A valid premise possibly ... although financially I would think Australia has never been as well regarded on the world stage as over recent years.
I believe the reason for this is that we have been blessed by two decades of consistent government ... the earlier Hawke/Keating period (which in all probability was the innovation and vision for where we are today) and the Howard custodian period.
But you just cant type cast ... the previous Whitlam Govt was an abject failure due to financial irresponsibility. Nobody, but nobody can predict how a Rudd Govt may behave (not in the least due to given Peter Garrett's admissions yesterday) but I am pretty sure it wont be a visionary one.
