Hi Emma,

Good article, although for the average voter, Rudd appears to me to be the 'opposite of Howard' ie direct to the point, open to new ideas, etc..

But on the 'alternate vision' to Australia, I honestly can't see the differnce or can't even see a full vision. Liberals seem to be on a 'make it as you go' vision and labour's vision is not clear or well defined.

All I can see for now both are dwelling on a couple of issues (ie interest rates, Iraq, etc..) taking credit for whatever goes well and blaming each other for whatever is going wrong.

Where is Tim Fisher?

Peace,

As much as I am excited about the new Big Kev I would have to dispute that off-loading Burke and Grill is the end of "old Labor".

Factional fiefdoms are alive and well in the ALP. Bugger ideology though it is all about sharing the spoils amongst the middle class saviours of the working classes - the teachers, social workers and university educated union officials who run Labor on behalf of the toling masses.

Kevin Rudd looks like a good prospect to trap the Rat but let's not get carried away with all this "new Labor" rubbish.

I guess the next thing will be that Kevin has changed the "light on the hill" to a compact fluorescent!

Like many people here I'm curious about Rudd's policies. He's clearly got Howard worried and the media are obsessed with him, both positive and negative, but so far I only see a reaction against Howard, rather than a clear preference for Rudd.

Was it Hugh Mackay who said oppositions don't win, but rather governments lose?

Hopefully we'll get more info about policy with the ALP conference. The theatrical drama going on lately has been highly entertaining and some people will vote on that basis, as though government is no different to Big Brother. I want to know what Rudd plans to do with Workchoices, healthcare, our dying infrastructure, superannuation and our slipping international reputation on human rights.

Or will he turn out to be another Howard - accidentally forget to tell us about his plans for wages and conditions until after the election?

Kevin Rudd is on the road to the lodge, an old Labor battle song its time may just be on tune for this election.
Its time the lies stopped
Its time to end divisive government
Its time for accountable government.
Todays further resignation from cabinet again highlights that about one in three who should have done so have fell on swords very much tainted during Howard's reign.
ALP policy's can never drift far away from those shared by most who vote if victory is to come, Rudd never will depart the middle path.
After his victory we will see he becomes both a good leader and a trusted one.
We also will see a debate Begin that should be in full flow now why have the conservatives so badly wasted the massive mandate?
And what do they face? new direction and leadership or new party?
Why use the mandate as a war weapon on some Australians?
Are all conservatives happy with workchoices?

What are you talking about belly ALP's policy do they have any
Like i have said before went searching for their Veterans affairs policy and all i found under Veterans Affairs Policy was a speech.

Now for real policy check out The Australian Peoples Party at

www.tapp.org.au

and while you are there check the news section.

A dull article, written by a Laborite whose dejection over Howard’s reign has suddenly turned around since Rudd has scored well in a few opinion polls. It is true though that Howard is on his back foot, rather reminiscent of Fraser in 1982(or was it 81?) with his “you’d better put your savings under your bed”, when Hawke pushed out Hayden.

However, Rudd has scarcely said a thing. To that extent he is smarter than Beasley and Latham, who both said too many silly things. If Rudd really had a passion and good ideas for Australia’s future, why doesn’t he tell them? OK the recent news item about funding local car makers to produce electric vehicles is good in principle, but GM and Ford are US companies, so it is really throwing money down the drain. GM (USA) already has an electric car in the pipeline anyway.

On another note, Rudd’s fluency in mandarin increases the likelihood he will move Australia closer to China. A difference between Howard and Rudd is highlighted by last week's security treaty with Japan. Labor didn’t support the pact, yet Japan is still our biggest trading partner; it is a democracy and the 2nd biggest economy in the world. China is an authoritarian regime that represses free speech and supports crackpot countries like North Korea. They increased military spending 18% last year (what for?), and irresponsibly blew up a satellite in space, resulting in a whole lot of space junk spinning round the earth that will one day fall down.

Reading between the Rudd media hype and the “time for a change” dumb clucks, I see little leadership or ideas from either side of politics that will benefit Australia’s future. The problem is that most politicians are lawyers, who have little understanding of business or science and engineering.