It chased me all last week and even into this week. I just wanted to enjoy my last few weeks up here at Noosa but there it was, right in front of my face the whole time. Of course it needs no introduction. The Gillard-Rudd 'stoush'.
Given the unrelenting coverage and my two posts last week, thought I might as well do a follow-up seeing it is meant to have come to an end on Monday morning. That remains to be seen but surely 95% of the population are glad its over, let alone actual Labor caucas members and their minders.
I am still a little damp from the saturation coverage. Drying off slowly but it was a real drenching so it's taking a while to get there. Now I know the 'spill' was to elect our PM (won't say highest office in the land because it's not - I have republican issues), but the media coverage was way over the top on Monday morning. It was a big issue for sure, but six hour 'special editions' on every channel with some starting at 5am was a bit too much. Particularly as we already knew what the result would be so it all went around in circles and merely rehashed things we were already aware of.
The media's role in the whole fiasco must be further evaluated as well. Some press gallery members had been typing up weekly, sometimes bi-weekly, stories on 'leadership speculation' that hounded Gillard and the Government for more than a year. And the end result of Monday's spill goes to show they were blind to the truth and more interested in rumour and innuendo than hard facts and hard numbers. I mean, if I see the phrase "sources close to..." again I'm going to spew. Lazy journalism which turned the whole issue into a game of 'he-said-she-said'.
What has been revealed about the media's role is that one K Rudd (his choice of words, not mine) was actually 'backgrounding' members of the press and providing a lot of the fodder for those journalists and their articles. Backgrounding is an interesting term, as it seems that one K Rudd was more into bagging than backgrounding and used the media to promote his strategy platform of a messiah returning to save the day.
The whole sorry circus, that went on for months and months, was all for nothing in the end. All the media space. All the media attention. The rumours. the speculation. The 'backgrounding'. It all came to nought. Someone owes us our year back. Particularly as there's probably been some real issues to debate and some real policy to discuss that have slipped through while the media and the politicians were preoccupied.
Yeah, thanks guys. And what a choice we are left with. One party that is good on policy but stinks on the politics (Labor). While the other is good on the politics but stinks on policy (Coalition). Hopefully 'good policy' will end up being 'good politics'. Certainly that's what Labor is hoping for.
As to the players, the eventual numbers were a good result for Julia and her supporters. She's got one hell of a task to bring it all together again though and probably only has 6-10 months before another challenger may rise. But I'm sure she appreciates having some breathing space to just get on with the job and not have to answer any more leadership speculation questions at every press conference.
One K Rudd. Well, he did seem pretty genuine in his assertion that he'll be happy to serve on the backbench and not challenge again. I have my doubts though and reckon he must be scheming up something else. Not another challenge mind you. Just something else to occupy his very busy mind. To go from criss-crossing the globe and hop-knobbing with Presidents and PM's to door-knocking the hot and humid streets of Brisbane's inner east (Griffith electorate) is quite a stepdown.
Now call me crazy, but here's a suggestion anyway. What if Rudd serves his current term on the backbench (roughly 18 months) before announcing his resignation before the next election. He then seeks a seat in the Queensland Parliament via a by-election or something and takes over the Labor leadership following Bligh's departure. The next State Election in three years time would then be a Newman vs one K Rudd contest that would be one for the ages given Rudd's popularity in Queensland and the likelihood that the LNP may have a few slipups in it's first term in Government in over 14 years.
You heard it here first folks. There may be a reason for that. Such as it's improbable and unlikely. But hey, let's just see all it all pans out.
Regarding Federal politics over the next 18 months, a lot of people are saying Labor is dead and that Abbott might as well take the keys to The Lodge already. To that I have to say that a lot can happen in politics over the course of that time and who knows what will happen. Just ask Mitt Romney. It was merely a few weeks ago people were assuming he was the shoe-in for the Republican nomination. Now look at what has happened.
Yes, a week is a long time in politics let alone 18 months. John Howard myself was often way behind in the polls over the course of a term but would come out on top when the only poll that matters took place. I'm certainly not saying Labor for the next election. I'm just saying there's plenty of time for a reversal of fortune and given my last post, I'm not even sure Abbott will contest the next election as the Leader of the Opposition.
Time will tell ladies and gentlemen. But it can surely wait for a while can't it? I'm over it all and just want the footy season to come back in a hurry. The other game of winners and losers.
EDM.
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