Status of me
Jun. 27th, 2010 08:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kiwisueOK, I just have to post this now. I'm not done for the night, plus I have a few thousand more words to write, and plot holes to fill in and cement over, but as far as deadlinestargets go I'm over the wire.
While I'm taking a break:
I think the chorus of interest/delight/approval at Julia Gillard becoming Prime Minister thankfully surpasses the "Oh, noes!" at the turfing of someone who was, less than three years ago, an eminently electable leader of an eminently electable party. Even so:
In 2007 we (for values of 'we', I suggest Middle Australian voters and anyone more than two steps to the left of Peter Costello, not necessarily myself) chose the Labor Party over the Liberal Party for a variety of reasons, amongst them: because we were sick of twelve years of moral conservatism, Howard's sanctimonious disdain for people whose values were more inclusive than his own, his cuddling up to Bush, Work Choices or the threat of Peter Costello as Howard's successor (possibly mid-term - yes, we can be wise in the ways of the Westminster system when we want to be). These were all part of the mix and not the only reasons.
But this is by the bye - the fact a lot of people are missing is that we didn't elect Rudd per se - we elected a majority of Labor MP's and Rudd was the elected leader of those MP's in the Australian Parliament. Julia Gillard was his appointed Deputy. And I think we were all sweet with that, and we enjoyed Julia's combatitiveness in Parliament, particularly against Tony Abbott. Also, we thought she worked hard, with a portfolio list that would drown anyone lesser, and she could do the acting Prime Minister thing when Rudd was out of town and do it well.
She speaks well, uses incisive language that anyone can follow, as opposed to Rudd's burblings which became more and more obscure as his personal following fell away and problems mounted.
She has support from within the caucus, something Rudd lost a long time ago. It seems too soon, but a new election is due, this year or early next, and the worry has been that Rudd's slide in the public opinion polls meant that Tony Abbott could inspire voters to choose his party instead of Labor. Abbott, the conservative Catholic ex-seminarian, for #$%#$ sake.
At the end of the day, and according to the rules of the Westminster System, when the party with the most representatives in Parliament decided that Rudd had to go, the members were entirely within their rights to elect a new leader.
I, for one, am glad. Julia doesn't appear to be one of the many (far to many) politicians who either espouse conservative# religious views or bow (personally, publically) to the many pressure groups who push those views. A friend commented to me the other night that we've slipped a long way from the Australia of the '80's, when Bob Hawke was proud to announce his aeiiesm to the world. In that respect a Prime Minister who stays schtum about her personal beliefs and works within the framework of policy and election promises is a *heh* godsend. That she's sticking (after how many hours in office?) to Labor Party policy on gay marriage is marginally disappointing, but with Steve Fielding of Family First wielding his "balance of power" vote in the Senate I'm inclined to give her a pass for now. Her aim is to achieve some runs on the board policywise and get the Labor Party reelected in 2011, both aims I (currently) support.
As always with politics, the rest is "let's see".
#religion /=conservatism is all I'm saying.
ETA: Fixed stuff *headdesk*. Glad I'm not a professional pundit.
While I'm taking a break:
I think the chorus of interest/delight/approval at Julia Gillard becoming Prime Minister thankfully surpasses the "Oh, noes!" at the turfing of someone who was, less than three years ago, an eminently electable leader of an eminently electable party. Even so:
In 2007 we (for values of 'we', I suggest Middle Australian voters and anyone more than two steps to the left of Peter Costello, not necessarily myself) chose the Labor Party over the Liberal Party for a variety of reasons, amongst them: because we were sick of twelve years of moral conservatism, Howard's sanctimonious disdain for people whose values were more inclusive than his own, his cuddling up to Bush, Work Choices or the threat of Peter Costello as Howard's successor (possibly mid-term - yes, we can be wise in the ways of the Westminster system when we want to be). These were all part of the mix and not the only reasons.
But this is by the bye - the fact a lot of people are missing is that we didn't elect Rudd per se - we elected a majority of Labor MP's and Rudd was the elected leader of those MP's in the Australian Parliament. Julia Gillard was his appointed Deputy. And I think we were all sweet with that, and we enjoyed Julia's combatitiveness in Parliament, particularly against Tony Abbott. Also, we thought she worked hard, with a portfolio list that would drown anyone lesser, and she could do the acting Prime Minister thing when Rudd was out of town and do it well.
She speaks well, uses incisive language that anyone can follow, as opposed to Rudd's burblings which became more and more obscure as his personal following fell away and problems mounted.
She has support from within the caucus, something Rudd lost a long time ago. It seems too soon, but a new election is due, this year or early next, and the worry has been that Rudd's slide in the public opinion polls meant that Tony Abbott could inspire voters to choose his party instead of Labor. Abbott, the conservative Catholic ex-seminarian, for #$%#$ sake.
At the end of the day, and according to the rules of the Westminster System, when the party with the most representatives in Parliament decided that Rudd had to go, the members were entirely within their rights to elect a new leader.
I, for one, am glad. Julia doesn't appear to be one of the many (far to many) politicians who either espouse conservative# religious views or bow (personally, publically) to the many pressure groups who push those views. A friend commented to me the other night that we've slipped a long way from the Australia of the '80's, when Bob Hawke was proud to announce his aeiiesm to the world. In that respect a Prime Minister who stays schtum about her personal beliefs and works within the framework of policy and election promises is a *heh* godsend. That she's sticking (after how many hours in office?) to Labor Party policy on gay marriage is marginally disappointing, but with Steve Fielding of Family First wielding his "balance of power" vote in the Senate I'm inclined to give her a pass for now. Her aim is to achieve some runs on the board policywise and get the Labor Party reelected in 2011, both aims I (currently) support.
As always with politics, the rest is "let's see".
#religion /=conservatism is all I'm saying.
ETA: Fixed stuff *headdesk*. Glad I'm not a professional pundit.
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no subject
Date: 2010-06-27 01:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 09:18 am (UTC)Hope the words are flowing for you!
no subject
Date: 2010-06-27 01:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 09:22 am (UTC)Hope you're doing well with yours.
Most of the time I only keep one eye on the internal party stuff, but this is a big event & there's some really off the wall commentary out there. I think a couple of people down below have commented about "presidential style" (like Blair's) has crept into the party system & rather agree with that.
Anyhoo, glad you thought it was interesting.
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Date: 2010-06-27 02:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 09:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-27 03:34 pm (UTC)Back to marking... gaaah!
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Date: 2010-06-28 09:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-27 09:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 09:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-27 09:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 09:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-27 09:49 pm (UTC)As for the politics, well, I guess I live in a hole because I was a bit surprised when Ruddy got the heave ho. BUT if it means that we won't be stuck with that sanctimonious prat Abbott and the Liberals (don't you think it funny that a bunch of conservatives is called the Liberal party?) after the next election. I'm all for it.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:27 am (UTC)Oh, and I didn't pick any of the discontent about Rudd until a couple of weeks ago, and then it seemed to be everywhere and I was hoping Julia would get a run. But decision day came as a surprise.
Yes, anything but Abbott. I remember getting confused by party names when I first arrived here (early '79). I think there are 'l'iberals in the party, I even know one or two of them, but policy wise it is very conservative.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 08:55 am (UTC)Thanks for the Aussie political tour - that helps puzzled UK onlookers to understand what happened!
Just thought it might be appropriate to use one of my Australian icons...
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:29 am (UTC)Like your icon!
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:47 am (UTC)