Maxine McKew, Kevin Rudd, in happier times
The whole of Australia was puzzled at the time, that a first term Prime Minister could be removed so swiftly in the dead of night.
Unfortunately, the affair was hushed up, the facts locked away and as if there was a normal process in train, Kevin Rudd was given the highly responsible position of Foreign Minister, representing Australia to the nations of the World.
If Rudd was such a chaotic Prime Minister, why would he be given this highly important position and an inside seat on the Labor Party Caucus?
There was a certain buzz about the nation gaining the first female Prime Minister, but there were matters unsettled and as it turns out, quite unsettling.
Two months roll by and Labor suffers a massive loss at the ballot box, only just secures Government with the aid of three independents and a Green.
The Foreign Minister makes his mark on the world scene and all seemed rosy.
Then, in the course of his duties overseas, rumblings from Down Under lead to Kevin Rudd’s shock midnight resignation from Washington and the Prime Minister declares a leadership spill.
The outcome of 71 Labor Caucus members against Rudd and 31 for is now history and Rudd goes to purgatory on the back bench to be an ordinary MP.
Will this be the end of the matter?
Of all the stories covering the Labor leadership maelstrom, one observation stood out above the rest like a lifeboat from the Titanic.
A straight-shooting report from the former member for Bennelong, Maxine McKew, who successfully cut down John Howard’s bean stalk and felled that former giant of the Liberal Party, offered new and penetrating insight into the turfing out of Rudd as Prime Minister.
Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, this well-known and highly respected former ABC journalist put her credentials on the line, when observing how Julia Gillard successfully persuaded then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to drop the carbon tax and noted, ” At some point the advocacy turned into a threat.” [1]
McKew points out how it was made clear to Rudd that the survival of his government was conditional on abandoning the Emissions Trading Scheme.
This proved to be a fatal blow to the Rudd Government and led directly to the leadership coup two months later, in the midnight of the knives of June 2010.
McKew concludes, “There was only ever a plan to knock off Rudd.” [1]
If Maxine’s observations can be believed, we may now wonder if the chaos we hear of Prime Minister Rudd’s managerial style, was in part fuelled by the simmering agitations aimed at his removal.
Julia Gillard had clearly demonstrated her ability to influence Rudd, even to overturn a core promise made to the Australian people.
That there was no judicial or Labor Party inquiry held into the affair, may now be understood, as the truth could have become an indictment of all with blood on their hands.
If those who made that midnight pitch for power have a guilty conscience, this could help to explain the high level of frenzied vitriol beyond all reasonable political language, that has poured forth from Labor ministers at the spectre of Rudd’s resurrection to power.
Only by screaming could they drown their inner voice, which was telling them they were wrong; and rather than retain the dignity of government, elected representatives of the people became a rabble, hell-bent on killing off Rudd’s return to the highest office.
When a mob screams from the top of a pile of stones that they are right, there is no reasoning, simply rule by force; and those who dared not run with the mob would be at risk of losing ministerial position, or even pre-selection.
Then a very strange thing happens within hours of the leadership ballot.
One of the key players in Rudd’s demise as Prime Minister, Senator Mark Arbib, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Small Business and Sport, resigns as a minister and from the parliament.
This singular act from one of the victorious mob is quite puzzling and might be best explained in a story by Tony Wright in The Age, where he wrote, “Graham Richardson, for years the hardest and most feared of the NSW Right gang, put it more succinctly on Sky TV. Arbib, he said, had told him on the phone a few days ago that ”he was sick of being covered in blood”.” [2]
Considering the popularity of Kevin Rudd and that he remains in Parliament, it is hard to imagine that the test of Labor leadership is dead and buried, especially now that the events of June 2010 have been revealed as a totally avoidable coup, that Labor ministerial behaviour has been shown in public as disgusting and especially as the Australian people are left feeling cheated of the leader of their choice.
With the Labor ship of State now hulled and slowly sinking, we may wonder how long it will take to go down, opening the way for the next conservative government in Australia.
Prime Minister Gillard’s vision of bringing an elder Labor Party statesman into the Senate to replace Arbib and take on the role of Foreign Minister, was swiftly thrown overboard by her mutinous crew, revealing the leader’s authority and hold on power is tenuous.
Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, Jacqualine Maley, writes of Gillard’s first post-Rudd stumble, “Like a lawyer with a bad brief, she looked ”shifty and evasive”. And so ended the day Bob Carr tap-danced across the federal political stage, before being yanked off by a large comedy hook, wielded by an unseen hand.” [3]
This is a great shame for the nation, as Carr would have made an excellent Foreign Minister and as Phillip Correy wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald, “One MP who strongly backed Mr Rudd on Monday threw his hands in the air. ”Can’t blame Rudd for this one,” he said.” [4]
Deck chairs can be moved around, but redecorating ministerial offices to hide the blood of the last coup may not save the Labor Party ship of state. The salvation of the Labor Party will require a new political vision for the future of democracy in this nation.
Writing in the The Drum in the ABC online, Bruce Hawker, a Rudd supporter with 30 Labor Party campaign’s under his belt, suggests that the core problem lies in how the Prime Minister gains that position and can then be so swiftly turfed out and replaced. [5]
In a changing political environment, Hawker suggests that we need to consider the British Labor approach, worked out during their many years in the wilderness, where the whole Party gets to vote on the leader. A similar approach is employed by the New Domocratic Party in Canada, which has seen their membership grow to 100,000 and parliamentary representation increase from 13 to 130.
In support of this approach, Joff Lelliott, also writing in The Drum observes, “Democratising Australia’s political parties would give prime ministers greater security in their job, something the public believes they should have. It also potentially reinvigorates the memberships of the main parties, which as things stand are slowing withering away.” [6]
With a more considered and democratic selection process for the leader and Prime Minister, perhaps the nation could be spared the tempestuous politics of a Labor lynch mob. In a more stable political environment, elected representatives would be obliged to work with the leader they are given, rather than watching for the trigger for the next midnight of the knives.
With Labor now appearing hell-bent on heading into their own banishment into the electoral wilderness, they may have a generation in opposition to also learn the lessons of basic democracy and respect for the wishes of the people.
REFERENCES
[1] ‘Divided They Stand’ by Maxine McKew, 26 Feb 2012, Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/divided-they-stand-20120225-1tv9v.html
[2] ‘Arbib makes a fast getaway’ by Tony Wright, 28 Feb 2012, The Age
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/arbib-makes-a-fast-getaw
ay-20120227-1tyyt.html
[3] ‘Bob’s not running and PM’s left by the side of the road’ by Jacqualine Maley, 1 Mar 2012, Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/bobs-not-running-and-pms-left-by-the-side-of-the-road-20120229-1u3hl.html
[4] ‘Gillard red-faced over Carr bungle’ by Phillip Correy, 1 Mar 2012, Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/gillard-redfaced-over-carr-bungle-20120229-1u3id.html
[5] ‘Why I publicly supported Rudd’ by Bruce Hawker, 29 Feb 2012, ABC The Drum
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3860106.html
[6] ‘It’s time the ALP reformed itself’ by Joff Lelliott, 1 Mar 2012, ABC The Drum
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3861512.html
• The Bob Carr bombshell, HERE
• Bob Brown: Carr challenged on Antarctic environment
Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown has welcomed news of putative Foreign Minister Bob Carr’s intention to visit New Zealand.
Senator Brown called on Mr Carr to advance on recent talks Senator Brown held with former Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd to seek the Key Government’s backing for a World Heritage nomination for Antarctica.
“I expect Mr Carr might also use his environmental credentials to promote the kiwi plan for a 3.6m square kilometre marine national park off Australia’s Ross Sea ice shelf, “ Senator Brown said
“I look forward to talking with Mr Carr on these proposals,” Senator Brown said.
