78% of the primary vote has been counted, and Labor's primary vote stands at 44%, the Coalition's 42. 77% of the two-party preferred has been counted: Labor 53.4%, a swing 6.1%. This is Labor record.
While Kevin Rudd promised to govern for all Australians, his appeal within Labor is tempered because of his conservative, cautious stance on so many issues, said the ABC.
"He will be seen as the leader the party had to have to beat John Howard," says Barrie Cassidy. "Julia Gillard will be the light on the hill. Having said that, the strategy, the planning and the execution that led to last night's result was Kevin Rudd's."
Labor gains around the country shows what Queensland contributed towards the election - 12 gains in Queensland alone.It was in many ways a Queensland election.
The conservative stance Labor has on many social and indigenous issues for a start, will be a litmus test for this first term of how far Rudd will allow minority pressures within the party and his team to come to the surface.
One commentator said this election was like Howard crashing the family car and leaving Costello with the keys. Well, we now know that they've both run away from the scene of the accident.
This election also produced another first for Australia: the first female deputy Prime Minister, and within two weeks when Rudd heads abroad to ratify Kyoto, she will be Acting Prime Minister.
Regardless of Rudd's pre-election rebuke, indigenous concerns however will not receive the same arrogant treatment under Labor, with a series of election year quick fix of Brough's stormtroopers marching into the Northern Territory and Cape York to solve child abuse and alcohol problems in 10 minutes. This is a complex issue and has many sensitive cultural hurdles to overcome.
A new political page may well be unfolding in Australia, however, New Zealand has tackled much social legislation as far back as the mid-80's and beyond. Conservative and redneck Aussies would turn in the ute if Labor put them on their agenda in the next 4 years.
We have a long way to go. I still smell Sir Joh around the streets of North Queensland.
1 comment:
Point 1:Don't be duped by this country enduring 11 years of neo conservatism to think that major inroads have not been made in social issues, particularly indigenous issues in previous (labor?) governments, including Native Title and the formation of ATSIC. Howard destroyed ATSIC - with all its faults and drawbacks - but replaced it with nothing of substance. The Mal Brough pseudo military invasion and the removal of some indigenous rights was a last ditch effort by the government because of public reaction to a report which was really an indictment in many ways to both the NT and the Federal government.
Point 2: After seeing the amazing electoral results here in Leichhardt I think the memory of Joh has long faded. I will have to review my theories of FNQ and rednecks forthwith.
Point 3: By the way, having recently been in New Zealand, personally I don't think that country is that much further down the track judging by some of the articles I was reading in The NZ Herald. I think political correctness is often a major hurdle to confronting social issues.
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