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The Forum > Article Comments > Why the Ruddslide? > Comments

Why the Ruddslide? : Comments

By Leon Bertrand, published 26/11/2007

Labor's historic victory in many ways defies conventional wisdom, but many factors contributed to the Government's defeat.

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I was thinking of collecting my super and skipping to New Zealand if Howard got re-elected because

1. no acknowledgement of global warming
2. WorkChoices
3. lying about children overboard
4. lying about Dr Haneef
5. Cornelia Rau & Vivian Solon - inability to look after one's own
6. lying about "little children are sacred" and sending in the army to repossess aboriginal property
7. supporting George Bush in Iraq
8. sedition laws
9. ministers of the crown vilifying particular racial groups
10. collecting GST moneys and not redistributing to the states to build infrastructure see http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/surpluses-need-to-be-spent-on-infrastructure-that-in-turn-provideservices/2007/11/23/1195753308773.html
11. collecting GST moneys and redistributing in form of pork barrelling
12. destroying job prospects of Australian graduates in service industries
13. failure to acknowledge peak oil
14. infatuation with privatising utilities
15. infatuation with outsopurcing all public service department work to consultants and the for-profit sector. How is that efficient? Expensive - yes!

Unfortunately although the economy looks like its travelling well there are storm clouds on the horizon
1. US sub prime mortgage meltdown
2. peak oil
3. global famine
4. global warming
5. Australia is about to be a food importer when wheat crop fails due to low rainfall

refer http://business.theage.com.au/poisoned-chalice-for-economic-neophytes/20071125-1cpz.html

So I would expect Rudd's policies to address these key problem areas
Posted by billie, Monday, 26 November 2007 2:59:37 PM
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It was a good night for democracy on Saturday night, the Howard Government had become quite tired. With their huge spending spree they pointed out that they had let things go for too long. The credibility of politicians took a noise dive over the last 11 years; we never knew whether promises were real or otherwise.
Some of Mr. Howard's policies were hard core conservative without any acknowledgement of the pain they would cause. Work Choices was one such policy, and administration of Immigration was another; some plain mean decision making went ahead. At times Minister's opened their mouths to reveal unpleasant characteristics; examples being Mr. Ruddock, Mr Andrews, and Mr. Abbott.

Whether Mr. Rudd does well or not; it was definitely time for change. What has become quite apparent is that Mr. Rudd has impressive intellectual abilities, his spending promises were more conservative than Mr. Howard's, a good start.

Should Mr. Abbott become leader of the Liberal Party, then I think they will be in Opposition for quite some time. The Liberal Party has strongly discouraged persons with strong community/people values with their tendancy to become extreme conservatives; lets hope it can become the 'broad church" it once was. They should do alright if they re-subscribe to the values of Mr. Menzies.
Posted by ant, Monday, 26 November 2007 3:09:04 PM
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Yabby wrote: "We owe a lot to Costello, IMHO far more then to Howard. He's left the economy in just about too healthy a state."

This is the same Big Lie which has been peddled day and night for years now the corporate newsmedia including Murdoch's Limited News. Anyone who wants to learn the truth about about Costello's (mis)management of our economy must read Ian McAuley's excellent "How the bean-counters took over the campaign" at http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=6682 :

"In light of the economic performance of the Howard Government, it is strange that anyone would give it a passing grade. While Australia has had a period of high growth, low inflation and falling unemployment during the Coalition's term, this good fortune can hardly be attributed to sound economic management. As the CPD paper Reclaiming Our Common Wealth argues, Australia's continued prosperity is not assured.

"We are living off our assets and mortgaging our future. A resources boom and the delayed benefits of the economic reforms of the Hawke-Keating years have given Australia an easy ride over the last ten years. ... even the 'drover's dog' would have had difficulty in messing it up."

...

"An indicator our Government does not want to mention is our current account deficit. It is extraordinary that even at the peak of the commodity boom, we have to import more than we export. We cannot count on the rest of the world continuing to lend us money to finance our habit of consuming more than we are producing."

...

"... for the mainstream media and government spin doctors, economic management has been confused with what economists call fiscal management - in other words, the balance-sheet of public revenues and expenditures. So long as expenditure does not exceed revenue, our Prime Minister and Opposition Leader can both boast of being 'fiscal conservatives' and 'responsible' economic managers."

----

The other Big Lie of course has been refuted in my own article "The myth of the Howard Government's defence competence" at http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=6665.

If the truth had been more widely known the landslide would have been far greater.
Posted by daggett, Monday, 26 November 2007 3:31:16 PM
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Having read all the comments and the article shows a great deal of debating in Australian politics nowadays, which is healthy and shows we are becoming more educated.A few pollies like Sir Jim Killen and Fred Daly used to show us that friends can vote differently and without rancour put their opinions.I hope that was evident in many of the groups handing out H.T.V. cards as it was in mine.Winners are grinners, but the opposition has a job to do and we see that some are opting out and may even have decided so to do, before the poll if it went the way it did.I don't blame them, families are more important and younger, fresher, more educated,who speak languages of our region, and good Aussie English like Keating who makes me laugh with his descriptions, are what we need and the voters know it, even the young ones over 70!
Posted by TINMAN, Monday, 26 November 2007 3:59:12 PM
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Daggett, your opinion or others opinions really don’t matter when we look at the
figures, which speak for themselves, when it comes to judging Costello.
Fact is that Australians are better off then ever before and the economy
is in sound shape. That’s the reality. Opportuntity and employment
are there for those who want it. Costello is the one treasurer who has not
left us with a pile of debts, unlike all those before him.

Small business, business, have been booming and investing, that creates
jobs. If they stop, the wheels fall off your economy. Job creation schemes
aren’t going to fix it either.

The Australian left remind me so much of the French left, when it comes
to this one. The French left demonstrate in the streets and insist on
cushy lurks and perks of the past. They insist on crazy conditions when
it comes to hiring young people. Result is that French companies tend
not to hire young people, so they go to Britain for a job, where the economy
is booming, due to not being bogged down in regulations. Sarkozy was
elected for exactly this reason, the French public now fully understand
the situation. So what does the left do? They call mores strikes to bring
the country to a halt. Talk about shooting yourself in the proverbial foot!

Rudd understands all this, but I doubt if the rest of much of the labour
movement do. That’s why I’d be surprised if they don’t drag him down
in the end.

The current account is all Australian’s problem, especially those who
have over borrowed. Govts can create good economic conditions,
its not their role to pick winners. The whole idea of work choices
was to have a flexible labour force, which we’ll need if we want to
compete globally. Go back to bells, whistles and union thuggery
and why in the world would any entrepreneur think of investing
in Australia? The moment you can’t fire people, you are going
to try really hard to avoid hiring them in the first place.
Posted by Yabby, Monday, 26 November 2007 5:09:05 PM
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Tinman

I hope you are right when you write 'Having read all the comments and the article shows a great deal of debating in Australian politics nowadays'. Australians have made their choice and we on the conservative side have to accept it.

What still concerns me however is the lack of thought people approach the polling booths with. If people have thought through their philosophies then it it good they vote according to their beliefs and what they see as best for the country. I spoke to a number of people (Christians and otherwise) who really had no idea of who to vote for and why. One guy about to graduate from uni with honours told me he actually voted for the opposite party to who he wanted to because he did not know the different between the senate and the house of reps. It makes me wonder how many people just make up their mind on the day.
Posted by runner, Monday, 26 November 2007 5:18:14 PM
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