Last edited Sun Sep 8, 2013, 12:58 AM - Edit history (1)
The Labor slide began with Rudd, but it was his lack of courage in not going to a double dissolution over the introduction of his Emissions Trading Scheme that began the rot. All the signs were that he would have won; we would have had a sensible trading scheme in place, and the public wouldn't have lost faith in him. And the door wouldn't have opened to allow a campaign by the Libs and Murdoch against any form of carbon pricing, which in itself is a very necessary tool to deal with global warming.
But I can't agree that he was responsible for the chaos – that was the move against him by Gillard and the right-wing. Only the most serious offence – like a major civil crime or declaring war on New Zealand – could ever justifiy removing a sitting leader, and Labor has acknowledged that by backing Rudd's recent changes to ensure that it can't easily happen again.
Never mind the personalities – nobody thought about the damage to the Labor brand when they rolled Rudd – the problems could have been handled differently, behind closed doors, and in a way that ensured that at least a façade of stability was retained.
And for that reason, I hope that the leadership will go, at least in the short term, to Anthony Albanese. He played a straight hand all the way through; he told Gillard that he couldn't support her when Rudd challenged because he didn't believe a sitting leader should be removed without due cause. It had nothing to do with either leader personally; it was a matter of principle , and Albanese chose to support the original leader all the way through. He was never guilty of treachery. Gillard accepted his reasons and declined to agree to his resignation.
Albanese is a formidable parliamentary performer and well able to take the fight to Abbott. And perhaps equally importantly, he is liked by both the left and right wings of the party, and what Labor needs most now is unity.
Edit: sp.
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