The Age Of Carnage - 10 Leaders In 10 Years

[icyfroth]

On January 18, 2005, Mark Latham announced his resignation both from the leadership of the Labor Party and the Parliament.

He cited family pressures and attacked the media.

Including that day, the two major parties have gone through 10 leaders in 10 years – unprecedented leadership churn and carnage. And there hasn't even been a recession.

Five times in the past decade either the prime minister or the opposition leader was removed by a party coup before even facing the next election: Beazley, Nelson, Turnbull, Rudd and Gillard. All had poor poll numbers except Rudd. He had other problems.

Now the public, according to the polls, wants a fifth prime minister removed in seven-and-a-half years, and an 11th major leadership change in 11 year

What does all this churn signify? There has not been a recession for 25 years, let alone a depression, nor a war requiring national effort, nor a great scandal larger the usual **bleep**ry of politics.

There is one obvious answer after the Queensland result, one that Coalition politicians should consider: the public has had a gutful of selling public assets, and then paying higher prices for using formerly public assets. The public has spoken again and again on this issue. They have been ignored again and again.

Nine of the 10 major party leaders in the past decade have been intelligent politicians. Most appear to be decent people.

Only one was a proven disaster – the monomaniacal Kevin Rudd. When Rudd was came to power in 2007 he inherited a strong economy, no Commonwealth debt, a healthy budget surplus, a secure banking system and secure borders.

It will take at least a decade to repair the damage he left behind. He also contributed to the churn far more than any other.

Rudd's own conduct was a key element in seven leadership changes in seven years: Beazley (2006), Howard (2007), Nelson (2008), Turnbull (2009), himself (2010), Gillard (2013) and himself again (2013).

Through all this, hidden behind the money that poured into the economy from the Chinese economic revolution, Australia has become one of the most high-cost countries in the world, with a structural budget deficit, a projected half a trillion dollars in Commonwealth debt, high youth unemployment and unsustainable welfare spending.

Any government that tries to deal with this should beware.

Ask Tony Abbott. His government has confronted the blow-out in debt and deficit.

It completed historic free-trade agreements with China, Japan and South Korea. It stopped the people-smuggling trade. It restored relations with Indonesia damaged by Labor's spying and suspension of live cattle exports. It has had no Ruddian grandiose disasters.

It does not have a Senate majority. It has been in office just 16 months, with just one budget.

And the people are leaning into the amphitheatre and giving Abbott the thumb's down. Death.

Entire Article Here

We are seeing a culling of leaders in an incessant and carnivorous news cycle that is chewing up people who took a path to public office that is much harder and more dangerous than carping from the sidelines.

Newman, a former Army major, went into battle with big policies and acted on them. He didn't seek to be parachuted into a safe seat. He died in electoral battle honourably and he departed honourably.

"This is the end of my political career", he said on election night. In his TV appearances on Sunday he even seemed relieved.

I don't blame him.

[chameleon54]

One aspect of the modern media phenomena is that leaders face much greater scrutiny than in the past. They can no longer hide their dumb decisions, dishonest ways or growing arrogance if in power for too long. John Howard was a classic example of a bloke who went into politics for the right reasons ( to serve the public ) . He had honorable intentions and for quite awhile did a good job. After a period he lost touch with the community, the arrogance started to creep in, the hunger for power at all cost over-rode his integrity and he ended up doing and saying anything he could to stay in power.

Recent political history is littered with leaders who lie, lie lie. If you vote Liberal, you will point the finger at Julia Gillard. If Labour its Tony Abbott. The truth is, its a very long time since we had a reasonably honest leader. Early days Howard for Libs. and Hawke for Labour are probably the most recent examples. For the last decade, leaders have given undertakings before an election and promptly dumped them, blaming the other side after being elected.  The public despise arrogance and deciet in our leaders. Maybe the dishonesty and corruption ( as in recent shonky and illegal land deals and mining rights by Labour and cosy donations for favours by Libs ) has always been a part of politics, but the advent of the internet and 24 hour media mean the "deals" are much harder to hide.

Australians are desperate for an honourable statesman. The closest thing we have to that at present is Malcolm Turnbull. He has some of the social responsability and concience that Labour supporters seek with the financial intillect to manage the economy. He has shown the strength of conviction to speak out against Liberal party policy on issues such as climate change and the NBN even when it cost him dearly in political skin. His political record appears to be clean, without the slippery deals and corruption that seems to hang around so many others and he is intelligent enough not to do or say some of the rash, stupid things we have seen recently at both state and federal level. 

Its over to you Liberal Party !!!!

[donnashuggy]

I liked the taxi driver incident