the Shadow Cabinet. Then he knifed Kevin 747 to promote Julia Gillard to the Lodge, then he knifed PM Julia Gillard and promoted Kevin 747 back to PM. Who will feel his blade next?
As for Kevin 747, he will be off overseas again, especially as Parliament has risen and he doesn't have pesky things like Question Time to worry about. Some good men like Martin Ferguson have exited Parliament for good. Stephen Smith has returned to the Golden West and will be Canberra bound no more. Smith, who accepted the poisoned chalice of Defence, may have decided discretion is the better part of valour. Why can't Wayne Swan, who couldn't sell a relativley good economy story, take the hint and head back to Bananaland for a well earned rest?
As for the marginal seat holders who thought life with Kevin couldn't be as bad as being out of Parliament forever, just remember that those who live by the sword die by the knife -- sorry, sword.
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Thursday 27 June 2013
Wednesday 26 June 2013
Kevin Rudd returns as PM
Kevin Rudd, the man the Labor Party caucus vowed it could never work with again, has returned as Prime Minister of Australia. He's already up to his old tricks, keeping the nation waiting for more than 20 minutes until he delivered his acceptance speech. Can a leopard change its spots? I think not. His tardiness and micromanaging is notorious
According to a Roy Morgan snap poll on Wednesday 26 June, the night of the coup, the vote is now ALP 49.5%, vs Liberal-National Party 50.5% -- too close to call an election result, the pollsters say.
I am deeply ashamed to say the man who ratted on Julia Gillard is my local member, Bill Shorten. He swung the numbers. In end, the stage managed result came out as predicted -- 57 for Rudd, 45 for Gillard, with Anthony Albanese as deputy PM. Albanese, who always looks close to tears at big moments, is from the Left, while Rudd is from the Right. Penny Wong, who is also from the Left, was elected unanimously as government Senate leader -- figure that one out.
Many non Australians find it hard to understand Australian politics because the positions of both major parties are almost identical. As I tell my American friends, there is no equivalent to Republican Party in Australia, just the Labor Party, which is liberal, and the Liberal Party, which is liberal. Both would fit into the US Democratic Party quite comfortably.
Numerous politicians commenting on the Rudd coup went on about the "life of service" that draws people to politics. I have known politicians since I was in my early teens. Politicians have an agenda to push or an organisation to represent. That is not service, it is self interest. Labor people are by far the worst when it comes squealing about their life of service, I don't see any of them returning their very generous taxpayer funded pensions.
Chief executioner was Bill Shorten. First he put Kevin Rudd in power, then knifed him to put Julia Gillard in power. Then he knifed Julia to return Kevin to power, just in time for Kevin to take leadership of the G20, which will surely be a highlight of Kevin's life. Not that Julia is beloved, even by her own constituents. The reporter for the government broadcaster, the ABC, seemed near tears when no Gillard supporters would go on camera to say what a lovely lady we was, while several residents said she was not much of a local member and wasn't well liked.
My wife, who is an immigrant, told me to write that after viewing almost an entire evening of Kevin's coup she has concluded that politicians have no idea of how ordinary people like us -- that is, electors -- think. She says Australians are good at playing politics, except that it is like an audience watching clowns. "A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
As for the hatchet man, Bill Shorten, will we see him in years to come roaming the arid halls of New Parliament House like Lady Macbeth muttering "Out, damned spot! Hell is murky! Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?" Or her. Or both. Who next will feel Bill's blade? And they say this man will be prime minister one day.
According to a Roy Morgan snap poll on Wednesday 26 June, the night of the coup, the vote is now ALP 49.5%, vs Liberal-National Party 50.5% -- too close to call an election result, the pollsters say.
I am deeply ashamed to say the man who ratted on Julia Gillard is my local member, Bill Shorten. He swung the numbers. In end, the stage managed result came out as predicted -- 57 for Rudd, 45 for Gillard, with Anthony Albanese as deputy PM. Albanese, who always looks close to tears at big moments, is from the Left, while Rudd is from the Right. Penny Wong, who is also from the Left, was elected unanimously as government Senate leader -- figure that one out.
Many non Australians find it hard to understand Australian politics because the positions of both major parties are almost identical. As I tell my American friends, there is no equivalent to Republican Party in Australia, just the Labor Party, which is liberal, and the Liberal Party, which is liberal. Both would fit into the US Democratic Party quite comfortably.
Numerous politicians commenting on the Rudd coup went on about the "life of service" that draws people to politics. I have known politicians since I was in my early teens. Politicians have an agenda to push or an organisation to represent. That is not service, it is self interest. Labor people are by far the worst when it comes squealing about their life of service, I don't see any of them returning their very generous taxpayer funded pensions.
Chief executioner was Bill Shorten. First he put Kevin Rudd in power, then knifed him to put Julia Gillard in power. Then he knifed Julia to return Kevin to power, just in time for Kevin to take leadership of the G20, which will surely be a highlight of Kevin's life. Not that Julia is beloved, even by her own constituents. The reporter for the government broadcaster, the ABC, seemed near tears when no Gillard supporters would go on camera to say what a lovely lady we was, while several residents said she was not much of a local member and wasn't well liked.
My wife, who is an immigrant, told me to write that after viewing almost an entire evening of Kevin's coup she has concluded that politicians have no idea of how ordinary people like us -- that is, electors -- think. She says Australians are good at playing politics, except that it is like an audience watching clowns. "A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
As for the hatchet man, Bill Shorten, will we see him in years to come roaming the arid halls of New Parliament House like Lady Macbeth muttering "Out, damned spot! Hell is murky! Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?" Or her. Or both. Who next will feel Bill's blade? And they say this man will be prime minister one day.
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