Amazingly and almost inconceivably, Australia today has a new prime minister. And a female one at that. Why?
How could a government presiding over a successful economy that managed to avoid the worst of a savage global recession reach the point where, over a matter of days, it turned on its leader with such surgical precision that he was sliced from office without even a vote?
The superficial answer is that the polls went sour for Labor. The real answer is that a handful of so-called Labor ‘power brokers’ rustled up the numbers within caucus to roll a first-term prime minister whose management style they didn’t like.
The press gallery have been hashing over the (widely considered remote) possibility of this for weeks.
But here’s a reality check: many of the general public haven’t tuned into politics for months.
Suddenly, they wake up to a new prime minister. A prime minister they didn’t vote for.
That’s democracy, you could say. Or Labor party democracy, at least. Let’s see what the punters make of that.
“A prime minister they didn’t vote for.”
please don’t let us forget that the Prime Minster that they did vote for was blocked from implementing a good deal of his manifesto by a single independent senator who received less than 2% of the primary vote in one state
that’s democracy, you could say
“A prime minister they didn’t vote for”
Why do people peddle that nonsense.
We do not vote for a PM.
You might like to think you do, but under our version of a Westminster system you vote for a local member who may or may not be of the same party of the largest party (or coalition of parties) that get their members elected, and who leader in the Parliament may, or may not then or certainly over time, be the same as it was when you voted.
We really do need electoral education in this country .. it is like the people who tell the NSW Governor she should call and election or abuse Keneally for not doing so – our systems don’t work like the movies!
That’s nonsense, C rikey. The MSM have done a number on Rudd and recently you joined it.
Tony Abbot will have to work hard to try and find dirt on our new PM, there isn’t any.I have never seen a bigger grub than him, he has no time for ladies, especialy in prime position’s so it’s only a matter of time. Go Julia!
I can think of three former ALP voters today who said “fuck off Julia”. All women. And two new voters – both women.