I'll make no secret of the fact...Australia's PM John Howard is one of my favorite world leaders, period. In terms of guts, competence and plain spoken honesty,PM Howard sets a huge standard.That's why our pals in Oz have voted for him and the Liberal Party to lead the country since 1996.
In one week, Australia holds its parliamentary elections , and the polls don't look good for Howard and the Liberals, who are behind by 7-10 points, depending on what you look at.
Howard's opponent, Labour's Mark Rudd has a very typical Left agenda - sign Kyoto,get Australia's troops out of Iraq, and more government gimmees on health care and education.
Like Tony Blair in Britain and a certain politician here in America, Rudd is masking his agenda by claiming to be a `new type of Labour leader' and a `fiscal conservative'.
Howard, for his part has presided over an unprecedented boom in Australia's prosperity. He very rightly asks the question: do you really want to trust Labour with the economy? In view of Australia's challenges with Islamist terrorism, do you really trust Labour to protect the country?
Sound familiar?
The Oz press has picked up on the dichotomy of a Labour politician trying to be more conservative than a Liberal, dubbing Howard and Rudd `Him and Me Too.'
Part of what John Howard is facing is simple voter fatigue. After 12 years, a lot of Australians want change for changes' sake.Other issues involve rising interest rates on Australian mortgages, which has hurt the incumbents and the usual assortment of governmental gaffes.
In many ways, this election is also a referendum on Australia's future.
John Howard is a staunch friend of America and the West,and favors Australia's traditional culture and alliances.
Some Australians, frankly, see that as a drawback and want Australia to pursue a more independent, Asia oriented direction. To these people, Mark Rudd,who speaks Mandarin Chinese and favors closer ties integrating Australia with Asia is the future they prefer.
Will the Battler pull it out? Both the polls and the bookies are betting against it..but then, John Howard has been behind in the polls before.
We'll find out in about a week.
2 comments:
It's Kevin Rudd... and he'll win because John Howard has lost touch with families with his American workplace agenda and has vowed to retire halfway through his term even if he wins.
Thanks for dropping by...
You could very well be right about the winner...the polls may be wrong but the bookmakers are predicting the same and they usually have the drum.
I hope they're wrong.
Can't agree on the`American workplace' bit obviously. It seems to have worked pretty well in Oz for the last decade plus.
No such thing as a free lunch, and that's dinkum.
Ask the Poms how they like `New Labour' with Tony Blair and now El Gordo in charge.Rudd's the same stuff.
There are plenty of them fleeing to Oz and the States from the UK these days...they won't be hard to find and a lot of these poor souls are probably desperate for a kind word and a little tea and sympathy.
All Best,
ff
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