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New Day, New PM, Redux
Jun. 27th, 2013 04:22 pmSo, everything old is new again, as another leadership challenge brings down a sitting PM, and brings to an end a long, strange three years of federal politics.
I am willing to forgive Rudd a multitude of sins if his return means we avoid the prospect of Prime Minister Abbott. If he loses though… if he loses, it’ll be a loss of his own making, after three years of leadership challenges, leadership debates, factional infighting, and undermining of the government from within.
Of course, Rudd and his backers won’t share all the blame – there’s also a media that wanted Gillard gone from the beginning, and a culture of misogynistic bullying both inside and outside of parliament that never accepted a woman in the top job as legitimate. The fact that Labor managed to hold onto power in 2010 and, largely, managed to govern fairly well for the last three years was an incredible achievement, with all the cards stacked against them. If Labor pulls off another victory this year despite its problems, it will be a real statement of just how unpopular the Coalition’s policies are, that they can’t scrape by a win even against a Labor divided against itself…
It’s probably going to be another decade before either major party risks putting a woman in the top job, and Gillard’s departure from politics is an incredible waste of talent and skill. As I said, I’ll forgive Rudd if he can pull of a victory – but I’m not going to be celebrating either.
I am willing to forgive Rudd a multitude of sins if his return means we avoid the prospect of Prime Minister Abbott. If he loses though… if he loses, it’ll be a loss of his own making, after three years of leadership challenges, leadership debates, factional infighting, and undermining of the government from within.
Of course, Rudd and his backers won’t share all the blame – there’s also a media that wanted Gillard gone from the beginning, and a culture of misogynistic bullying both inside and outside of parliament that never accepted a woman in the top job as legitimate. The fact that Labor managed to hold onto power in 2010 and, largely, managed to govern fairly well for the last three years was an incredible achievement, with all the cards stacked against them. If Labor pulls off another victory this year despite its problems, it will be a real statement of just how unpopular the Coalition’s policies are, that they can’t scrape by a win even against a Labor divided against itself…
It’s probably going to be another decade before either major party risks putting a woman in the top job, and Gillard’s departure from politics is an incredible waste of talent and skill. As I said, I’ll forgive Rudd if he can pull of a victory – but I’m not going to be celebrating either.