Julia Gillard PM in Australia

[Quokka]

Wow this all happened very quick. There has been lots of talk and reports of a possible leadership challenge lately and a massive turn around in the polls this year but I don't think I was alone in thinking Gillard would have been the next leader in opposition if Labour lost the next election.

Breaking news last night about 8pm (WA time) saying there would be vote and by this morning it's all said and about to be done. Huge gamble by labour but I think they would have struggled at the next election anyway. Imo Gillard is a much stronger speaker and I'd also think that Abbott would have much preferred to face Rudd in the public debates then Gillard but dumping a PM mid term? Will be interesting to see what happens over the next few months.

[Wybren]

I like it. I think Gillard is a very smart and well spoken and I think that if she can pull the ALP together they could probably get through the next election. Providing she doesnt pull an Anna Bligh on us.

I really hope that Abbott doesnt get in.

I know alot of people are saying "We didnt elect Gillard in" but that is the thing with Australian politics, is that you dont elect the leader of the party, you elect the party and what ever leader they have at the helm at the time, and also that if the leader doesnt seem to be doing his job, we accept that the party will move them out of the top spot and put someone in who they think will.

[Culhwch]

I don't follow politics very closely, so this one came out of left-field for me. Time will tell if this heals the ills that seem to have befallen the Labour Party of late, but honestly I thought Kevin was doing a fine job. It's such an unthankful job. No matter who is in it, they're always saviours to begin with, and incompetent very soon after. There's a very small margin for error. (I'm reminded of the episode of South Park where a fervantly pro-Obama wakes up the day after the election to find nothing changed, and immediately becomes anti-Obama...)

[Hilarious Joke]

First female prime minister of Australia though! That's pretty spesh!

[GOLLUM]

I knew it was very likely to happen from yesterday as it was on all the News services here.

I think labour stands a better chance of winning the next election now.

[The Procrastinator]

I think so too. Kevin was not doing a bad job, but he led with ideals and then failed to deliver (I'm thinking climate change here) which is the worst thing you can do when you're trying to hold people on ideals - so people weren't really listening anymore. I think the party has probably done the smart thing by "rebooting" before the election. The Libs rebooted with Abbott - this reboot is a better one I feel. I don't usually vote for the major parties but I like Julia Gillard, I like that we have a female PM, and I'm looking forward to Gillard eating Abbott for breakfast.

[Ursa major]

I have to admit that I don't follow Australian politics very closely, so had no idea Rudd was under so much pressure.

The reason for the pressure was put thus in the radio headlines on the BBC:

But his popularity plummeted following a number of policy setbacks, our correspondent adds.

He shelved the centrepiece of his environmental strategy, an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which led to accusations of political cowardice.

From BBC News - Australia has first woman PM as Gillard replaces Rudd.

(I know the quoted text is quite a long way into the article, but it was the main point mentioned on the radio.)

This intrigued me. I know climate change is controversial, but I'm surprised it had such a big impact. I'm even more surprised that the focus was on an emissions trading scheme; some schemes operating under this banner are quite controversial, have proved a target for fraudsters (and** the kind of traders who have, in other areas, laid waste to our financial systems) and may not always have the intended effect (in the sense that emissions are not necessarily reduced).

Was Rudd's proposed scheme different, in that it could have worked for the environment rather than the traders?



** - Distinction made purely for legal reasons.

[Stephen Palmer]

Originally Posted by Hilarious Joke

First female prime minister of Australia though! That's pretty spesh!

We thought the same thing when Margaret Thatcher arrived.

Big mistake.

[Lioness]

'Twas a bit odd, really. I don't follow Australian politics, so just ignored all of the FB statuses last night that were all about politics.

Then I wake up this morning and we have a new Prime Minister.

*blinks*

From what I've heard/read, she seems competent. I have to wonder whether she's going to continue internet filtering plans.

[The Procrastinator]

Kev's emissions trading scheme was very controversial Ursa - not enough for the greenies, too much for the big polluters, as you would expect. But after all the arguing over details, I think the mood of the public was pretty much, well you said you would do something, we want you to do something, this something is not exactly wonderful but its a start, so lets just do it. But then he caved and shelved it. The impression, at least the impression I gained and I know I'm not alone, was that Kev is a man of principles but isn't strong enough to stand up for them.
Climate change is a fairly big issue here, largely out of frustration I think, because despite the evidence that we're in the firing line for some pretty nasty stuff, there's a strong corporate lobby against any action (mining and energy generation are big here) and the political will required to get some action has yet to materialise. Here we are in a country with massive amounts of sunlight, there should be solar panels on every roof for crying out loud. Its pathetic.

[digs]

Originally Posted by Wybren

I like it. I think Gillard is a very smart and well spoken and I think that if she can pull the ALP together they could probably get through the next election. Providing she doesnt pull an Anna Bligh on us.

I really hope that Abbott doesnt get in.

I agree Wybren. I've liked Julia Gillard for a while (DESPITE her accent). She just seems to know what she's doing and lacks the same level of sliminess and/or sleaze that Rudd and Abbott have. I honestly didn't know who I was going to vote for next election, but this will definitely swing me more towards Labor, and I've spoken to a few other people who've said the same. Of course I'll probably vote for them via the Greens...

[Quokka]

I think the number of promises/legislation that didn't pass just built up too much for Rudd (which is harsh when the opposition is always going to block everything it can, you've got to love politics ), add in the ones like the insulation scheme that had to be cancelled or changed and there seemed to be almost a panic to get something done as the numbers slipped. There wasn't the action on whaling that people expected and then when everything was looking so bad for other policies it seemed to be brought back up out if nowhere. I'm also not against the idea of the resources tax but I wonder how well thought out it was or if it was a rushed idea.

Imo the other thing with Rudd was he was getting caught out too much over talking an answer, the soundbites were starting to mount up that made it too easy to paint him as someone who won't answer a question direrctly.

In comparison I think Gillard's opening interviews were pretty much spot on.Things like acknowledging that she was not the leader when the electorate voted in Labour and that she would be happy not to move into the Lodge until after the next election shows that she is well aware that one of her biggest problems will be overcoming the perception that this was a political coup and driving home the, Labour had lost it's way/ it was in the best interests of the country message.

I think if she can convince the majority of people who would (or might) have voted for her under different circumstances then she's gone a long way to winning the next election and that makes the resources tax the golden snitch of australian politics, it's very unlikely but if she was able to get a compromise with the mining industry and have something signed for the next election she'd be all but over the line.

One last thing, I do think you have to give Kevin Rudd a lot of respect for sitting in the back row during the last session of parliment, after being replaced. There's a lot of people who wouldn't have been able to do that.


The above statements are opinions of the author only and should not be interpreted as the views of the forum, fact or anything approaching rational thought .







How's that a political post with a fantasy reference... All be it a Harry Potter one .

[digs]

Originally Posted by Quokka

I think if she can convince the majority of people who would (or might) have voted for her under different circumstances then she's gone a long way to winning the next election and that makes the resources tax the golden snitch of australian politics, it's very unlikely but if she was able to get a compromise with the mining industry and have something signed for the next election she'd be all but over the line.

...

How's that a political post with a fantasy reference... All be it a Harry Potter one .

Haha, nice! I'm definitely stealing that saying for my own nefarious purposes.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by digs

I agree Wybren. I've liked Julia Gillard for a while (DESPITE her accent). She just seems to know what she's doing and lacks the same level of sliminess and/or sleaze that Rudd and Abbott have. I..

Knowing people who have worked with Julia in the past in varying capacitiies, in addition to being a very competent operator she's also a lot more consultative and a more skilled facilitator than Rudd, which in one way is unfortunate as I think he had some good ideas and was generally speaking a man of principle. He just didn't implement his ideas as well as he could have. Julia certainly has an attraction to the voting public I think.

[Culhwch]

Kev had everything going for him in the departments that count:

Queenslander: Check.
Broncos fan: Check.

Actually, that's pretty much my entire list. Come home, Kev, and we'll secede and start our own country! You can be President! Shove that in your pipe, Gillard!

I have to agree about his appearing in Parliament yesterday. Class act.