Ok, it's time to ramp blogpost number 2, and more to the point, talk about the issues I'm actually here to talk about.
Australian politics have been in absolute uproar since roughly 8 or 9pm yesterday. And I love it, frankly. It feels like the winds of change are coming through.
I'll talk about my political leanings at a later date, but for now let's focus on the events of the day.
Rudd out, Gillard in. Doesn't do justice to the enormity of what has happened, really. Both are entered into the annals of Australian political history in a single day. Gillard is the first female prime minister of Australia. Rudd has been ousted from the leadership without even serving a full term. This sort of sudden change is on the level with one-term presidents in the States; i.e., it is is extremely rare and above all, career-ending for the individual.
Because Rudd's career IS over, no matter what role he serves in the Labor Party and in the government going forward. I have no idea what his standing is in his own seat, but considering the perceptible relief I've encountered from every person I've discussed the event with, I would suspect that he may lose that as well. Because the fact is, despite the gargantuan levels of popularity Rudd experience during his time as PM, it was clear public sentiment was flowing as strongly against him now, and more to the point, he'd lost the most important thing supporting his position . He is no longer trustworthy or even believable. Next no-one still believes Rudd when he says anything at all. As far as the public was concerned, if he says something's white, it's probably black.
As for Gillard, she's a bit of an unknown. It'll be interesting to see how she plays over the next few weeks. She's got a much better image, obviously, but I would point out one very important thing. She is just as responsible for all the really major stuff-ups of the Rudd Government as Rudd is, the 'Education Revolution' in particular. I seriously question whether she's not just more of the same.
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