has there been a worse pm than rudd???, page-32

towie,

The Whitlam government had its faults but it had made some positive changes which to this day many of us are still benefiting from. One example is of course his government's universal health program, best understood, in a very simplistic way, as Medicare (it was called Medibank when it was first introduced). His attorney-general, Lionel Murphy, introduced the Trade Practices Act which still stands today.

It had to deal with the oil shock which sent the industrial economies into hyperinflation (Australia included) when the oil cartel was formed which increased the price of oil many times higher.

It had to deal with the Liberal opposition, especially in the Senate, which refused to accept the fact that Labor won government.

You talked about Liberal governments leaving the economy in better shape when they lost government. It is a simplistic look at a government's performance. There are always external factors which affect our economy, factors which often times are beyond the control of our government. A very good example is the recent GFC which a Labor government had to deal with. Another example was the long years of resources boom which was the major contributor towards our prosperity when Howard was in government.

Emotional charge that Labor does not know how to run the country, that the Liberals have the such gift, is just nonsensical. Some of you have already written off the Rudd government as being incompetent, that the people who voted for them are "stupid", "sheep", etc etc. really do not deserve any serious exchange, except as meaningless banter.