Tag: Julia Gillard

  • Multi-party politics

    I’m reminded by the ACT election how much more interesting politics can be when there are more than two choices. If I lived in the US, I think I would despair at the monotony of the eternal struggle between the Democrats and Republicans. However, Australia still hasn’t truly come to terms with multi-party politics. We…

  • And for my next wish…

    Just [intlink id=”1083″ type=”post”]as I hoped[/intlink], we have a hung parliament. A few days after the event, all I can say is this: Rob Oakeshott, you legend. Oakeshott, one of the three independent kingmakers, has proposed a unity cabient, wherein the two major parties would share power. Doubtless there is much scepticism to be had…

  • Was it right? (part 2)

    This is a counterargument to a [intlink id=”1069″ type=”post”]previous post[/intlink], in which I argued the case for switching from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to Prime Minister Julia Gillard (or rather, why certain objections were unfounded). Gillard’s rise to power may have restored Labor’s popularity for the time being (and certainly at a very opportune moment),…

  • I vote for a hung parliament

    How did it come to this? The Greens, supposedly a party of the “far left” (whatever that means), are now the flag bearers for a market-based policy – carbon emissions trading. Rudd along with three successive opponents – Howard, Nelson and Turnbull — all pledged to introduce or support an ETS. Now the Labor Party…

  • Was it right?

    Tony Abbott wasted no time in conjuring up the “midnight execution” imagery to describe Julia Gillard’s usurpation of power, and a little later trying to explain why this wasn’t precisely the same thing that he himself had done to Malcolm Turnbull six months earlier. (He probably had to go all out, because Gillard out-polls him…