The Cowardly Lion of Australian Politics
August 26th 2008 22:17
It wasn’t so long ago that the ALP had some guts. During World War Two it was ALP Prime Minister John Curtin who steadfastly ignored the calls of the British to send more troops to North Africa and Europe in order to protect Australian shores and interests in the Asia-Pacific. Say what you like about Whitlam, but it was him that put in place many of the programs that are the countries life-blood today. Like it or not, he went against convention and that showed essential courage. Hell, even Paul Keating had a boat-load of guts when he ignored the political blowback and stuck to his guns on Native Title and the ‘recession we had to have’. Those two things were half the reason he lost to John Howard, but at least he had the guts to commit to something and stick with it. But things have changed in the world of the ALP. The usually combative, unionised, factional warriors have been subdued by the man whose usage of clichés in rapid succession is enough to give anyone whiplash. Ladies and gentlemen, the person who turned the ALP into toothless tigers is Mr Kevin Rudd.
Between 1996 and 2007, the years of Howard Government that many ALP faithful refer to as the Wilderness, the ALP clung to their image as a tough outfit that was willing to break heads if it was to achieve social change. Traditionally, the Liberal Party had come off as the policy wonks that were more likely to come from teaching economics at university than living life on the rough-and-tumble streets like their counterparts in the ALP. You can almost pin-point when the role reversal occurred. For the Libs, it was 2001. The confluence of Children Overboard, mandatory detention, September 11 and the War in Afghanistan were events that took the Howard Government by the hand and led them into the world of being the tough-on-our-enemies protectors of the nation. Labor’s tipping point would come much later. For a long time both parties fought over the title of the toughest party. They argued about the minutiae and it was no surprise that Howard kept winning. The tipping point for the ALP is far easier to pin-point. The 4th of December, 2006. That was the day Kevin Rudd was elected to lead the Labor Party, and coincidentally, the day the ALP lost its guts.
There is an analogy in Australian politics. The Liberal Party are like the Tinman, without a heart. The Greens are like the Scarecrow, without a brain. The Democrats are like Dorothy, blissfully ignorant and now disappeared from Oz all together. As for the ALP? Well, they are the Cowardly Lion. Without any courage. It wasn’t always that way. The ALP used to have a strength behind them, and a conviction in their ideals that transcended any of their competitors. But then came Rudd. His whole gimmick is that he “gets” ordinary Australians. I’m not saying that a career bureaucrat and diplomat cannot relate to the people, but it’s a bit of a misconception that Rudd is more of a man of the people than Howard was. What Rudd had on Howard was that he was a populist. He took the pulse of the nation very well, and he told them what they wanted to hear. High-speed broadband for all! A lap top for every child! An end to WorkChoices! You can trust us with the economy! The people were engaged and they took the bait hook line and sinker.
It doesn’t take a lot of courage to be a populist from the Opposition side of the bench. You can say what you like, propose what you like and never have to deliver results. Until you get elected. Rudd got his wish and became the first ALP Prime Minister of the new millennium. And it was time to deliver, and he choked. He couldn’t deliver on half of his electoral promises. For a party that mocked John Howard for differentiating between core and non-core election promises, it was the height of hypocrisy when Rudd found that he had to do the same thing. Cancel the broadband network to the bush! That lap top for your child may be a bit more complicated than we anticipated! We may keep certain bits and pieces of the WorkChoices legislation! The economy is gone into a tailspin and we have done all we can do! It takes a lot more courage for Rudd to reveal to the people that all the populist garbage he spouted during the campaign was too good to be true after all. It would take more courage again for him to admit that he can’t deliver.
But he won’t. Yesterday, Rudd again blamed the state of the economy on his predecessors. He said that since the Rudd Government had been elected Aussies had been doing in worse. But, he said, it was due to global conditions and the conditions left to them by the Liberal Government. Global conditions, I get. The whole world is struggling from a food shortage, an oil supply issue and crashing financial markets. But the conditions left by the Libs? The same party that successfully dodged falling into the trap of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis? The same party that delivered substantive growth throughout their tenure. The same party that left office around the time the sky started to fall? I believe in coincidences but this one’s a bit far-fetched Kev. Be a man and share the blame. Hell, Keating was proud of the fact that Australia had a recession so it could reboot the market. You could at least say that FuelWatch and GroceryWatch were piss-weak ways to combat a serious issue. That would be the courage of old.
But he won’t. The ALP got a little gun-shy after the debacle of Mark Latham, who was over the top even for the union heavies that despise Kevin Rudd for his weakness. Since then they have lost their guts. They figured the Australian people didn’t like their type of strength and courage under fire anymore and that to win they needed to change. But they are wrong. The Australian people respect strength. We respect courage. We respect people who stand up, say “I was wrong” and then tell us their going to try and fix it. What we don’t like are bullies and cowards.
Latham was a bully. And Rudd is a coward.
Between 1996 and 2007, the years of Howard Government that many ALP faithful refer to as the Wilderness, the ALP clung to their image as a tough outfit that was willing to break heads if it was to achieve social change. Traditionally, the Liberal Party had come off as the policy wonks that were more likely to come from teaching economics at university than living life on the rough-and-tumble streets like their counterparts in the ALP. You can almost pin-point when the role reversal occurred. For the Libs, it was 2001. The confluence of Children Overboard, mandatory detention, September 11 and the War in Afghanistan were events that took the Howard Government by the hand and led them into the world of being the tough-on-our-enemies protectors of the nation. Labor’s tipping point would come much later. For a long time both parties fought over the title of the toughest party. They argued about the minutiae and it was no surprise that Howard kept winning. The tipping point for the ALP is far easier to pin-point. The 4th of December, 2006. That was the day Kevin Rudd was elected to lead the Labor Party, and coincidentally, the day the ALP lost its guts.
There is an analogy in Australian politics. The Liberal Party are like the Tinman, without a heart. The Greens are like the Scarecrow, without a brain. The Democrats are like Dorothy, blissfully ignorant and now disappeared from Oz all together. As for the ALP? Well, they are the Cowardly Lion. Without any courage. It wasn’t always that way. The ALP used to have a strength behind them, and a conviction in their ideals that transcended any of their competitors. But then came Rudd. His whole gimmick is that he “gets” ordinary Australians. I’m not saying that a career bureaucrat and diplomat cannot relate to the people, but it’s a bit of a misconception that Rudd is more of a man of the people than Howard was. What Rudd had on Howard was that he was a populist. He took the pulse of the nation very well, and he told them what they wanted to hear. High-speed broadband for all! A lap top for every child! An end to WorkChoices! You can trust us with the economy! The people were engaged and they took the bait hook line and sinker.
It doesn’t take a lot of courage to be a populist from the Opposition side of the bench. You can say what you like, propose what you like and never have to deliver results. Until you get elected. Rudd got his wish and became the first ALP Prime Minister of the new millennium. And it was time to deliver, and he choked. He couldn’t deliver on half of his electoral promises. For a party that mocked John Howard for differentiating between core and non-core election promises, it was the height of hypocrisy when Rudd found that he had to do the same thing. Cancel the broadband network to the bush! That lap top for your child may be a bit more complicated than we anticipated! We may keep certain bits and pieces of the WorkChoices legislation! The economy is gone into a tailspin and we have done all we can do! It takes a lot more courage for Rudd to reveal to the people that all the populist garbage he spouted during the campaign was too good to be true after all. It would take more courage again for him to admit that he can’t deliver.
But he won’t. Yesterday, Rudd again blamed the state of the economy on his predecessors. He said that since the Rudd Government had been elected Aussies had been doing in worse. But, he said, it was due to global conditions and the conditions left to them by the Liberal Government. Global conditions, I get. The whole world is struggling from a food shortage, an oil supply issue and crashing financial markets. But the conditions left by the Libs? The same party that successfully dodged falling into the trap of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis? The same party that delivered substantive growth throughout their tenure. The same party that left office around the time the sky started to fall? I believe in coincidences but this one’s a bit far-fetched Kev. Be a man and share the blame. Hell, Keating was proud of the fact that Australia had a recession so it could reboot the market. You could at least say that FuelWatch and GroceryWatch were piss-weak ways to combat a serious issue. That would be the courage of old.
But he won’t. The ALP got a little gun-shy after the debacle of Mark Latham, who was over the top even for the union heavies that despise Kevin Rudd for his weakness. Since then they have lost their guts. They figured the Australian people didn’t like their type of strength and courage under fire anymore and that to win they needed to change. But they are wrong. The Australian people respect strength. We respect courage. We respect people who stand up, say “I was wrong” and then tell us their going to try and fix it. What we don’t like are bullies and cowards.
Latham was a bully. And Rudd is a coward.
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