The Rudd Era so far

It's been a hoot. Mostly it's been the circus leg of bread and circuses.

Amid great fanfare Rudd signs the Kyoto Protocol. As we all know it's an empty gesture. The protocol expires in 2013. It has had no discernible effects on manmade greenhouse gas emissions. One of its offshoots, biofuels, is arguably doing more to fuel global hunger than vehicles.

See: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/10/2269605.htm

Quote:

"The amount of grain required to produce enough ethanol to fill the tank of an SUV is enough to feed a human being for an entire year..."

Then we have the stoush with the Japanese over whaling. No, I don’t like whaling. On the other hand, in the interests of trade relations we tread gingerly over China's human rights record. That record includes trafficking in human organs taken from executed prisoners. It's obvious the Rudd groupies value the lives of whales above the lives of Chinese humans.

While Rudd is in Japan he may want to learn about the Japanese healthcare system. He will see that encouraging people to leave healthcare funds is exactly the wrong thing to do.

We refuse to sell uranium to India, a fellow democracy. But we'll sell the Chinese all the greenhouse gas emitting coal they'll take.

We also had the assembly of a thousand "bright sparks" in Canberra. Other than making a few lesser lights feel temporarily important what did it achieve?

What COULD it achieve?

Oh, and Rudd also stiffed the pensioners.

Other than assembling Australia's biggest ever political slush fund – supposedly to fund infrastructure – the Rudd Government has been a zero.

RUDD IS THE CONTINUATION OF HOWARD BY OTHER MEANS

But Howard never pretended to be anything other than Howard. Rudd has fooled Australia's (pseudo) intelligentsia to the point where the insufferable Louise Adler compares him to Moses!

He needs to be watched for a "seeding" of a new communism in Australia...for bringing about any further breakdown in Christianity in the Great South Land of The Holy Spirit.
His closeness to China and the passion for an asia union are very dangerous, especially with Labors connections to unions and them to communism.
I frequently wonder what Labor has done down the decades in helping the world go Red.
Are they still active out the backroom with the fluttering red flame? I hope someone is watching Labor.

I have to agree with you in part Steven and I would add the means testing of the solar rebate as a backward step for a government who is serious about renewable energy.

On the good side: Rudd did have the guts to openly speak about Tibet with the Chinese while the rest of the world said nothing. Rudd apologised to Indigenous Australians for the treatment of the stolen generations. Rudd actually made an effort to stop the illegal hunting of whales in the Southern ocean and is continuing to have discussions in Japan. Not selling uranium to India was a good thing given they have not agreed to sign the non-nuclear proliferation treaty. Still early days but Rudd has promised to reform the industrial relations mess that Howard left us in by returning penalty rates and collective bargaining particularly for those in the lowest end of the income spectrum. He is also establishing the production of hybrid cars in Australia albeit it cost us a few million dollars and there is the question of whether Toyota might have manufactured the cars here in any case.

On the bad: much more needs to be done in the environmental sphere (including peak oil, population sustainability), more for pensioners and carers, banning live exports just to name a few.

But lets see what happens down the track, it is still early-ish days.