I have confused and conflicting thoughts running through my head about whether the demise of Kevin Rudd's Prime Ministership was a good thing.
I feel sympathy for Kevin Rudd. Just last year (maybe 6 months ago) he was the most popular Prime Minister in the history of polls. He appears to have been taken completely by surprise as was everyone else. He had the look of a man betrayed and robbed of his very identity at his press conference. However, I feel that his true style of leadership and character was beginning to break through his carefully crafted public image. Kevin07 was beginning to look like a façade created to win the election. There were reports of foul language, abusive antics, bullyboy tactics and his authoritarian and exclusive leadership style. These made me feel a little cheated. Was the person voted into the Prime Minister's office really what we thought he was? But I still feel a sense of bewilderment at the betrayal of Kevin Rudd and the speed at which it was done.
I also feel a great sense of optimism. Seeing Julia Gillard speak today, before being sworn in, confirmed for me that she is smart, capable, down-to-earth, experienced and generally likeable. She has always been a good parliamentary performer and some argue one of the Government's best. I think that she will be a good Prime Minister. I think the contrast between her and Tony Abbott could not be greater. I think that she can tweak some of the policies that led Kevin Rudd to nose dive in the polls and lead her way to a strong election performance.
I originally felt dismay that Julia Gillard wasn't elected by the Australian People. But I quickly moved past this. We don't have a Presidential system, we elect parties and they chose the leader. This is the system we have. Technically, Kevin Rudd wasn't elected Prime Minister by the public but put in that position in the same way Julia Gillard now is, elected by the ALP caucus. I think it speaks volumes, that in our system, parties are not beholden to poor leaders and can change if needed.
I also have a fear that this will not be the catapult that the ALP powerbrokers think will shoot them to election victory. Kevin Rudd will be blameless, Julia Gillard will have lost her chance at leading our country, the ALP will be left in the wilderness of opposition again and Tony Abbott will be taking our country further to the right than even John Howard would have dared dream about.
But ultimately I am filled with a sense of pride that Australia has a female Prime Minister. I didn't fully appreciate the impact for women of having a female Prime Minister until my wife stood with tears in her eyes watching Julia Gillard being sworn in by Governor General Quentin Bryce. She said to me at this point, "I can't believe there are two women in those positions." For men who have always seen men in these positions I struggled to understand the importance. But for her it was a momentous occasion that hopefully shatters the ceiling of what young girls can dream of!
And I like that most of all. Good luck Julia. Do my wife proud!
With my view on this: I at the moment still prefer Kevin as the better leader for the party and Australia because I see him as better to implement policy and to lead, however I admit that Gillard has got better views on the future and heading of the government, but I'm still yet to be convinced of her ways of implementation but no, Abbott has got no chance whatsoever. Once Gillard starts to put further pressure on him, it will be exposed how much of a phony he is and what poor policies the Liberals have. If our current popularity stays the same and Gillard doesn't help, what will most likely happen is that we will lose a number of seats, however there will be more Greens support, and their preferences go to us so we will still win, so I highly doubt Abbott will get elected.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the move yesterday was quite cruel, and I felt a sense of undemocratic procedures. I personally think the whole party should vote, not just the caucus, as it is the leader of the party being voted for. I have quite a bad feeling the unions may overtake too much of the party. They are the base and support but not the icing.
There's one thing for sure though we can say from out of this, the media has basically had a massive impact on the democracy system, thanks to their twisted stories and beliefs. I hope one day there will be restrictions on the media and government related issues; and also on untrustworthy opposition politicians on government related issues. Also, as I was saying today to one of my teachers, the core Liberal voters are on the news websites and papers a lot of the time, doing all the voting to try make the ALP look unpopular, however, Labor supporters actually have a life and work hard.
Anyway, all my sympathy is with Rudd, but I guess all my hope now is to Gillard.
Censoring the media is not possible legally or politically. The Constitution provides a protection against Governments Censoring Political communication. And no political party in their right mind would try to take this step. I understand what you mean about some biased reporting however, this freedom also allows you to write what ever you want about Tony Abbott on this site or elsewhere. Don't be too quick to advocate censorship as it may sound good when your in control but when you are the subject of it, it is not as appealing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for contributing!