goodbye john howard: hello john howard

Last night was a momentous occasion for this country and at times like that, one tends to want to sum up one’s feelings and evaluate so this is my attempt.

Folks who regularly read HC will have picked me as a Howard hater from way back. I was hating the old boy when it was unfashionable to do so. Indeed I am quite amazed at how quickly sentiment, as evidenced here in HC, changed over the past year or so…pretty much since Work Choices I guess when Howard dropped his guise as the battler’s friend and revealed his true colours as a slave of big business and the HR Nicholls ideologs.

It wasn’t always so however. When Howard was elected in his first term, I was pretty much open minded about him. Remember then that he had acquired the mantle of “Honest John� and we had no reason to believe otherwise. I felt that the GST (remember that Paul Keating actually suggested a GST but quickly withdrew this following the howls of outrage from his party) was a necessary addition to the tax mix and admired his strength in getting it through. I also admired his strength in attempting to reduce gun ownership in Australia though this has really been a forlorn hope as the bad guys always seem to be able to get the guns. Thirdly, I agreed with his stance in East Timor. So….credit where credit was due.

There is no need for me to go through the litany of Howard’s negatives. They have all been canvassed ad infinitum on HCs pages over the years. But Howard said something last night in his closing speech that encapsulates his failure to understand what many in the electorate felt. He said that Australia was a prouder place than when he took over power. I’m afraid that here he was oh so wrong. Many Australians are ashamed of what Howard has done to this country. They are ashamed by the illegal invasion of Iraq that has led to the deaths of so many thousands of innocent civilians, that has increased the threat of world wide terrorism and that has indirectly led to massive increases in oil prices that will influence the world economy for decades to come. They are ashamed of being linked to the worst, most unpopular and stupid president of the US ever. They are ashamed of being the one of only two holdouts of the developed world to do nothing about climate change when the rest of the world was begging for action. They are ashamed of sanctioning torture, illegal imprisonment of children and denial of human rights to prisoners. They are ashamed at the politicisation of our public service that led to outrageous abuses. They are ashamed of an education system which is one of the most expensive in the world and which fails to provide trained people for our own progress. I could go on but I think you get the picture. In the words of Goblin, when Howard said we were a proud country he had NFI….

As I look at the election 07 thread I see all the expected wailing and gnashing of teeth which indicates to me that most liberal supporters actually believed the election rhetoric put out by their party. In actual fact, I believe that genuine liberal supporters such as cerhob, grant 62, poindexter, bendigo, debono, banjar and many more whose opinions I respect even if I strongly disagree, should be happier with the election result than I am. I think Rudd is actually your man more than mine. Politics in this country really mirrors that in the US where there is no left other than in the minor parties that have no hope of attaining power.

Rudd is truly a fiscal conservative just as he is conservative in all other political matters. Economically, he will be better in my view than Howard/Costello who massively miscalculated budget surpluses and wasted the opportunity to build physical and intellectual infrastructure. Howard’s rule by bribe has led to massive increases in middle class welfare leading to upward pressure in interest rates. Rudd is no doubt keenly aware that Labor is, in the eyes of the public, suspect where economic management is concerned (even if the Hawke/Keating years prove otherwise). He enters government when there is a good chance that the good times are coming to an end and real economic imbalances are going to turn economic management into a minefield.

Why do I think Rudd will manage the economy well? It comes down to the style of the man. He is essentially an academic. He will form committees, consult the experts do all the grinding homework and attempt to integrate the information towards a viable solution.

Having said all of that, do I think I will enjoy the Rudd government? I’m afraid the answer is no. Even though I picked Rudd as the most likely person to lead the ALP to victory well before Latham got the guernsy, I can’t say I like the man. He’s way too far over on the right. Still, one thing he does have going for him is that he has not aligned himself with any of the Labor factions and this means that he will have significantly more flexibility in framing policy and appointing ministers.

I don’t think Labor will solve the education problem. Let’s face it, they started the rot when Dawkins broke up what was a perfectly satisfactory three tiered tertiary education system and closed CAEs. In my view, introduction of university fees was also a retrograde step. It’s clear that neither party understands what needs to be done in our schools. New computers for Christ’s sake!!!! What our schools are crying out for are more dedicated teachers on the ground. It’s teachers that do the teaching not computers. I could go on but we seem doomed to follow the Americans into oblivion.

What of the future? We are entering a Blairite world. Rudd has a lot of work to do restore our faith in the democratic process and the decency of government and frankly, I remain to be convinced. I said some time ago, I would vote for the devil incarnate to be rid of Howard and his band of incompetent and arrogant ministers. I live in hope that we have not replaced these turkeys with more of the same but let’s face it, in three or six years time there’s a good chance I’ll feel the same about Rudd. As Pirra says, only time will tell…….

C’Mon Kevvy, make me proud!