One word 'super' changed Australian history. When Rudd was PM,he...

One word 'super' changed Australian history. When Rudd was PM,
he wanted to tax the Excess Profits that billionaire miners made.

He called it a 'Super Tax' that many voters thought meant a tax on
superannuation savings. Hence his plunge in popularity that Julia
exploited for a power grab. As PM, Julia was a big spender on
social programs but was inept at raising revenue. She needed
a quick negotiating success (to be unlike Rudd) but the
Big Miners played hard-ball. She caved in and the
excess mining profits tax only got $200 million
not the projected $2 billion in revenue.

The problem was: Julia had committed $2 billion (she didn't have)
to her social programs. Rudd was right in playing Hard Ball with
filthy rich billionaire miners. They played Julia like a fiddle.

Rudd's big mistake was to call his excess mining profits tax a
'super' tax which confused voters. One word as his undoing.