Two years ago, the Prime Minister correctly observed that there was no point being in power unless power was used to achieve change.
There are some benefits to Rudd’s decision to shelve his emissions trading scheme. For one thing, it’s spectacularly poorly designed — with any luck he’ll go back to the drawing board and develop a scheme that will actually drive, not delay, the transition to a low-carbon economy that Australia must undertake.
Moreover, the Senate has set itself dead against it — the posturing of Tony Abbott and Greg Hunt is laughable and, one suspects, driven by annoyance that Rudd has deflated their scare campaign rather than by any actual concern about climate change.
Even so, this appears to be a Prime Minister more interested in finding reasons not to embark on major reform than ways to overcome them.
This Government will always be credited with its bold, innovative handling of the impact of the global financial crisis. But it was the hard reform work of previous governments, as much as the urgent stimulatory policies of this one, that meant Australia came through the crisis relatively unscathed.
There’s more hard reform to be done. The sort that makes enemies, the sort that runs aground in the Senate, the sort that might cost a government seats — and the sort that will help us survive the next economic crisis. It’s needed in banking. It’s needed in housing. In the way we plan and fund our infrastructure. In matching our workforce skills with employers’ needs.
The Government has made starts in all these areas, but the sort of courage and risk-taking that drove the Government’s response to the GFC back in 2008 is needed, and needed on a regular basis.
Where will it come from? Not, seemingly, from Mr Rudd.
And do you seriously think that this same senate will let him do a bloody thing? They have good policies demonised and the media band wagon starts on them as well.
One classic example appeared in the OZ last week with the whinge that principals are not being allowed to run the BER in NSW.
Well we saw yesterday what can happen when principals do run things – collapsed walkway and 16 kids injured.
Why not from Mr. Rudd? I note you hedge your bet with ‘seemingly’, which is not in keeping with your main theme – that Rudd has made a pretty good fist of tackling other hard issues, particularly the GFC and presumably will in other areas of the economy and financial regulation which will be unveiled with the budget and the Henry tax review. Clearing the decks for action by shelving a less than perfect ETS which constantly invited subversive comment from the Opposition is a good first move towards whatever is their next main thrust in this or other policy areas.
Compromised as it is by ‘compromise’ with business lobbies and the Liberals who even so rejected it Rudd had nothing to gain by persisting with it in its current form. His willingness to announce the shelving himself and to wear the inevitably decrying criticism from all quarters gainsays those who only last week were complaining that he hid when bad news such as the as the child care program was similarly shelved. Penny Wong hasn’t been left holding this particular baby by herself.
I suggest his decision to cut loose from this losing program is bold in itself and we will see other compensating and more practically achievable measures emerge as we move closer to the election.
Instead of designing a scheme that rewards big polluters, does nothing on carbon reduction, and courts the support of the Libs (unsuccessfully), perhaps next time they’ll consider a genuine scheme that does it’s job, and they can chase the greens’ approval of it instead.
Kevin Rudd does not know how to work with other people – within his own office, his own party, nor with other parties.
He can’t even look his opposition in the eye. What sort of a man is he voters are starting to wonder? Not Kevin07 – whom they voted in.
Prior to becoming Prime Minister he had no experience as even a junior minister or parliamentary secretary, and he was no star performer in the QLD public service (legacy anyone?). This lack of managerial experience, with policy in particular, is becoming scarily obvious.
He’ll probably lie his way to the finish line this year in the election, but there will be a leadership spill within a year and then he will be flushed away as quickly as he came along.