Australian's Prime Minister has resigned. Kevin Rudd, the leader of the Labour party, was dumped by his party following a slump in opinion polls and a clash with the resources industry over a plan to tax its profits.
He is succeeded by his former deputy Julia Gillard who has vowed to end division over a controversial mining tax, resurrect a carbon trading scheme and call elections within months. She is Australia's first female prime minister.
Who is Julia Gillard? She was born in Wales and went to Australia as a child and has worked as a lawyer and later as a union official.
Support for Rudd began to slide after he shelved the government's carbon-trading plans in April, a key campaign pledge when he won office in November 2007. A Proposal for the 40% tax on mining 'super profits' has also been a major reason for loss of support for him.
Following his resignation yesterday European stock-index futures climbed.
What does his resignation mean for the rest of the world? Well the US will be pleased Oz is back on message with carbon-trading and the Chinese will be happy their mining interests aren't going to be taxed more heavily. As or Britain, it's a reminder to the Labour party that they're wimps.
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12 comments:
One of my Aussie buddies is rather less than complimentary about Krudd and La Gillardene (as he calls her).
She is of the extreme left wing persuasion...indeed, he calls her a communist.
She is none too popular.
Another 'pun' headline nicked - but I forgive you!
Rudd-erless. Like it.
FWIW I'd have said she's further right than Rudd is. Some Greens and left leaning parts of the ALP - well, the further left leaning part obviously - consider her a right winger. "Sold her soul to the right wing of the ALP" was one expression used. Plus Rudd's announcement about the leadership contest about this time last night mentioned moving to the right more than once, which some take to mean that Gillard has backing from the right wing of the ALP.
Personally I expect her principles, whatever they really happen to be, to go out the window and for her to go all populist in the hope of re-election later in the year. The ALP have done what British Labour couldn't and ditched an unpopular leader so I expect them to try and make the most of it.
So I believe Cato. Not a good situation for the Aussies really.
Ooops sorry WFW. I thought it up in the middle of the night when I heard the news on TalkSport. Insomnia. Haven't got round to my daily blog reading as yet.
I apologise.
I hear what Cato says Angry Exile - she's a real leftie.
But you've got to admire them, then dumped him tout suite, not like the spineless lot in labour here.
SR, you misunderstand, you thought of it before me!
No apols necessary!
Ah well WFW, you possibly weren't awake around 2.30am and listening to TalkSport. I find it soporific. :)
I could ask a very pertinent question young lady, but being a gentleman - I won't!
Ask away, the answer is I always read in bed. At my age...
By the standards of a lot of Victoria she's not that left, Bevan worshipping miner's daughter from Barry or not, and I personally know proper lefties here who are cracking the shits about the move to the right (as they see it - I've heard someone describe Melbourne as a socialist paradise, and I think the madman meant it). Was in her uni days, yeah, sure. But then I've bounced from right to left and back again before heading off on a libertarian/tine tangent. Obviously she's left of the Liberals, who incidentally have very little about them that's liberal anyway, but again that doesn't say much. Politics down here isn't that much different from the UK in that the fight over the centre ground is turning both main parties into medium-authoritarian centrists. The ALP are a little to the socialist side but you could argue that historically they've been a little more libertarian. The Coalition are a little to the right. Both have little going for them and unless the Liberal Democrats (think an Aussie LPUK) stand round here there's nobody to vote for. Come election time the question is whether to work out preferences so as to vote for neither or pay the fine for not voting at all.
Angry Exile, many thanks for taking the trouble to give us all that information. It's certainly given me a clearer picture.
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