Posts Tagged ‘kevin rudd’

Australia, New Zealand, and Climate Change Politics

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, August 25th, 2018 - 37 comments

What are the implications for New Zealand’s climate change policies of Australia’s change of Prime Minister?

Rudd v Clark

Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, December 28th, 2015 - 99 comments

Helen Clark is considered to be to be a front runner for the position of next United Nations Secretary General.  But Kevin Rudd is also being talked about as a candidate.  And if his previous behaviour is repeated it could be an interesting contest.

Australia – Labor’s unwinnable election

Written By: - Date published: 7:25 pm, September 7th, 2013 - 73 comments

Tony Abbott billboardAustralia goes to the polls today and if things go the way that the pollsters are predicting there will be a new Government elected.  The way I see it Kevin Rudd has failed to inspire but Tony Abbott is terrifying.  If only Rudd had shown some principle things could have been different.

The least popular weasel wins

Written By: - Date published: 9:55 am, August 27th, 2013 - 36 comments

In the odd moments that I have to view and write about politics outside NZ at present, I happened upon a Wall Street Journal article this morning about the election contest in aussie that got me thinking. Australia is leaning toward electing its first conservative government in six years, to be led by a man considered […]

The Failed Estate – An Australian Blog to follow

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, August 12th, 2013 - 10 comments

Rupert murdoch puppet masterWith Australian elections just around the corner quality Australian political blogs will be in demand.  If you want to read a refreshingly progressive and sophisticated analysis of Australian Politics I recommend Jim Parker’s blog Failed Estate.  He writes with precision on issues such as the state of Australia’s media, the undermining of Julia Gillard, and the festering sore that is the boat people issue.

Australia to the polls

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, August 5th, 2013 - 36 comments

As widely reported, Australia is off to the polls on Sept 7th. It will be an amazing come-back for Rudd if he wins.

Kevin Rudd and the boat people

Written By: - Date published: 2:10 pm, July 20th, 2013 - 165 comments

kevin_rudd-cryKevin Rudd announced yesterday that boat people will not be allowed to apply for refugee status in Australia and instead will be shipped to Papua New Guinea and they will have to try their luck there.  Tony Abbott thinks that the proposal is promising, Greens leader Christine Milne thinks it is ruthless and repugnant.  It seems that Rudd will do and promise anything for power.

Rudd ousts Gillard

Written By: - Date published: 9:57 pm, June 26th, 2013 - 76 comments

Kevin Rudd is PM of Australia again after defeating Julia Gillard 57 votes to 45.

Australian election

Written By: - Date published: 3:26 pm, August 21st, 2010 - 23 comments

Our cousins on the West Island are winding up their election day soon, culminating a dramatic couple of months for Australian politics. It may be that Kevin Rudd gets the last laugh…

New Australian PM

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, June 24th, 2010 - 39 comments

Kevin Rudd is gone, and Australia has its first female PM.

It’s been a dramatic fall for Rudd, who was so incredibly popular for his first two years in office.

Rudd for the chop, Gillard to take the reins

Written By: - Date published: 1:13 am, June 24th, 2010 - 16 comments

Kevin Rudd has lost the support of the powerful Australian Workers’ Union and an array of the ALP’s factions to Julia Gillard. It’s been a dramatic fall for Rudd, who was so incredibly popular for his first two year’s as PM (if it can happen there…). Gillard will make a stark contrast to the strange conservative leader of the Liberals, Tony Abbott, but has a lot of work to do.

Buyer’s remorse on both sides of the Tasman

Written By: - Date published: 11:17 am, June 8th, 2010 - 30 comments

Aussies are looking more and more likely to elect Abbott. Terrible. Guy’s a chauvinistic prick who admitted you can’t trust a word he says. Shows how poorly Rudd has done some things. People are thinking the Liberals weren’t so bad after all. Likewise, Goff is in with a decent sniff in 2011. Solely because of […]

Whaling proposal not realism, it’s a sell-out

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, March 10th, 2010 - 65 comments

John Armstrong has chucked John Key’s promise to end whaling down the memory hole and, instead, comes out swinging against those who don’t want to give up the commercial whaling ban: “the plan [will] allow commercial whaling for a 10-year period, but with big cuts in the numbers killed each year. This plan would buy […]

NZ closes the gap with Aussie

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, January 15th, 2010 - 21 comments

Well, I didn’t think it could done but it has been. National has been promising to close the gap with Australia, and damned if it hasn’t happened already. The Nats’ target was 2025, it didn’t even take a year. In fact, we’re now above Australia and accelerating away while they fall. Unfortunately, it’s the wrong […]

Creeping socialism in Australia

Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, June 18th, 2008 - 83 comments

Kevin Rudd’s Labor government has begun the roll-back of John Howard’s unpopular WorkChoices legislation with ten new National Employment Standards aimed at providing a safety net for all Australian workers. The new standards include a 38-hour maximum working week, 12 months unpaid parental leave (24 months between a couple), flexible working hours, redundancy rights and […]

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