This first one comes from a status update I made this morning.
The rest of the world sees Australia as having one of the best managed and strongest economies in the world. There isn't a treasurer in the western world who wouldn't rather be in Wayne Swan's shoes right now. So why then do we allow the lie that Labor are bad economic managers to persist?
Now this one came as a reply to a discussion about a Queensland poll released today.
It's a shame that Queensland can't see over its own pigheadedness. Kevin Rudd was far from the best PM. He was a great speaker, but lacked conviction. He should have set in motion the trigger for a double dissolution the moment Tony Abbott knifed Turnbull. I don't think Kevin Rudd had the guts to make a good leader.
By contrast, Julia Gillard certainly has conviction. In the face of abismal polling, she stands by the carbon tax. By the next election, she will be seen to have the same strength and conviction that John Howard was believed to have, while two more years of Tony will reveal him to be desperate for nothing more than power, and willing to do whatever it takes to get it.
Say what you will about Gillard, she certainly isn't desperate for power. If she were, she would have given up on the carbon and mining taxes and just gone for popular policy like Tony Abbott. No, she is fighting the hard battles that need to be fought, regardless of where it leaves her political future. I believe that this image will be the one forming come the next election, and Labor will be rewarded for their conviction and balls.
Another reply to the discussion.
But I really do not accept the notion that Gillard, or Labor, have lost their way. If this government goes to full term, and implements all the policy it plans to, it will have achieved more reforms in one term than Howard did in four.
The NBN is a huge infrastructure reform. Between the much needed carbon and mining taxes, we have huge economic reform that will benefit Australia for decades to come. The Malaysian solution is the first refugee policy that is both humane and boat stopping (I say it is humane because we're not just sending the boats recklessly away, and we are significantly increasing our intake of legitimate refugees). I have every expectation that Labor will support gay marriage by the end of the year too.
Throw in some good education reform (something which Keating was the last Prime Minister to have any decent policy on), and I'd dare say that Gillard's Labor government is the best government we've ever had.
Add to all of this the effectiveness with which Gillard has managed the hung parliament. There has been no government legislation which has been blocked (something the Victorian majority government can't claim XD). This government is passing all of its legislation, the crossbenchers support for the government is very strong indeed.
Labor have plenty of direction. They have outlined clear, big reforms which will benefit Australia greatly. For me, it isn't a choice to vote against Abbott, it's a choice to vote for a good, strong government with big ambitious plans to lead Australia into the future, instead of the opposition wanting to take Australia backwards.
Another reply. This one I think alludes to some interesting ideas about sexism in Australia.
I think Gillard's opposition to gay-marriage is just toeing the party line. I'm sure it will change come November (or is it December? I can't remember).
As for her "losing her way", I'm not sure that's true. She has maintained very good relations with the crossbenchers and is staying the course with her policy. I think she is a very good PM, a very good leader of the government and of the ALP, but I don't think she is a very good politician. She doesn't have the 'statesman' qualities we like to see in our leaders (Rudd had plenty of it).
I wonder if it is because she is a woman. Australia does not seem like like female leaders. Look at what happened to the female premier in NSW. Look at what will happen to the female PM in QLD. Granted, NSW Labor did need to lose, Bligh has done an excellent job as premier in QLD.
I think it might all boil down to sexism. We don't think Gillard is a good leader because she doesn't have the same masculine qualities we are used to in our leaders.
This one came as a reply to a poster making some claims about the NBN and the influence the Greens have had on Labor policy.
I don't live in a rural area, but our internet still runs on very old and very dodgy copper cables. Can't even get ADSL2 out here, and I live half an hour from the city.
As for the Greens, any government over the next three years will have to contend with either the opposition or the Greens, since the Greens have the balance of power in the senate. The Greens primary vote is at record highs in the polls, and they will most likely gain more senate seats at the next election. The Greens are part of the political reality for whoever is in government, and will be there for quite a while yet.
I do agree that the present form of the mining tax is far from ideal. I'm hoping the Greens will push it into a better policy.
But I don't think Malcolm Turnbull will ever be PM. He's a great politician, a great leader, but he's not a douchebag like Abbott and Howard. He has integrity. He wouldn't fight an election dirty, and the only ways Howard was ever able to win was by playing dirty. He would make the election about policy and debate, not three-word-slogans. And, of course, on a policy v. policy comparison, Labor always win, by large margins. Because Labor have almost universally better policy than the Coalition, and when people are objectively presented with Labor and Coalition policy, they far more often than not support Labor policy. An example of this is this very Queensland poll, which polled some policy questions, and found that Labor did quite well in everything except the carbon tax and Malaysia.
