RickInOz

Australia woke this morning to a new era of politics. For those of you who weren’t aware yesterday the electorate went to the polls to vote for both houses of parliament. There is a bi-cameral legislature similar to the UK, but here both houses are elected rather than the archiac principle of an appointed body such as the House of Lords.

In many ways last night felt like a replay of the UK elections ten years ago. An aging and increasingly out-of-touch conservative Prime Minister (then Maggie/Major, now Howard) was overwhelmed by a relatively unknown yet charismatic socialist Opposition leader (then Blair, now Rudd). The swing of power was unequivocal and the Australian Labor Pary has majority control. There weren’t too many tears last night as people punished the incumbent government over issues such as 6 interest rate rises, the war in Iraq and a failure to resolve the water shortages crippling the farming industry.

My only reservation is that history may repeat itself. If you remember Blair swept into power with good intentions and promises to make Britain great again. Instead he encumbered us with bureaucratic red tape, disenfranchised most of the people who voted for him, bypassed the democratic process to name his successor and became Bush’s poodle. Big business has a habit of seducing political leaders and I’m sure they already have plans to court Rudd. It remains to be seen whether he will hold true to his manifesto or just continue the policy track of his predecessors as Blair did.