Rudd deposed as Australian PM

S

sox63

Executive Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2007
Messages
8,709
Reaction score
243
Kevin Rudd's rapid fall from grace

By Nick Bryant
BBC News, Sydney Kevin Rudd announces the leadership contest (23 June 2010) Kevin Rudd was more popular with voters than with his party colleagues

The tumble of events has been extraordinarily fast. At the start of this year the polls suggested that Kevin Rudd remained Australia's most popular prime minister in 30 years - since the days of Bob Hawke.

Australia had been one of the few countries to avoid recession after the global financial crisis. His re-election seemed certain. The talk was of a Rudd era of government, stretching out, perhaps, over a decade.

But the pivotal moment came earlier this year when he decided to shelve the centrepiece of his environmental strategy, an emissions trading scheme.

Many thought it was an act of political cowardice - "gutless" was the oft-heard word.

The decision also brought other concerns about his style of leadership to the surface - his aloofness from colleagues, his refusal to consult with his cabinet, what many viewed as intellectual arrogance and a tendency to back down rather than battle when public opinion turned against him.
Continue reading the main story Julia Gillard Profile: Julia Gillard

Since becoming leader of the Labor Party in 2006, he had always been much more popular with the Australian people than with his colleagues in the party.

But after picking a fight with the resources sector over his plans for a super tax on their super profits, the polls slumped again - especially in the mining states of Western Australia and Queensland.

Now Kevin Rudd could no longer trade on his popularity, and the party powerbrokers and factional leaders decided the government would fare better at the forthcoming federal election with Julia Gillard at its head.

Always a more popular figure within the party, Ms Gillard had the numbers to beat him.

She had done for months, but had been reluctant to challenge Kevin Rudd. Eventually the pressure from the powerbrokers became irresistible, and she finally decided to wield the knife.

Kevin Rudd could not even command enough support to make the leadership ballot competitive, and stepped down rather than suffering an embarrassing, lop-sided defeat.

So the Welsh-born Gillard will now become the country's first female prime minister.
Click to expand...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10399230.stm

Rudd’s fall: It’s not always the economy, stupid

(CNN) – Kevin Rudd’s sudden loss of his own party’s backing as Prime Minister of Australia seems to fly in the face of conventional wisdom that has ruled politics since Bill Clinton successfully stumped for U.S. president in 1992 on the back of this slogan: It’s the economy, stupid.

In the midst of the storm clouds that have surrounded the global economy during the “Great Recession,” the Australian economy has been a ray of light.

Australia never fell into recession. Rudd was widely credited for successfully steering the nation through the credit crisis, thanks in no small part to its commodities-rich trade with China and other emerging economies.

As recently as six months ago, CNN’s Stan Grant reports, Rudd enjoyed record approval ratings for a sitting prime minister.

What happened?

Two major culprits, both of which have a deep impact on business in Australia: The failure of his emissions trading proposal – which would have introduced tougher cap and trade policies for industrial polluters – and a 40 percent “supertax” planned on mining companies.

A once passionate advocate of reducing global emissions, his softening on the issue upset his environmental base. His support of mining taxes, naturally, upset the nation’s powerful mining interests (at the close of trading in New York, shares of both Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were up more than 2 percent on the news of a possible leadership shakeup).

Rudd’s inability to steer these two measures created doubt within his own Labor Party that he could successfully lead them to victory in upcoming elections.

Moreover, it appears Rudd alienated the supporters closest too him, who saw him as controlling and mercurial in his leadership style.

Which goes to show that its not always “the economy, stupid,” when it comes to politics. Instead it appears Rudd forgot that other maxim of politics, coined by former U.S. Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neill: All politics is local.

It’s a lesson for executives, too: If you don’t have the support of those around you, you don’t have any support at all.
Click to expand...
http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/24/rudds-fall-its-not-always-the-economy-stupid/

nationalization of mines is better ..... STUPID! :D

:rolleyes:
 
Dont mess with the corporates should be the moral of this story...
 
Nice to see him gone. Australia is such a well run country (probably the best) with a very high standard of living and open, safe spaces. The politicians are intelligent people (unlike some other less privileged countries) and the competition among them is very high. We can only hope that the already strict immigration laws will now be made even stricter :D I love the Gold Coast. Best place to be. I wish the house prices increase even more ;)
 
Well now that Mr popular is gone, why do people insist on voting for people because they're "likable"? , they can kick out the politburo out before they run the country into the ground and put those responsible for Australia's sound economic state back in power.
 
Jola said:
They do it in SA as well - JZ is regarded as "likeable" in many quarters !
Click to expand...

Indeed it happens all over the world. One of the major drawbacks of democracy is the populist politician. The U.S too has gone down that route.
 
Jola said:
They do it in SA as well - JZ is regarded as "likeable" in many quarters !
Click to expand...

Correct, however in South Africa the reasons for removal are very much different. Ask T.Mbeki all about it. Seriously, not even a outsider like myself belives JZ is a better leader then TM.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X