Photo by Sydney Morning Herald.
Bill Shorten, still wiping his blade clean of the blood of Kevin Rudd from 3 years ago, stuck the blade firmly in the back of Julia Gillard – this time landing a killer blow.
So now Kevin Rudd is our Prime Minister again. Well, at least for another 2 months he is – a period in which he can implement no new policy nor repeal any old policy, merely campaign for re-election. It is clear that the Labor party is in disharmony; the staggering amount of resignations and changes made to the frontbench, compounded by the hammering they’ve received from the opposition, the media and the public, leaves the Labor party in disarray and simply praying that Krudd can drag them through to another election win.
For many outsiders, it seems baffling that this has happened. Australia is not in a bad state, yet its Government is. Such disapproval from the public seems unequal to the job they have done, but it can’t have come from nowhere.
For too long our political debate has focused on party leaders rather than the parties themselves. Supporters of both sides are guilty of highlighting the ineptitude’s of Gillard and Abbott, rather than discussing the differences in policies. Now with Gillard gone, surprisingly the battering has to start a fresh. Gillard was the easy target it seemed and was set to lose in a landslide, now with Rudd, Labor seems to be firming up in the polls – polls which Labor has shown to hold gospel in the past.
But what are the policies that we are supposed to be voting for? Will Kevin Rudd change the face of Labor? What will happen if the Liberals win at the next election?
As of yet, it is still unclear what changes Rudd will bring to the Labor party. We know that there will be very different personnel due to the mass resignations, yet many of those seats would not have been won at the next election regardless (I’m looking at you Peter Garrett).
There will be certain tweaks to policies under a Rudd government, and the obvious growing pains that come with new people on the frontbench, but don’t expect a massive swerve from the direction Labor was heading under Gillard. There will remain a growth in the economy, there will remain a strong push to improve education in the country and there will remain a competent Government. It’s just the small details that would be changed if they go.
What is certain is that under the next Government, no matter which party wins power, gay marriage will be legalised. It would be remiss of you to vote for a party purely for their policy on gay marriage, because it will be the same. With recent decisions in the New Zealand, the UK and the US, we are left with no precedent to keep denying an amendment to the marriage act. Kevin Rudd has made clear he now supports gay marriage and Tony Abbott has indicated his views are not set in stone.
The Liberal party has fairly clear priorities if given power, priorities that haven’t changed much in the last few years. Stopping the boats is the first policy priority for the Liberals, and they will more than likely succeed in this endeavour. Though the president of Indonesia has stated that he does not support boats being turned around at the shores of Australia and being sent back to Indonesia if deemed to be sea worthy, he will not have a choice. Because the boats port from there, back there they will go. That will be the message conveyed to him when Mr Abbott flies to Indonesia to hold talks, as he promises to do first thing after being elected. Therefore, arrivals on our shores by boat will lower, but whether you support this policy is up to you. However, immigration numbers may rise under a Liberal Government none-the-less. This is due to their planned repeal of the amendment to the 457 visas program, which was implemented by Julia Gillard, and allowed to pass by Kevin Rudd. This amendment forces employers to prove they have searched for skilled Australian workers, before employing workers from overseas on temporary visas (This stops cheap labour). Therefore if the amendment to the 457 visa program is repealed by the Liberals, and the boats sent back to Indonesia, we would see less boats but more immigration under a Liberal government.
The Carbon Tax will be repealed and replaced with the ‘Direct Action Plan’ by a Liberal Government. This policy means that instead of taxing major polluters for every tonne of carbon they produce deemed to be over the reasonable amount, it will offer incentives for any major polluter who reduces their carbon emissions from what they are currently producing. For example, under the Carbon Tax, the Australian Government taxes big polluters for producing carbon and that cost is passed on to the public through electricity and gas bills, which in turn in subsidised by the Government. Under the Direct Action Plan, electricity and gas prices would drop, the subsidies would disappear and it would be up to the big polluters to decide whether they would lower their emissions in order to receive Government incentive, or carry on with their current emission level – or even raise it now that there would be no tax on them, only more revenue available.
It is worth noting that under the direct action plan, the economy would likely lift, but our plans for creating a sustainable environment would falter. Therefore it would be a short-term fix.
The Liberal party also seeks to make clear that they will lower taxes significantly and try to bring manufacturing back to Australia – further boosting our economy and creating more jobs. These are promises that are hard to oppose but are difficult to keep. Whether they succeed in these plans very much depends on how well the budget is managed and how our trade relations are maintained and how well the economy is going.
The election looks to be moved forward from September the 14th to somewhere mid to late August, with Rudd hoping he can win back the votes Labor lost and restore a majority Labor Government. The likelihood of this still seems faint, but the support for Labor looks to have grown to a more competitive state.
So with whom do you give your vote to? Kevin Rudd pleaded with the young people of Australia to regain an interest in politics – a sentiment we at Your Friends House agree with. Given the chance to live in a democratic nation who is so bereft of real problems we can bicker about the appearances and public actions of our political leaders rather than the policies they implement is truly a blessing. But because we’ve found ourselves in a state in which is so consumed by this culture, our positions have no choice to respond to it. This is why we see the knee-jerk responses of replacing a Labor leader or the continual changing tone of Tony Abbott. Whether you like Rudd or Abbott is irrelevant; you will rarely find a politician you like, it’s not their job to be likeable, it’s their job to be effective.
It is the youth vote that could well decide the outcome of the next election, and it is integral that we take that responsibility seriously.
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