Aussies Dump Howard for Rudd

After more than 11 years in office, the Liberal-National (center-right) coalition of John Howard was thrown out of office by an Australian electorate that seemed to want a new face more than anything else. As a result, the new Prime Minister is Kevin Rudd, who brings with him some new policies especially in foreign affairs.

First and foremost, he has said that he will bring home the 550 combat troops the Australians still have in Iraq-Nam. Granted that isn’t much of a contingent, but it does spell the end of Australia’s support for the Busheviks’ ridiculous neo-con fantasy there. At the same time, he may actually boost the number of soldiers the Aussies have in Afghanistan from its current level of 1,000.

Second, he intends to sign the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. Mr. Rudd’s environmental spokesman Peter Garrett (former lead singer of the band Midnight Oil), stated, “Australians have decided that they are going to throw out a government that has been delinquent on climate change, that has tried to recast our industrial relations laws, and which hasn't shown any capacity to measure up to the challenges of the 21st Century.” The new PM is in for a tricky time here since Australia produces significant amounts of greenhouse gases on a per capita basis. This is further aggravated by the country’s exports of coal to China, a major source of income for his country, but also a major cause of pollution.

Third is a shift in policy to deny any uranium, which Australia exports, to any nation that is not part of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. John Howard, in tandem with an American initiative, had agreed to sell uranium to India, which isn’t part of the NPT. Mr. Rudd is going back to a more traditional Australian policy. And this clashes with the idea of cutting greenhouse gases, since nuclear power plants don’t emit any (they do have vastly different environmental problems).

Mr. Rudd has a big job ahead of him. At the same time, he has a solid majority in Parliament to back up his plans. In his concession speech, Mr. Howard said: "This is a great democracy and I want to wish Mr. Rudd well. We bequeath to him a nation that is stronger and prouder and more prosperous than it was eleven and a half years ago.” Australia’s friends, which include this journal, hope that Mr. Rudd can say similar things when his time to leave office arrives.

© 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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