Howard Calls Aussie General Election for November 24

John Howard has been Prime Minister of Australia for 11 years now, and at the age of 68, he seems to want to renew his contract with the voters. He has called a general election for November 24 despite trailing the Australian Labor Party [ALP, and Labor is spelled the American way] by 11 points. In calling the election, he said, “Love me or loathe me, the Australian people know where I stand on all the issues that are important to their future.” But they may just want a new face.

In many respects, Mr. Howard is in a position like Mr. Bush’s in the US. Most Australians don’t like the war in Iraq-Nam and think it was a mistake to go in – they believe the war endangered them rather than protected them. They believe that global warming is a big problem, but Mr. Howard likes to take Mr. Bush’s view, namely, it’s a problem only if one admits it. He is, quite simply, out of touch.

By the same token, Australia is doing pretty well. Peter Costello, the man who does Mr. Howard’s budgets, has just announced a A$34 billion tax cut package that will still leave a surplus in the federal purse. There are jobs, and the Aussie dollar is doing fine. The only sad note one can report is the premature departure of the national Rugby team from the World Cup in France.

Yet, after 11 years, people are seriously considering a vote for Kevin Ruud and his ALP. This is especially true among young voters, where Mr. Ruud gets 7 out of 10 votes. That’s up 10% from 2004. Australia’s The Sunday Age ran an interview yesterday with self-confessed “Rudd-rat” Kate Sutton, 24, who works in advertising, “I think Kevin Rudd is a lot more refreshing than John Howard at the moment. He’s younger, he’s a lot more in touch. The things that matter to him like climate change and human rights are things that I believe in.” But will the kids vote?

Australia is known as “the lucky country” for many reasons, but not least of which is their politicians to speak with some credibility and straightforwardness. Mr. Rudd said, “This election is about Australia’s future and it’s an election about a choice about who offers new leadership for Australia’s future. What I’m offering … is new leadership, both to help working families under financial pressure and new leadership for a plan for our country’s future.” Mr. Howard has said, “This country does not need new leadership, it does not need old leadership, it needs the right leadership.” There’ a clear choice, and Australians have 6-weeks to figure it out. How the people of Iowa and New Hampshire must envy them.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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