Please explain
On a day that the most exciting campaign news came in the form of a Labor announcement on dental care - replete, of course, with Kevin Rudd brandishing his Colgate "ring of confidence" grin - I thought I would sink my teeth into something altogether more nourishing: your comments and emails.
First off, thanks for taking the time to comment and write; and apologies for not being able to respond to them individually.
Re-reading them now, it seems that a few common themes emerge:
Howard detractors seem delighted that the manner in which the Prime Minister has won previous elections - by scaring the living daylights out of people on issues like asylum seekers and interest rates - is now making it more difficult for him to win this one. This time round it appears conventional scare tactics won't work because Kevin Rudd doesn't appear to frighten the voters.
Howard supporters seem aggrieved that Howard detractors don't give him enough credit for a) his economic stewardship at a time of unprecedented and extraordinary growth, and b) cementing and embellishing Australia's post-war relationship with America, by far it's most important strategic alliance.
Rudd detractors seem to think he is a complete phoney, who is all spin and no substance. For them, his 'me-tooism' has become a measure of the man.
Rudd supporters seem genuinely aggrieved that he isn't being bolder. They, too, seem mightily unimpressed by his 'me-tooism,' and that of his shadow Cabinet colleagues. Just look at the kicking some readers have given Peter Garrett, the former rock star who now seems to exhibit the meekness of a choir boy.
A couple of other quick and obvious observations:
- there's clearly a lot of anger over WorkChoices, the Howard's controversial workplace relation changes. Here's one to ponder: will Australian political historians come to view it in much the same way that British political historians regard Margaret Thatcher's poll tax?
- there's clearly a lot of anger over the government's refusal to ratify Kyoto, even though, as a number of correspondents have pointed out, John Howard initially welcomed the climate change protocol when it was first hammered out.
- had David Hicks still been imprisoned without trial at Guatanamo Bay, you get the feeling that the question of John Howard's almost umbilical relationship with George W Bush would have generated much the same unrest (not because people are pro-Hicks but because they are anti-Bush). Another one to ponder over something chilled?
More on the politics of climate change later in the week, featuring a long-overdue appearance from Greens leader Bob Brown, and his former mate, Peter Garrett.
More, too, on WorkChoices and the sanctity of fairness in Australian politics.
If you want to know where to hire a silver DeLorean sports car, I have the mobile number of a bloke who can help. If you've tried to make a reservation at Sean's Panorama, you will indeed find that it's actually called Sean's Panaroma.
And if you think there are subjects I'm ignoring, please holler.
On Monday, John Howard officially launches his campaign, in Brisbane. On Wednesday, Kevin Rudd does the same in the same city (although he does at least come from Queensland, before you accuse him of sinister, geographical mee-tooism).
Official launches in week five of an election campaign? As Pauline Hanson once so famously said, when confronted by an interviewer brandishing the word xenophobic: "Please explain."
I'm 
颁辞尘尘别苍迟蝉听听 Post your comment
What is Michael Peshard (sorry but can't remember the correct spelling og his surname)doing these days I used to enjoy watching his programme Australia Direct on 大象传媒 News 24
Popular morning TV show host Kochie made the interesting point the other day that, at a time when inflation is starting to rear its head and the central bank has had to raise interest rates, both parties are promising to put $30bn back into the electorate's pocket in the form of tax cuts. Prudent economic management is obviously only of secondary importance to the overriding goal of gaining power.
Nick, for you information, the reason that formal campaign launches in Australia take place so close to polling day concerns the arrangements for public funding of elections. Up until the official launches, all campaigning is publicly funded by the taxpayer. It's only after the formal launches that the parties themselves have to foot the bill for the cost of campaigning. Just a quirk of the Australian way of doing things.
The talk of "me-tooism" bemuses me. Do people actually expect an ALP leader to be a social democrat nowadays? I think Latham's unfortunate campaign put the last nail in that coffin. No one seems to realise that what you see with Rudd is what you get- his neoliberalism isn't an act.
Nick, you wrote: "Official launches in week five of an election campaign? As Pauline Hanson once so famously said, when confronted by an interviewer brandishing the word xenophobic: "Please explain"."
It's all about who pays for the election.
Up to the launch we, the ratepayers, pay and after the launch the political parties pay.
So the intent is to keep the paying time for the political parties as short as possible.
Claro?
Regards - John
One of the features of Australian elections that has always fascinated me is that Australians 诲辞苍鈥檛 elect a government they like. They throw out a government they 诲辞苍鈥檛 like -- at least once they dislike the goverment more than the opposition. Howard was not elected because Australians wanted his promised GST (=VAT in Britain), but because they didn鈥檛 like Paul Keating. Similarly, Hawke was elected because the electorate didn鈥檛 like Fraser any more. Howard may well have been dumped last time except the voting public could never really bring itself to hate him as much a they hated Latham. If Rudd gets up this time (which looks likely, even though he needs to win sixteen seats to do it) it will not be because of his Colgate smile or his teflon coating, but because he is not disliked as much as the man who introduced unannounced Industrial Relations laws, who sent troops to Iraq against massive public opinion, who treated refugees so inhumanly and who invented the term 鈥渘on-core promises鈥 (the list is much longer than I have itemised). Every Prime Minister (except the odd one or two who have died in office) sooner or later irritates the public so much that he is dumped. The opposition leader at the time is then just plain lucky.
Erm, no, Howard did not propose the GST at the 1996 election. That was 1998.
And he didn't exactly send the troops over despite "massive public opinion"; I think you'll find the polls were pretty evenly balanced.
Another thing that is important to Howard's detractors is that he and Costello take all the credit for the way the economy is going. The economy was already well and truly on the way up when they took over in 96, and it was Keating who implemented all the big economic reforms that made our economic growth possible (floating the dollar, lowering tariffs, ending centralised wage fixing, etc). And as for interest rates and inflation, it was amazing to see Howard on the day of the last rate rise standing in front of the chart showing interest rates...that only went back to 1983!! When he was treasurer they got up to 22%, and inflation was 12%. And here we hear Howard claiming that HE inherited a basket case economy in 1996. Our economic success since 1996 has been due to Keating's big reforms, a mining boom, and benign world economic conditions. What really important reforms, apart from the GST, and now workchoices, which will probably be the end of him, has Howard implemented? To give him credit, he has made few mistakes and has kept the ship steady, although I'd argue that we haven't capitalised on the last 11 years - we have taken money out of things like education.
The simplicity of the notion that interest rates supposedly automatically go up under Labor is ridiculous. We should remember, Australian interest rates over the past 20 years have been consistently about 1.2% above the OECD average - regardless of who has been in government. It won't matter who wins next week, rates will rise in the next year because of factors beyond their control.
I too would like to know what Michael Peschard is doing now - I thought he was a permanent fixture in Oz for the 大象传媒 also on 大象传媒 Breakfast in UK for a few weeks each year. I miss his cheering talk and reports - no reflection on Nick Bryant at all he is also a good reporter but old hands are missed when they disappear.
It must be catching, this curiosity about Michael Peschard! I am another who is curious to know why he has seemingly departed from our regular news-feeds from Oz. At this rate, Michael will be achieving cult status. No dis-respect to Nick.
i am trying to find a place to hire a delorean in sydney. i didn't read the rest of your blog but were you just joking or do you really have the number of a guy to hire a delorean from? thanks man!