There was always a question mark over the way in which the Governor General appointed Kevin Rudd Prime Minister, but little discussion. Now, in stating that they may not support Rudd if he defers the election until October, the Greens have bolded and italicised that question mark. Rudd governs with their support, but that support […]

That’s Asynchronous Stupidity Syndrome, and I’m sure there’s a manual somewhere to cure it. Forget, for a moment, political thrashing and bashing, multiple human rights outrages, or lofty national goal-setting. The immediate challenges of a new gadjet take precedence, for a while. It was clear that if I didn’t take the leap soon, I would […]

Kevin Rudd has just launched his first campaign ad. Of course he doesn’t want a “negative campaign”, because then he’d have to justify himself. Instead he’s trying to rerun the 2007 campaign. I’m not sure that he’ll be able to get through a whole election campaign kidding the country that he’s never actually been PM. […]

It’s in all the crisis management handbooks – the first thing you do in a crisis where you’re to blame is apologise and accept fault. It works so well that politicians like Peter Beattie managed to turn saying sorry into an election winning tool. So of course Kevin Rudd is going to apologise for the […]

The stilted unidiomatic bureaucratese, the command of multiple languages which you hope is stronger than his command of his own, a lack of physical co-ordination, an overblown sense of self-importance and ability, extreme risk aversion, confusion of mind, and complete conviction he is always right in contradiction of the facts. It’s Kevin Rudd and it’s […]

We’ve been assured that Kevin is reformed, but the signs are there that nothing much has changed. Take the election date for example. Who remembers 2007 when John Howard seemed reluctant to go to an election? The airwaves were full of Labor spokespeople, including Kevin Rudd, and fellow travellers, branding him a coward and anti-democratic […]

Unless my stunned and tired ears misheard, he didn’t mention climate change in his press conference last night. He had a unique opportunity to reinforce the message Obama sent out the day before. The US will undertake a massive investment and effort to at least adapt to the train wreck that experts now agree is […]

@annabelcrabb thinks it is “Kevin Redux”, but could it be “Kevin Reflux”. The only reason for changing from Gillard to Rudd is self-preservation on the part of 57 ALP federal members. That was obvious in Rudd’s acceptance speech. Here was a man who has spent the last three years undermining the government of Australia, and […]

I don’t often use the term “unAustralian” because it is essentially undefinable, but reports this morning that Julia Gillard would demand that caucus decide any leadership vote by an open-show of hands rather than a secret ballot, licences me to use it. For the secret ballot is an Australian invention, and for that reason is […]