Merged Australian Prime minister steps down.

It may be interesting for Americans to note, Gillard was born in Wales. The first PM born overseas. Still eligible to lead this nation.
 
An interesting point is how the spill was initiated. Gillard has been a strong and loyal deputy PM, and was adamant she would not challenge. Despite this Rudd sent his Chief of Staff to canvas members of parliament about whether they would support him or Gillard. In other words, he was calling her a liar. By all reports she was incandescant with rage, and so decided to heed the urges of her supporters and challenge.
 
lionking said:
An interesting point is how the spill was initiated. Gillard has been a strong and loyal deputy PM, and was adamant she would not challenge. Despite this Rudd sent his Chief of Staff to canvas members of parliament about whether they would support him or Gillard. In other words, he was calling her a liar. By all reports she was incandescant with rage, and so decided to heed the urges of her supporters and challenge.
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Thank you. I had not read that but it makes sense. It was all so fast! ( I live in Surry Hills, Sydney )
 
Tricky said:
What then? Sex scandal?
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Nah Image. Rudd may be rude and arrogant at a personal level, but he doesn't have the persona to carry it off in public (The guy looks like Butters fron South Park). So when the Libs elected as leader Tony Abbott, who is not a nice man and looks it (The guy runs Ironman events in his 50s), the Labor powerbrokers realized they needed to replace Ruddy.
THe polls were also so bad it was time for the "Hail Mary" (put in a female leader just before the election) they are wont to do.

Fortunately for them Julia was already there as deputy so it doesn't look obviously desparate. And she has the image of being tough - something Joan Kirner, Carmen Lawrence, (and probably Kristina Kenneally) didn't have.
 
Would she be the first unmarried Australian Prime Minister. I believe she lives with a defacto partner.....
 
MG1962 said:
Would she be the first unmarried Australian Prime Minister. I believe she lives with a defacto partner.....
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Yes, and only three have been younger, including Paul Keating (how soon we forget he was the wonderkind of aussie politics).
 
And Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has announced he will not contest the next election.

Nothing at all to do with the polling showing he will lose his seat of Melbourne, most likely to the Greens. :rolleyes:
 
In the couple of photos I have seen Swan looks decidedly happy
 
lionking said:
Why wouldn't he be? If Julia doesn't get over the line at the election, he's new ALP leader.
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Usually a PM and Treasurer are still pretty tight at this stage of the partnership. If even Swan is over the deal you have wonder how hard Rudd worked at upseting people
 
lionking said:
For non-Aussies, Rudd has presided over a government where the nation did not go into recession, where unemployment is extremely low (around 5%) and inflation is low. It is also the practice of the Australian electorate to give Prime Ministers at least two terms. Rudd has become the first PM who didn't contest a second election. He'll go down as the biggest failure as Prime Minister in history.

I've met Gillard a couple of times and she's everything Rudd is not - personable; not superior in any way; a sense of humor. Having said that, she's still got a lot to do to win the next election. She was party to the government's recent disasterous decisions after all. I notice Sportsbet made the Coalition favourites after Gillard took over.
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I think that's a tiny bit harsh. He should go down as the second biggest failure, behind the utterly useless Scullin.
 
lionking said:
And Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has announced he will not contest the next election.

Nothing at all to do with the polling showing he will lose his seat of Melbourne, most likely to the Greens. :rolleyes:
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Damn, I liked Tanner. He gave a very interesting talk/debate to our VCE Politics students in 2006, he was quite sharp and very articulate, though he does have a very forceful personality.
 
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