Nov 25
A strong, hot cup of tea and iced vo-vos for all Australians…
While you guys in the US are finishing turkey leftovers and are slowly returning to your blogs, Australians have gone to their polling booths and finally - finally! - said goodbye to Prime Minister John Howard.
To be honest, after so many news polls over the last year pointing to solid victory for Labor leader, Kevin Rudd, I was still sick to my stomach thinking there remained a small possibility no change would occur.
I thought the news of the victory would unleash my tongue and I would snarl and snipe at Howard, dancing gleefully on his political grave. Hilaire Belloc pretty much summed up where I stood.
Here, richly, with ridiculous display,
The Politician’s corpse was laid away.
While all of his acquaintances sneered and slanged
I wept: for I had longed to see him hanged.[Quoted by Jeff Sparrow, the editor of Overland (the one journal I have been published in), as part of the final words from the commentariat at Crikey.]
Instead, I’m just relieved.
I can’t say I’m unhappy that the victory was so emphatic, even historic, and I can’t say I’m unhappy with the extra salt poured on the wound by the almost certain loss of the Howard’s own seat, Bennelong, which will make him only the 2nd sitting PM in Australia’s history to lose his seat in an election. I can’t say that I’m not drinking my champagne with a little bit of schadenfreude. But…
It’s over.
Perhaps it seems a little odd for a philosophical anarchist to have such an investment in the outcome of an election but as imperfect as the political system is, it is what we have. For years I did not vote on principle, in spite of Australia’s legal requirement for me to do so, but so much of the last 11 and a half years has been intolerable. Indeed, shameful.
So I welcome the change and hopefully we will see some of the social injustices perpetrated by the Howard government set to rights. I won’t say I expect the new government to live up to my standards - government is fundamentally incapable of that - but I am hopeful that the Ruddslide will give us some politics that are a little less regressive, a little more inclusive, a lot less destructive, and that exhibit at least a modicum of integrity, something which has been noticeably absent for too long.
That’s not a hard ask, considering.
And in Julia Gillard, we now have our very first female Deputy Prime Minister elect, the highest political office a woman has ever held in this country. With the exception of one doofus politician who called her “deliberately barren” and considered her unfit for her position because she was childless, her sex was a non-issue throughout the campaign. What more could a feminist want?
So…
Friends, tomorrow, the work begins…You can have a strong cup of tea if you want, even an Iced Vo-Vo on the way through. But the celebration stops there.[Kevin Rudd’s Acceptance Speech]
Er, actually… I’m still celebrating.
November 25th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
lol…and I’m on a diet so I can’t even have the damn Iced Vo-vo. Damn. I like them too.
I’m with you sister, thank God for change.
November 25th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
I’d be more ambitious, I’d prefer Gillard as PM - I’ve never been a big fan of Krudd. Bland, clean-living, workaholic, possibly faux-naif family types I generally cross the street to avoid. Could it be jealousy? I hope not. A friend of mine said he thought Krudd’s acceptance speech was the worst he’d ever heard. Bland, vague ‘uplifting’ twaddle. I must say my heart sank a couple of times, listening to him. I reckon we could do better, though little Johnnie’s demise is well overdue. But what about the line [was it the very last line?] ‘without family, we’re nothing.’ I squirmed at that - guilt, maybe. I prefer to treat it as another bland truism, like without oxygen/sunlight/gravity/sexual intercourse/cell division we’re nothing.
By the way, that iced vovo looks vaguely obscene, but maybe I’ve been working too hard.
November 25th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
I’m far more ambitious! No nations, no PMs and people perfectly capable of choosing their own methods of organising their affairs and their communities. That’s a long, long way off.
There was definitely twaddle. I think he has moved the campaigning more towards a glossy, US style. On the subject of family, every single time I hear the words “Australian families” I want to throw something. It appears to be an inclusive phrase, because really, aren’t we all part of families? In reality, though, why don’t they just say “Australian”? It’s such a subtly divisive phrase, clearly harping back to the stereotypical nuclear family and outdated cultural norms. It’s really offensive. And “working families”… Man, that gets my goat.
I’m not a great lover of Rudd, that’s for sure. But I am also fairly sure that Gillard wouldn’t have got Labor through the way Rudd has. Australian voters have proved themselves susceptible to Howard’s appeals to the lowest common denominator and fear-mongering time and time again, even when they have loathed his actions. Rudd seemed just safe enough. The polling on the reasons for the vote against Howard has been interesting. Everything from Tampa to the GST was cited, even though they voted him in after that.
Over the past year, Gillard has developed a lot of political savvy, and become a little more slick which, unfortunately, is a necessary attribute if you’re going to survive the pitfalls of campaigning, especially against the negative PR the Liberals have perfected over the last decade. (There are still people worried about economic management, in spite of the fact that the Liberal’s were planning on spending twice as much as Labor’s budget does.) Gillard would have been battered. This way, at least, she’ll be around and there will be somewhere to go after Rudd.
(It makes me think a little of Stott-Despoja being thrust into leadership before she was ready to. That was a mess.)
At a minimum, the Liberals have been absolutely decimated and that’s good enough for the time being. Well, good enough in the sense that it’s the most I could have expected… for now.
As for the Iced Vo-Vo.. You male humans are weird.
November 25th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
On second thoughts, the vovo looks more disgusting than obscene, sort of like the inside of a used bandage.
I agree completely with your remarks on Gillard, and the campaign generally. Someone like Rudd was what they needed to get them over the line, but his I will govern for all Australians line really irked me, I mean, shit, he’s won the election already, doesn’t he realise he doesn’t have to sound like Howard anymore? Or is that his real voice? New leadership indeed.
I’m very interested in how the Rudd-Gillard team will fare over the next few months, when they won’t feel the necessity of being in lock-step so much.
As for your ambitions - I like the idea of the dismantling of nations, so artificial yet so invested in. Never been able to get it myself. Watching people get emotional over national anthems or national flags just gives me the creeps, but it also genuinely perplexes me, as does any emotion that I’ve never felt [jealousy, for example]. Not having experienced ‘patriotism’ myself, I naturally doubt the sincerity of those who do. Surely they’re playacting.
Then again, if Australia won the World Cup [football, that is]… Now, how do I explain that?
November 26th, 2007 at 12:09 am
When the World Cup is on, of course I’m patriotic! It’s the only sport I watch. You should have seen me heavily pregnant on the bus going to work at 6am desperately trying to hear the radio over the noise. And all those working men laughing at me when I yelled aloud.
Beyond that though, I can say I love my country, but I love what is home to me, not it’s borders. It’s a kind of localism, like the Italian paesani.
The Rudd-Gillard team will be interesting. It seemed a little uncomfortable at the start to say the least. My feeling now - based on pure instinct and no facts - is that Gillard has actually developed a lot of respect for Rudd over the months. I think Rudd has made a significant change in the way the Labor operates. He may be faux-naif, but I don’t think he’s stupid. He knows how to package it, for better or worse.
It doesn’t say much about Australian citizens that that’s what they need. But it’s a brave new media world out there.
November 26th, 2007 at 2:20 am
My devout relief was followed by dancing on the political grave! My youngest, who has lived overseas for years and lost touch with the nuances, is visiting just now. He said to me this morning, ‘You’ve got quite a nasty streak, haven’t you Mum? You’re really gleeful about Howard losing.’
I said, ‘YES!’ and did another jig.
November 26th, 2007 at 7:30 am
kevin07 sounds good to me