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Sun. Nov. 25, 2007
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Politics in depth > Australia & The Pacific > Politics & Economy
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Opinion
Australia: Historic Change Underway?
Howard's End and Rudd's Start After 2007 Elections
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By
Afroz Ali
President of Al-Ghazzali Centre - Sydney
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Australians have apparently inclined to opt for the opposition labour party for their future government and said a clear no to Howard's foreign and home policies. The most painful stroke that Howard received with Saturday's elections defeat was loss of his own constituency. The new Prime minister, leader of opposition labour party Kevin Rudd, is most probably set to reconsider Australia's home and foreign policies towards the workplace laws, the climate change; particularly the Kyoto treaty, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As many analysts observe, these issues will evidently top Rudd's priorities for the country's new government.
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Australia has just elected its new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and a Labour Government after nearly twelve years of the Howard-led Liberal and National parties’ coalition government. The Coalition government had defeated a Labour government in 1996 which was led by Paul Keating, the then sitting Prime Minister.
Rudd’s win is hailed around Australia as “writing a new page in our nation’s history” who accepted victory late last night as the 26th Prime Minister of Australia. The Labour party has secured at least 84 seats, which is approximately 54% of the votes, showing around 5.5% swing for Labour and against the Liberal-National coalition.
“Today Australia has looked to the future,” Rudd said. “Today the Australian people have decided that we as a nation will move forward... to make this great country of ours even greater,” he added.
| Labour will most likely have to make political deals with the holders of balance of power in the Senate. |
New Challenges
Reaffirming his promise, Rudd said, “I will be Prime Minister for all Australians... My door will always be open to men and women who want to participate in making our country even greater in the future.”
He also reiterated his election campaign promises to improve education, increase funding for public hospitals, support climate change initiatives and reform workplace laws. However, any hint of Australia’s role in Iraq and Afghanistan is yet to be heard.
Whilst there is a significant swing for Labour in the House of Representatives, things do not look so good for them in the Senate, at least until July of 2008. Labour will find it tough, indeed almost impossible to get any Bills through in a hurry given the new Senate from this election does not sit until July 2008.
The current Senate is an incumbent Liberal-led Senate. Some key policies the Rudd-led Labour government want changed, but will find tough opposition against along party lines rather than the good of the nation, are the ratifying of the Kyoto Protocol and the scrapping of the Liberal-enacted currently draconian Workplace laws.
Labour will most likely have to make political deals with the holders of balance of power in the Senate by the Greens, an Independent and Family First party.
The defeated sitting Prime Minister John Howard is facing an embarrassing loss on two fronts- one being the government and secondly his own seat of Bennelong to Labour’s Maxine McKew. At the time of writing, she was convincingly leading with 51.5% of the votes against Howard. If Howard loses his seat, which looks most likely, he will only be the second sitting Prime Minister to lose his own seat since 1929. The people of Australia have firstly rejected the incumbent government and secondly rejected John Howard himself.
Howard accepted “full responsibility” for the embarrassing defeat. “I’ve led a government that’s never shirked from making difficult decisions. I’ve led a government that has reformed the Australian economy and has left it the envy of the world”, Howard said in his speech conceding defeat.
| Howard dragged peace-loving Australia into war that also saw Australia’s sovereignty chipping away. |
Howard's Legacy
But, most political analysts have seen Howard’s speech as his last attempt to glow under some light from the past and a bit of sabre rattling to let people know that he did alright. Many would disagree.
During his terms in office, the most significant legacies Howard has left are as follows:
- A refusal of reconciliation with the Aboriginal people to the extent of challenging history’s black mark of maltreatment of the Aboriginal people.
- Processing “illegal immigrants”, under his government’s definitions offshore creating Australia’s own Guantanamo Bays.
- His flagrant denials over climate change despite facts informing the reasonable otherwise.
- The playing down of the Wheat Board corruption.
- Dragging peace-loving Australia into war that also saw Australia’s sovereignty chipping away.
- And being the first Prime minister since the institutionalisation of Australia’s multiculturalism to initiate division within Australian communities, particularly through invasive legal apparatus that saw wedges hammered in between Christian and Muslim Australia.
Rudd has been left to deal with Howard’s legacy.
Labour is also set to win the controversial Sydney’s seat of Lindsay, where Liberal party members were caught mail dropping a hoax anti-Muslim propaganda purporting to originate from Labour. Labour’s David Bradbury has won over the discredited Liberal Karen Chijoff. Australia has rejected the racism favoured by the Liberal party.
The authoritarian-style Howard government’s record card will most likely be pushed aside and clouded over the other debate as to whether John Howard stayed in power for too long. But, most Australians will not forget that his second in line Peter Costello was always part of the performance of the last 12 years, which puts the Liberal party back to where it all found ground to win the elections in 1996 over Paul Keating.
The Liberals had finally found an opposition leader in John Howard when his rival John Hewston had finally resigned. Costello may find himself in the same boat of having to rival individuals from his own party sooner or later.
The other question that will most likely remain unresolved for some time at least is whether Labour won or Liberals lost. Most likely Rudd’s performance in the coming years as a Prime Minister for Australia will shed some light.
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Afroz Ali is the Founder and President of Al-Ghazzali Centre for Islamic Sciences & Human Development, based in Sydney, Australia.
He lectures around the world on Islamic jurisprudence, spirituality, ecological wellbeing, ethical rights and responsibilities and personal and corporate citizenship. He has initiated philanthropic as well as sustainable environment projects in Australia and abroad, and continues to advocate for peace, acceptance and understanding, justice and interpersonal rights. He is also the recipient of the International Ambassador for Peace award.
He can be reached here, and his works can be viewed at http://alghazzali.organd http://thoughtleadership.squarespace.com.
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