Kim Beazley's woeful Labor legacy is surely on its last legs. Surely he will spare the party and more of his mediocre performances that have left a legacy of loss upon the party. After losing the leadership ballot, Beazley secured a legacy he'd rather forget - he has lost every contested leadership ballot he stood for, and every election as Labor leader. Perhaps his infamous 'roosters' will also have their talons loosened from the party's 'neck' to allow for some much needed reform.
I caught the last thirty minutes of question time today, courtesy of an early knock off at work. Rudd was looking very out of depth coming up against John Howard. Straight away you see that Rudd is going to have to sharpen up his image and presence within the parliament - he was coming across as a meek and mild, quietly spoken and lacking in aggression. There was no conviction in his questions to the Prime Minister, no emotion to show how 'outraged' and 'convinced' he is in the policies he represents. Rudd failed to land a punch on Howard while dancing around throwing weak jabs on Industrial Relations and climate change. Some of the loudest cheers in months were delivered from the Coalition benches as Howard replied will deft upper cuts, displaying a decisive, convincing demeanour. It was as if the Coalition could sense the beginning of a long route - a 'Waterloo' moment that begins a long offensive ending in victory in the polls in 2007.
One of the most telling comments in question time was delivered by Howard when addressing Kevin Rudd. He told the new leader that until the Labor Party ended the disproportionate control by the trade union movement, Labor would continue to decline in its ability to relate to Australia. He's right, and many Labor politicians would know it. The courage to face the bloody and painful 'divorce' of the union movement and Labor party is not yet present within any of the current or potential future leaders.
I caught the last thirty minutes of question time today, courtesy of an early knock off at work. Rudd was looking very out of depth coming up against John Howard. Straight away you see that Rudd is going to have to sharpen up his image and presence within the parliament - he was coming across as a meek and mild, quietly spoken and lacking in aggression. There was no conviction in his questions to the Prime Minister, no emotion to show how 'outraged' and 'convinced' he is in the policies he represents. Rudd failed to land a punch on Howard while dancing around throwing weak jabs on Industrial Relations and climate change. Some of the loudest cheers in months were delivered from the Coalition benches as Howard replied will deft upper cuts, displaying a decisive, convincing demeanour. It was as if the Coalition could sense the beginning of a long route - a 'Waterloo' moment that begins a long offensive ending in victory in the polls in 2007.
One of the most telling comments in question time was delivered by Howard when addressing Kevin Rudd. He told the new leader that until the Labor Party ended the disproportionate control by the trade union movement, Labor would continue to decline in its ability to relate to Australia. He's right, and many Labor politicians would know it. The courage to face the bloody and painful 'divorce' of the union movement and Labor party is not yet present within any of the current or potential future leaders.
2 comments:
The last labor leader to attempt a divorce between the ALP and the unions was Simon Crean, and look what happened to him. He was never popular in the polls, but the white-anting from his own colleagues guaranteed his downfall. The last Labor leader to minimise the power of the unions was also a former ACTU leader, Bob Hawke, while he was in power, and thus able to really bargain with the unions. This is something that only a strong leader, with real support throughout caucus, preferably in government, can achieve. Rudd does not have the necessary support to try something this radical this early.
I agree with you on Rudd not yet having that power - and for this reason I don't think Labor can return to Government until the economy takes a dive or Howard makes a bad decision of catastrophic proportions.
The biggest problem is the lack of 'democracy' within Labor itself due to the factional - union strongholds.
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