The conspiracy against the PM is not that surprising. He was riding high in the polls seven months ago, but since then suffered a decline in popularity. The Labor Party powerbrokers decided, probably correctly, that he was an electoral liability and replaced him with the deputy PM, Julia Gillard.
There's little reason for traditionalists to regret the demise of Rudd. Just consider these disastrous policies:
i) When Rudd first arrived in office he set out to create an Asia-Pacific Union, along the lines of the EU. Fortunately his diplomatic efforts failed to interest the major Asian powers.
ii) Rudd ramped up immigration to astonishing levels. In 2008 alone there were 876,222 arrivals.
iii) Rudd set up a national curriculum for all Australian schools. There are three themes underpinning every subject in the curriculum from prep to Year 12: indigenous perspectives, Australia's place in Asia and sustainable living.
Julia Gillard, the new PM, was part of the inner circle who decided these policies, so we shouldn't hope for too much better from her. She is also someone who has ruled out the idea that women might be full-time homemakers:
If one suggested to a girl in school today that her future life would consist of marriage, raising children and tending the family home, she would no doubt look at you as if you had just arrived from Mars ...
... while she may not know what course she wants to chart out in her life yet, she knows work will play a role in it – and an important one. Whether for the thrill of career, the social integration of work, the pay packet or for a mix of all of them, she’ll work.
So much for choice. Gillard comes across as an ideological feminist in this quote, as someone who disdains the significance of the motherhood role.
Anyway, it's likely now that there will be an election soon, before Gillard's honeymoon period is over. She's a chance to win, particularly with the upsurge of the Greens (whose preferences will mostly go Labor's way). Time will tell.
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