Tomorrow , thankfully , Australia will elect a new Government. It looks like Abbbot and his Liberal / Tory coalition will win convincingly. This could be disastrous for Australia. Abbot is a climate sceptic , unlikely to find a humanitarian solution to the refugee issue, someone who is “gaff prone ” and on the surface sexist. Ah but its Australian politics , and its hardly left the Mens room in recent years.
The Labor Government has been in permanent crises and campaign mode for , well actually 5 years. Rudd came in as PM 6 years ago with a reasonable majority and things looked optimistic. However his premiership will be remembered for his style and his high handed manner. Before the term was up hes been removed and replaced by Australia’s first female PM. She managed to scrape together a minority Government in the next election and from that moment the only political show in town has been Rudd vs Gillard. The challenges , the bluffs , the attempted coups and finally on the back of the shock that a PM might knit (knit-gate anyone ? ) the return of Rudd. If Labor thought this was saving them , Saturdays result might prove them wrong.
So why did they bring back Rudd , was it misguided , was it a miscalculation, was it cathartic …or maybe it was to ruin his reputation once and for all. While Rudd goes around being rude to hairdressers , no one is noticing Abbot hasn’t got a clue …or a budget. Rudd’s return has actually helped Abbot , after the initial pool blip.
One thing that seems to have come out during this election is that Australia’s political culture is stuck somewhere in the past. It feels like the early eighties , maybe earlier. The result seems beyond doubt , in the lower house at least. The fall out for Labor will be the final nail in Rudd’s career, but will normal issues based politics resume. Unlikely in Australia. And as for Assange ….
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