Is Rudd a good PM/leader? (1 Viewer)

[spyro14]

Everone seems to be complaining, but it could be alot worse, we could be in north korea.

Be greatful for what you have =P

I am but I don't want him to take what I already have away from me. I say this because i've heard that he wants to put capital gains on primary place of residence if its value is over 2mill... So he can go screw himself and leave me alone..Unless what i've heard is false... than he can just continue to slightly irritate me with almost every other decision he makes...

 

[Random_dude]

all i am going to say is that the

Labor Party= spend all the money on everything that looks completely unhelpful

Liberal Party= saves all the money and spends it wisely until nobody remembers how bad it was with the Labor party and votes the Labor Party in.

however, the liberal party at the moment is not looking that good either

 

[cookkii]

ahh but what choice do we have? until the next election, but who's to say whether or not he will be the lesser of two evils??

 

[Iron]

I voted good bc my newly jaded view of politics sees him as the best there can be. The spin, insincerety etc is all necessary. Although campaigns encourage it, youre kidding yourself if you expect a philosopher king to give you truth and meaning.

 

[JonathanM]

I voted good bc my newly jaded view of politics sees him as the best there can be.

Not while Joe Hockey is still in Parliament.

 

[Lentern]

I voted good bc my newly jaded view of politics sees him as the best there can be. The spin, insincerety etc is all necessary. Although campaigns encourage it, youre kidding yourself if you expect a philosopher king to give you truth and meaning.

Why do you hate Smith so? What he has ever done to hurt anyone?

 

[HumanDichotomy]

Well, I don't think Rudd's the best we could do, but he's not Howard, and imo, he's better than Turnbull. So I'm happy(ish).

 

[HumanDichotomy]

Everone seems to be complaining, but it could be alot worse, we could be in north korea.

Be greatful for what you have =P

Once again, I agree with Tangent. In my opinion, we are so lucky. I mean, sure, I'd prefer Obama, but...y'know.

Things Rudd's done:

• Actually signed Kyoto.
• Changed 100 discriminatory laws against gays.
• Is getting us out of Iraq.
• Had the 2020 ideas summit.
• Said 'sorry' to the Aboriginal people.

Now, by saying this, I don't mean to deify Rudd. I think he's got a long way to go in many aspects. BUT...I think what people forget is...well...running a country is hard. And I think he's doing a damn good job of balancing the polarised opinions within Australia.

 

[loquasagacious]

HumanDichotomy you give too much credit for too little.

For a start 3 of the 5 successes you raise are largely symbolic. Saying 'sorry' is one thing, actually halving the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is another entirely. Holding 2020 summits is great - but what has actually come out of them other than a warm fuzzy feeling?

Running a country is hard? Forgive me if I don't get out the violin and/or cry Rudd a river. It's not easy by any means however 'it's too hard' is not so much an excuse as a categorical statement of unsuitability for the job.

 

[HumanDichotomy]

HumanDichotomy you give too much credit for too little.

Yeah. Fair enough, I know what you mean. And I did say:

Now, by saying this, I don't mean to deify Rudd. I think he's got a long way to go in many aspects.

But...hmm...how to put this? I guess...it's my issue more than anything. I just think...well...we could be so much worse off, you know? Like people are always complaining about this or that, and I think about how we could be living somewhere where young people are shot for having a say, like what happened in Tiananmen Square...and we just take it for granted...this free speech that we have. So I guess I just try and look for the good because I'm sick of people focusing on the bad.

 

[Freedom_]

in short

NO.

 

[HumanDichotomy]

in short

NO.

Love the concise.

 

[zstar]

He sucks crap unfortunately turnbullshit is just as bad.

 

[Random_dude]

He sucks crap unfortunately turnbullshit is just as bad.

the liberals have gone so far and yet fell right back down.
even plus the Kyoto protocol is only going to force us into doing things at a constant state no matter what state our economy is in. however, it did make good PR

 

[Lentern]

HumanDichotomy you give too much credit for too little.

For a start 3 of the 5 successes you raise are largely symbolic. Saying 'sorry' is one thing, actually halving the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is another entirely. Holding 2020 summits is great - but what has actually come out of them other than a warm fuzzy feeling?

Running a country is hard? Forgive me if I don't get out the violin and/or cry Rudd a river. It's not easy by any means however 'it's too hard' is not so much an excuse as a categorical statement of unsuitability for the job.

Governments are rarely defined by their agenda but by their reactions.John Howard will be remembered fondly(atleast by those who do remember him fondly) for his toughening up of national security, for cultivating extraordinarilly good will towards Australia from the American president, For clipping the wings of the trade unions, for courageous tax reform and for all the budget surplus'.That is not to say he didn't do more, merely those are the the defining traits.

Even though all governments commit themselves to budget surplus' I'm going to give that one to him because they made some very unpopular spending cuts to do it by I think 1999, obviously the unions was an undertaking he made and delivered upon. But the rest of Howard's "reforms" were really reactions to events like the Port Arthur massacre, 9/11, court rulings declaring the indirect forms of taxation to be illegal and the foreign policy of Bush and Blair.

Rudd similarly is to be judged mainly for how he reacts rather than how much "vision" he has. His major election undertakings(not including platitudes like 'keep the economy strong") were to rollback workchoices, upgrade public education, exit Iraq and sort climate change out. He did rollback workchoices and exit Iraq, he has done stuff regarding public education but the jury is very much still out on that one, on climate change he has not really shown much direction.

The events which have called for reactions are mainly the recession and China. For the time being anyway his economic management is generally praised, if not greater than Costello(I think a poll said a while ago people thought he'd be the best man to manage the Australian economy) the majority think the comparatively low levels of debt and the absence of a recession make him one of the better economic leaders in the world at the moment. Similarly whislt peolpe are uneasy about China most are convinced there is no man who has a better idea about what their doing then Rudd does.

What am I getting at? Not alot really, just rejecting the implication that he hasn't really made many practical changes when I think he's made slightly more "big decisions" than is par for a prime minister of around two years.

 

[Iron]

Ur all spin Lentern. I remember being fascinated with this too in my first year. Back then, we had Bush at his peak, when he had the media eating out of his hand post-s11 and making war talk on aircraft carriers, blowing up the NY sky with mythical nazi floodlights, doing all sorts of cool shit to beef up his words and manipulate the viewer into wanting war etc. It was great.

Then, to my surprise, I tripped over the truth that I assumed didnt exist and spin/the grubbiness of power suddenly looked ugly and irrelevant.

 

[Lentern]

Ur all spin Lentern. I remember being fascinated with this too in my first year. Back then, we had Bush at his peak, when he had the media eating out of his hand post-s11 and making war talk on aircraft carriers, blowing up the NY sky with mythical nazi floodlights, doing all sorts of cool shit to beef up his words and manipulate the viewer into wanting war etc. It was great.

Then, to my surprise, I tripped over the truth that I assumed didnt exist and spin/the grubbiness of power suddenly looked ugly and irrelevant.

It will be very painful I'm sure. But for now, let me dream just a little bit longer.

 

[Iron]

Hahaha ur alright m8