The race to control Parliament is on and in truth most Australian’s are focusing their attention’s elsewhere and why wouldn’t they with the current plethora of viewing delights from Sponge Bob for the kids, Masterchef for the girls and the three codes of football for the boys (soccer excluded).
Just like the massive swing that removed Howard, Abbott will need a dramatic shift in voter sentiment to take up lodgings at Kirribilli. Today, Newspoll calculations see Labor’s primary vote plummet below 40 per cent of which they would need to optimistically rely on heroic efforts and delivery of Green’s preferences to secure their second term.
But what are voters reacting to? With such a colourful past of errors, Labor strategists must find it almost impossible to follow their tracks. But why are we even surprised that as the level of Government intervention increases so too does the incidence of wastage and inefficiency. Don’t get me wrong, the waste associated with Government intervention is not isolated to any one political party but applicable to all, theories of which are taught to every Business and Economics Student across Australia and the world.
It was therefore with great risk that Kevin Rudd took office on the back of promising to solve all our problems (including how I could watch the footy with my mates and avoid housekeeping duties during the finals series of both the NRL and AFL). Wouldn’t it of been better to under promise and over deliver? The answer is no, not for the Labor Party anyway, because my mum was wrong - cheaters do prosper, just look at the illustrious history of the Melbourne Storm and lying was the most direct pathway for Labor to take to victory.
Whilst the tangible successes (or lack thereof) of the past three years will lead us to conclude Rudd did not achieve what he set out to, his successor has played major roles in almost all of the blunders. But alas, don’t fear as a new round of spin is fired from the decks of Labor’s leaky boat, Gillard has proclaimed that we now have the benefit of witnessing the “real” Julia Gillard in action. But after three years of experiencing the first Gillard I’m left to wonder if the Labor party has anything to gain by showing the “real” Julia?
What Gillard has successfully done is recognise that she has a very worthy opponent. Tony Abbott is a competitor in every sense of the word and like former Labor PM Bob Hawke he is also a Rhodes Scholar. As a Rhodes Scholar, Oxford, the first University in the English speaking world, has seen fit to bestow Abbott with the following characteristics: Truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, moral force of character and instincts to lead.
From here fellow voters, two things are certain 1) Julia will struggle to be re-elected based on the characteristics bestowed upon a Rhodes Scholar and 2) as far as honest entertainment goes, I will find the lead up to the Sydney Roosters first NRL Premiership since 2002 much more interesting.