Rudd Government Report Card - Dec 07

[2020hindsight]

1. Signing Kyoto
2. Increased funding for the disabled
3. Increased funding to solve the Ab question
4. Saying Sorry...

1 and 4 in particular making news overseas.

... we're getting there

 

[Dukey]

Well time for another report card I think...

1. BIG TICK for sorry day. (more below)

2. BIG TICK for having the guts to go to Dili and see for himself.

3. BIG TICK for politicians wage freeze. and calling on executives to follow (not that its likely)

4. More ticks for first home saving scheme; comments on poverty and the ideas summit.

5. small XX for K-Rudds obvious liking for oft repeated 2 second sound bites.


But generally - it's clear to me that K-Rudd has a big heart and after god knows how many years of social backsliding under Heartless Johnny - it seems possible that we can look forward to a more compassionate government and society.

I'm sure the comments will come from the regular crew- that most of the list above are nothing more than symbolic words. And thats true - but it's also true that symbolism is a very important part of nation building. Thats why 'sorry day' was so important - to symbolically recognise that mistakes were made and to signal our hope to do better from this point on. As many have said - saying sorry wont really help that much in any physical sense - but it will help psychologically, by putting a line between a sad history and (hopefully) a better future.

Rudd has at least shown clearly the kind of government he wants to preside over and the direction he wants to go in. And that is - towards a better, more equal society.
Of course - to follow through and achieve change, to undo the years of neglect on these fronts, will be much more difficult, and no doubt he will be shouted down by every naysayer.
But at least he has had the guts to put it out there and let people know where he stands.


This of course is in stark contrast to the previous mob who ruled by the 'politics of fear'.
The fact that Howard couldn't even pull his head in enough to attend the 'sorry day' session confirms to me what I would call his 'small r' racism - racism based on his sense of cultural superiority, which has been obvious for many years in his response to both aboriginal and refugee issues and his willingness to use them as a political football. Unfortunately many others on the liberal/national side also display the same arrogance.

.... may they remain on the sidelines for a long long time is my only hope....

-E

... now waiting for the inevitable abusive shouting down from those who think 'bleeding heart' is an insult!! .

 

[Julia]

Great post, Dukey. Balanced and reasonable.
Goodonya.

Julia

 

[moneymajix]

Confucius:


To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.

 

[Kimosabi]

Big Crosses

• Troops still in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Military still in Aboriginal Communities.
• Fascist Anti-Boogeyman(Terrorism) laws haven't been repealed.

 

[Dukey]

Confucius:


To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.

Great quote MM. and very true I think. Smart dude that Confucius!! - and thanks Julia too. ..
-maybe I lost it at the end - I must admit to having been so disappointed every time the libs were returned on the back of divisive 'fear based' politiking in the lead up to previous elections.
I think Kim Beasley too would have made a great compassionate PM. A big man with a big heart. Just maybe not as fresh as KR.

 

[Dukey]

Big Crosses

• Troops still in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Military still in Aboriginal Communities.
• Fascist Anti-Boogeyman(Terrorism) laws haven't been repealed.

Big issues... and big changes take time. But whatever happens - they'll do better than the old guard.

Troops in Afghanistan are fine by me - Taliban are violent thugs bent on destroying any semblance of culture.

Iraq is different - nothing to do with WMD, Al Qaida or Taliban. Should never have been invaded. IMO - Iraq invasion was premeditated by Bush & co. (unfinished business from previous invasion + oil control) - 9/11 was a convenient excuse.
-E

 

[2020hindsight]

Dukey - agree with all your posts there.
I recall someone asking once "what would you do about the Ab question"
and you replied (paraphrasing) whatever it was, you'd get them involved.

Now it might at last happen - and allegedly with a bit of bipartisan commitment - as well as a bit more good intent, and a bit less paternalism - so that this isn't just another electoral cycle of hope for them. .

PS You shudda been here on Wednesday m8 - it was a ripper - and that was just on TV lol. Apparently in Canberra the intensity of the occasion was incredible

 

[Dukey]

I'm back in oz now and saw the tele wed morning.
Wasn't near a networked computer though.
It was great to see B&W celebrating together and flags sown together. The obvious emotional relief of aboriginal folk showed that the right thing had been done.

It's a step on the right direction.

I know the 'why sorry' thread has been running hot.
I've avoided posting there because ... i just get so pissed off at some of the rude posting and disrespect for the ideas of others, that crops up.

Hopefully there can be more positive action both by and for aboriginal folks now. Maybe it's time for self determination - time for aboriginal leaders to step up to plate and make their own tough decisions and plans, and time for white politicians to take a supporting/monitoring role as far as possible.

 

[moXJO]

Does anyone know what happened to the Investing in Our Schools program??
I caught a snipet that the $1.2 billion was scrapped.Is this true or are they replacing it with something else?

 

[Julia]

A comment from Crikey.com

"The 100 Days is one of the lamest clichés of political journalism. It’s an arbitrary notion, drawn from FDR’s whirlwind salvation of capitalism in 1933, and entirely meaningless. Still, the media only gets to play once a decade, so shouldn’t we indulge them, especially when the Labor Party itself puts out a brochure?

Except, the problem is that the last 100 days haven’t been terribly different to the 100 days before them. Or the 100 days prior to those. Or in fact any time back to 4 December 2006, when Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard emerged from the ALP party room as the new Opposition’s new leadership team.

In Opposition, Rudd’s leadership was characterised by stunts and symbolism. He called a housing summit and a climate change summit. He suggested Mahmoud Ahmadinejad be charged with inciting genocide. He spoke Mandarin at APEC. He promised a petrol price commissioner and an inquiry into grocery prices and ... Rudd’s Opposition had more stunts than a bonsai garden.

And they worked. They projected an image of Rudd as the policy wonk who cared, the cautious technocrat who understood the challenges facing "working families", the Labor mantra that would come to guide any and every policy of the new Government.

Nothing has changed since the election – except that now the stunts are bigger and better. Labor members are given "homework" to do. MPs’ wages are frozen. Cabinet goes to the punters. 2020 summits are called. And the lack of substantive progress is offset by key symbolic gestures such as ratifying Kyoto and apologising to the stolen generations.

What hasn’t changed, either, is the Coalition’s total incapacity to cope with Rudd’s tactics. John Howard’s political mastery vanished on 4 December 2006. Thereafter, he couldn’t take a trick, and was unable to do anything to contain Rudd’s spectacular poll lead. Brendan Nelson and the new Coalition leadership haven’t fared any better. If anything, Rudd and Gillard have only sharpened their political skills, effortlessly exposing divisions with the Coalition, playing bipartisan rope-a-dope with Nelson and leaving Julie Bishop to play policy catch-up on IR.

The 100 days, like the preceding 355, have been all about Kevin Rudd’s remarkable – and unexpected – political adroitness. But as everyone knows, at some point there’ll need to be some policy substance to back up the politics. The Budget will be the first step in delivering that substance.

And how does the Rudd 100 Days shape up to the last Labor 100 days? Bob Hawke didn’t produce a glossy brochure, but he did deliver a 100 Days address to the National Press Club in June 1983 . There’s a familiar ring to it – the problems of dealing with the Coalition’s economic legacy. The need to keep election commitments. The importance of striking the right balance in fiscal policy. What’s different is that Hawke spent most of his speech talking about his recent world tour. Bob’s favourite role was always that of globe-trotting statesman. "

 

[2020hindsight]

I reckon 73% for Rudd, 7% for Nelson says it all
As someone said - not too promising when your popularity is comparable to the margin of error.

(PS It's sure to go down when the budget is delivered - since it has no choice but to be a tough one)

 

[arminius]

jeez, the two people who reckon he is going much worse than expected are hard to please. what more can the bloke do? fix the US economy? end all wars? provide brendan nelson with a personality?

 

[Julia]

Quite apart from the moral question of hitting the most disadvantaged section of our society, I can't believe Mr Rudd was so politically stupid as to suggest wiping the Carer's annual bonus. The outcry from all sectors is what he should have anticipated. Now, of course, he's backpedalling.

 

[2020hindsight]

Tell you what.
I think that the depth of the new cabinet is great, and the characters a refreshing change.
Stephen Smith vs Downer
Joel Fitzgibbon vs Nelson

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/27/2201115.htm

Fitzgibbon calls for new Afghanistan strategy
Posted 2 hours 11 minutes ago
Updated 1 hour 53 minutes ago

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon says a meeting of heads of government from 26 NATO countries will be a watershed in the future of the Afghanistan conflict.

Mr Fitzgibbon, who will join Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Bucharest for the talks, has told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program if those attending do not emerge with a new strategy, they risk losing support for the Afghanistan campaign.

"I think there's a general consensus that we need a greater focus on the non-military side in particular, but we need more troops, we need to do more to build the capacity of the Afghan national army and the Afghan national police," he said.

"But these things of course are always in the implementation.

"A good plan is no plan at all without the follow-through."

 

[doogie_goes_off]

Needs a prod with a sharp stick if you ask me, campaigning on local issues and then touring the world when many promises have not been funded let alone discussed in cabinet is arrogant. His candidate has currently lost my vote, my memory is longer than most. The last term of the Howard years may go down as the worst economic management known to post war Australia but I see no reprieve like the fundametal recovery invoked by the innovative policy of the Keating (through Hawke) or the Whitlam regieme. Maybe a sixth category - pretty Kruddy IMO.