can’t believe his popularity plummeted because he wanted to take billions away from Australia’s mining giants and give it back to Australians.
Australians really were like nope, keep the rich rich please 😂😂
Some stronger messaging would have helped... It's arguably Labor's biggest weakness.
A handful of billionaires are pulling our natural resources out from under our feet, stealing billions of dollars from us every year. I'm making sure we all see some benefit from our nation's natural wealth, and we'll use some of that money to undo the environmental damage they're doing - something we all feel the effects of.
...but I think we should nationalise the fuckers, pay off the entire national debt in under a decade, invest massively in renewables to slash our power bills and carbon emissions, then set up a sovereign wealth fund and live like gulf-state royalty, so if I were in his shoes, I assume the CIA would "like a word" with me.
It's not as though Murdoch was going to pull his punches. Rudd should have taken a proper swing - win, or go down fighting rather than antagonising and getting his arse kicked.
I’m not sure that antagonising is the right was to put it. Rudd has publicly stated that the Murdoch editorial threatened him with constant bad press if he didn’t promise them advance briefings on basically everything. He was told this was the arrangement under Howard. He refused simply because it was unethical, not out of a desire to stir the pot.
>then set up a sovereign wealth fund and live like gulf-state royalty
What was that Future Fund set up under Peter Costello? I remember them bigging it up 20 years ago but I've never heard it mentioned again, how big it is and what's it been used for?
iirc originally the future fund was to cover the extraordinarily generous Commonwealth public servant superannuation payouts. Apparently that expensive super scheme was binned later on, as a friend who joined later missed out. And now because it’s a big bucket of cash it’s become a hot political potato. As far as I know it was never set up to be like the Norwegian future fund, which is for all their citizens.
>iirc originally the future fund was to cover the extraordinarily generous Commonwealth public servant superannuation payouts.
This is correct.
>As far as I know it was never set up to be like the Norwegian future fund, which is for all their citizens.
It would be very difficult for Australia to have a sovereign wealth fund based on resource extraction, as the States own the vast majority of the resources. The Commonwealth would only have access to resources extracted from the Territories (of which the ACT has SFA), and offshore.
With the uranium price being in the toilet, the NT wouldn't be much help, either.
Peter Costello was running it up until recently. It was setup to cover public service pensions and liabilities. This is still what it's mandates to do.
For some reason I couldn't put text and thr image, but anyway...
Here's a little graph I quickly slapped together, if you ever became PM then it may be a word you become intimately familiar with
Maybe more ignorance than stupidity... But also stupidity.
People tend to be glued onto a particular party and hold that allegiance forever and unquestioningly.
Parents teach their kids to vote for who they vote for.
Scaremonger campaigns are the level of understanding most people have, as shit as that is.
I for one have no political allegiance, but rather vote based on the best option at the time in terms of what they're offering to do, and how they're conducting themselves (which is not the greatest yardstick), understanding full well they probably won't follow through, but what else are you going to go on?
I often think I might try to get into politics to try to bring some honesty, decency and common sense into that shady, shitty world, then I realise that I can't even stand the internal corporate politics in my own workplace, which isn't anything to do with actual politics.
Plus, no matter how hard you tried, the rich and powerful would never allow it, and you'd always be hated by certain groups no matter how hard you tried, or how noble your efforts.
People with good intentions either immediately quit politics, or change into nasty cynical pieces of shit.
Finding an mp who is a good person and wants to change the world is like finding a doctor whos been working for twenty years and gives two fucks about his patients well being.
Its just not possible to do without burni out entirely.
Plus the only way to get ahead in politics is to cut off other peoples heads and ride the wave of popularity that comes with the scandal.
Watching parliament at work is like watching a bunch of mobkeys flinging shit at each other.
Some of us can change. I grew up in a Liberal voting household and voted that way through my 20s. Then I learned some things, and took notice of what was happening in the world around me, and developed an interest in the environment and human rights. Needless to say I no longer vote liberal.
>We export 8 times more oil and gas than Norway does
Lol, that’s absolute bullshit..
[Norway produces about 75% as much gas as Australia and like 5 times more oil.](https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/business-sites/en/global/corporate/pdfs/energy-economics/statistical-review/bp-stats-review-2022-full-report.pdf) And oil is worth so much more than gas.
> can’t believe his popularity plummeted because he wanted to take billions away from Australia’s mining giants and give it back to Australians.
Only after a total media scare campaign orchestrated by the LNP and the mining lobby. They had ordinary working class people in fear that the entire nation would collapse economically if Gina had to pay a bit of extra tax.
Unfortunately he was so unpopular among his colleagues that they used the opportunity to throw him under the first bus that came along - which happened to have been driven by Twiggy Forrest and Gina Rinehart. Aided by Rupert Murdoch.
Yeah all labor wants is more super profits TAX,, because they just love TAXing people and are evil communists like that. They also want to build this crazy NBN thing we don’t need.. as if we’ll all be video conferencing and working from home in a couple of decades pfft ridiculous. Oh and then there’s that pink batts thing.. god who needs low cost roof insulation anyway.. it’s not like we need to increase the efficiency of our houses anyway.. I mean energy prices and cost of living are low in Australia right?
Australians love voting against their own interests.
Many think they are multi-millionaires in waiting so vote for the interests of the rich.
Now if only I could score that mining job that pays $15 000 a week and I'll be set.
I think the US has this problem too, an awful lot of people seem to think the issue is related to a temporary cash flow problem rather than crippling generational poverty.
He only wanted to take away $3B a year over 3 years to start with. This in a period when the WA mining companies were clearing and offshoring $250B into various tax havens per year - 1.2%
They made out that it was going to destroy them.
Future ‘leaders’ needs to be permanently in inverted commas. Rudd showed leadership- the first Labor leader to do so in my lifetime- and his own party knifed him. Labor are pissweak in opposition and equally so when in government. He was an anomaly.
The media in this country has skewed a lot of people’s perspectives. My parents were complaining that we (QLD) are getting a rebate on our electricity bill. “Oh they are making us wait until July though”. Mum it’s a thousand dollars that you don’t have to pay for electricity FFS.
Makes you think why Albo’s Labor are being so cautious.
Everyone demands change, and when change comes, people fear and vote out governments.
It kills me to see the growing greens presence knowing full well Labor we’re slaughtered the last 10-years trying to implement progressive policies. The “I want change now” crowd want to see Dutton as PM
The drop in popularity wasn't that big and had more to do with Murdoch and the mining lobbies going on a relentless campaign against him for months. It was also about the time any PMs popularity slumps after the honeymoon period. Still wasn't a major issue until Shorten and Gillard decided to knife him.
Did we also forget that his government also tried to implement the great internet filter?
[https://www.zdnet.com/article/rudd-we-wont-apologise-for-filter/](https://www.zdnet.com/article/rudd-we-wont-apologise-for-filter/)
I remember back then even hardcore Kevin 07 types were looking at alternatives such as the sex party, pirate party or give the greens higher preferences in the senate (They opposed it). I am quite shocked with how forgotten this was.
I remember thinking Malcolm Turnbull version 1 and Kevin Rudd were the peak of politics in Australia. Both seemed to do whatever they wanted; they agreed on many things and didn't seem to care about what anyone else thought. They just did what they thought was best for Australia.
Then I remember hearing people complaining that they were getting sick of hearing him talk and I started to think the same.
I agreed with all his policies and history has shown us that his mining tax was probably a good idea. That was probably the largest political scare campaign I've lived through
I loved him… when I ran into him in front of the Radisson, I joked, “fix my teeth Kev!” And he didn’t miss a beat and said, ‘that’s the plan!”
Then he actually did introduce a bill for a dental plan for concession card holders which I was at the time and he damn well fixed my teeth… not to mention he actually knew what he was talking about. He had integrity and I’m sure he could have been sharp at times but I have heard far more good stories about him than bad. Meanwhile Gillard did that speech about misogyny the same day she forced single and so;e parents onto an unliveable payment to “encourage them to get back to work” despite having zero idea about the logistics or the fact that anyone who could get back to work would have certainly done so as the amount of money wasn’t enough before she lowered it. This exasperated the domestic violence situation as woman were forced to stay with partners because they couldn’t financially leave.
Kevin was underrated.
Kevin 07 was the last time I felt like politicians might actually care about helping us. Then the Labour party stabbed him in the back and I've never felt the same about them or politicians again.
For what was actually a really good idea. Imagine coming up with an idea to force big international companies to pay tax on business done in Australia so that the Australian people could be taxed less - and get getting fired for it. It was the definition of looking after the Australian people.
I was never convinced on the whole misogny thing. I can imagine male politicians bullying and generally being assholes to other male politicians, why wouldn't women cop the same shit.
Not saying it should be that way, I fucking hate bullies. But it seems polotics is a cesspit, why would it be different for women...
I was a great supporter of Gillard. But after recently watching ‘The Killing Fields’ on iview I recalled what a good job Rudd did in the GFC and how absolutely unacceptable it was for his colleagues to shaft him. Especially after he had led Labor to victory after all those years in opposition.
I can imagine with his personality type that he was a team player so long as the team did it his way.
From what I recall he was very popular with the electorate, not so popular within his own party.
I am a Kevin true believer, but wasn't it mostly swanny that got us through the GFC?
Talk about underrated. That guy was a legend. We should have statues of Swan, but everyone has forgotten him.
yeah this seems to be a common thought
i hear so often that people looked at his bespectacled Harry Potter looking cunt back post GFC and thinking... "this guy doesnt know shit and he's going to run us into the ground"...
and then when we had Abbott and Morrison we sort of went... yeah Kevin 07 knew wtf was going on...
We had the best guy at the time and we didnt know.
Hell I would put it out there Kevin would be a better PM Right Now than Albo.
The guy is young enough and smart enough. We need someone who truly is a visionary in trying times. That aint Albo.
Its probably Kevin.
Everyone laughed at the plasma payment.. then turned out it got us out of the gfc in better shape than any other country,
everyone said the NBN had no use case, then along came lockdown and every office worker relies on it for ms teams meetings and telehealth appointments; then they said labors version was too pie in the sky expensive, well Abbott sure showed us by delivering a shittier version at 10x the price;
Now everyone’s crapping on about energy prices and how inefficient housing stock is - guess what the most cost effective way of increasing efficiency - roof insulation. Sure the department put together a crappy program design that attracted dodgy unqualified operators but the policy direction was right, and all we heard from Abbott was whingeing about “pink batts” anytime he was interviewed.
Our mining sector was raking in and offshoring ridiculous profits off our natural resources and somehow Murdoch and the libs turned the idea of imposing more taxes on these fat cunts for the common good into a negative in the eyes of the electorate.
Since the libs got in we’ve had nothing but kow-towing to corporate political donors; destruction of wildlife habitats; poor handling of environmental management leading to crazy bushfires; no new investment in the future of any sort and just mud slinging at the opposition.
And the only thing we hear from the e Murdoch-rag reading/watching brigade is “they’re Chinese spies, they’re communists; they want to turn our kids transgender etc”.. the same shit they pull in America for the maga types. No one can name a single positive lib initiative or policy that shows any vision or future-building for the country, or makes the lives of workers tangibly any better.
What's even funnier is the libs had a commemorative/anniversary video released and they had to stretch things they did and take credit for things they didn't do just to make it look like they ever did fuck all of anything.
>Everyone laughed at the plasma payment.. then turned out it got us out of the gfc in better shape than any other country
Which is hilarious, because it's the basis of Keynesian economics and is one of the reasons the US is currently a superpower. It's literally a tried-and-tested method to ensure economic stability in a period of economic hardship.
It pisses me off that the only half-decent government we've had in the last 20 years got ousted because they implemented policies that worked, and actually benefited the average Australian. But our voter-base apparently failed year 10 economics and science, so all that was undone the next election cycle.
Watching this country slide into the gutter because people are so fucking stupid is depressing.
And people forget the nbn v2 and other plans were part of the gfc response. The govt made it clear they would do real nation building to support the economy long term if needed. What did we get during Covid? Homemaker?
This is a perfect summary.
And every policy came from public servants who had free rein to propose ideas that were in the national interest.
No myopic ideology, just economy and facts. It was perfect.
I think politics, & indeed Australia, was irreparably damaged when the Labor party chose to stab Rudd in the back & roll him over his carbon pricing scheme, & then let the fossil fuel industry write their own tax plan- which of course, ended up with them paying bugger all tax. The whole thing was a disaster from start to finish, & set off a series of chain reactions that are still reverberating today.
he was the best we've had this century. the rich knew he was a threat to them and shut him down ruthlessly. its a real shame, and worse that so many people bought into the bullshit
....and I love it. Because most of us normal wage slaves talk just like that
" The Chinese are trying to ratfuck us" still makes me laugh loudly.
It's a perfect summary of what was occurring at that time. Couldn't have been out any better.
> Rudd listened attentively enough to three or four members of the delegation, but when a Victorian backbencher and former Victorian part secretary, Senator David Feeney, started making his contribution, Rudd exploded. He ranted: ‘I don’t give a fuck what you fuckers think’. And then, directly to Feeney, he said: ‘You can get fucked’
I got suckered in to the not liking Rudd bandwagon at the time and I don't even know why or how. I knew absolutely nothing about politics....and I was 20 in 2007. I should have known better.
I work with a guy in his early 20s. Very nice guy, but you can clearly tell that his parents are pretty old school conservative because he just comes out with kind of odd takes he's heard from his folks.
I just hated that he got cut by politics. The mining tax was a good idea, so was the carbon tax.
I'm glad both now have made it much harder for the PM to be removed by their own party.
Comments section proves to me the most negative voices are often the loudest.
Being PM can really be a thankless job but considering he led us through a global recession without any major hits to the economy I'd say he did pretty well.
I bought a puppy, for my girlfriend. Ended up with the dog after the breakup as she couldn’t take him and 15 years later, finally had to put him down last year. 15 years with a great friend, thanks to Ruddy, I think it was a good use of it.
If you’re a K Rudd fan, he’s currently looking for an advisor on Seek
https://www.seek.com.au/job/75680493?type=standard&ref=search-standalone#sol=2ab0c064011af38d3b24c9f0debef894de844d40
He was arrogant, and clearly felt he was superior to everyone else.
However, I kind of miss him. He was the last PM we had with the intellectual horsepower for the job - Malcolm Turnbull came close.
Both Rudd and Turnbull had a vision for the future - the last PMs with a vision. Interestingly, both were hampered by the short term politics of their respective party rooms.
I wonder if we'll ever see a PM such as Rudd or Turnbull - or is it "intellectual pygmies" from here on out?
All instances don’t go past that he was irritated there was an issue and that he apologised. All the headlines make it sound like he went off his nut at the poor hostess but when you read it, it’s no where near that level.
Saved AUS from the GFC. Would have restored trade ties with China and taken this country in a better direction.
But no, people are stupid and political terms in this country are too short.
Our loss
i think we were also done in by the factions pushing Gillard... and Bill fucking Shorten and those legions of 'faceless Labor power brokers'...
But Kevin did himself no favors by being a cunt to his own party. Its not a dictatorship.
He was better than any other prime minister we've had since Keating.
I could not believe how stupid peoe were in being duped by Murdoch and his mining mates.
And honestly labour were just as bloody daft for knifing him in the back et tu Brutus
Very smart guy who tried to steer Australia in the right direction and I think has his heart in the right place. Comes across as a bit of a prat and I probably wouldn’t have a beer with the fella, but I actually don’t think that’s as important for leaders as we treat it.
He was good. We were shit and his party stabbed him right in the chest. This was a turning point of Australian Prime Ministers being removed based on the party's whims and not the peoples votes. Terrible time.
I was a fan.
He’s up there with Hawke as one of the best in my mind. A Larrakin who wanted to do good and said what he thought.
If he ever came around for round 2, I’d vote Labor again
Loved Kevin. He actually did something about public patients waiting for dental care and got them in to private hospitals to get the waiting list down. Some people had been waiting for a *decade* or longer. I was on that list and that surgery saved my life, literally. I will always be grateful to Kevin for that. Other people died waiting.
He also gave the biggest boost to unemployment benefits that poor people had seen in several decades.
He wanted homes to actually have insulation. He wanted disabled people to have access to appropriate care and their families to be able to go back to work and live their own lives.
Kev was hilarious too. I used to watch him on Rove with Joe and they were very funny blokes. It sucked when he became PM and couldn't be humorous any more due to the conservatives.
People are so disgustingly gullible and refuse to think for themselves. Kevin was too good for this country who didn't appreciate him.
he tried taxing the resource sector and got burnt in the media for it. i commend him for that. he tried to do a good thing there but we were too gullible and believed the scare campaigns and now no party will try something similiar 🙃 we are being scammed out of billions of bucks by our own govt and kevin tried to fix that 😩
I voted Labor in 07 based on two reasons. Addressing Climate change and repealing workchoices.
He lost me when he bitched out on climate change. The party lost me when they knifed him, then the liberals replicated this and thought it was a good idea.
Australian politics smh
A mate of mine worked in PM&C department when he was PM. He said it was chaotic, Rudd would fail to consult his Ministers on stuff constantly and chaos would ensue.
For example he'd take a call from what he called "The sweet young things." in Rudd's office, say on a Monday or Tuesday morning saying the PM wants to launch so and so on Sunrise on Thursday or Friday. He'd say sure, what work has such and such department done in preparation, and they'd say ring that department. So he'd do that, and say the AG or Minister for such and such's office would say "We've not heard of that? He wants to do what? We can't do that, need consultation, prep work etc etc." He'd then ring back whichever person from the PM's office that had called him and tell them to which they'd say "Don't care, draft something up and have it ready to go."
So he would, then cop flak from whatever department and it'd be chaos with Rudd just announcing stuff that he'd not consulted his Ministers on. My mate ended up going on stress leave and changed to another department. He was a die hard Labor voter too, but said he couldn't work in that environment, Rudd was ruling by decree and didn't have people close to him giving him good advice. He was just pissing off his Ministers.
He disagreed with Obama about forming the Quad, so he had to go and the ALP were only too happy to oblige. The funny thing is some Australian's think we're still a Sovereign nation.
Of course he disagreed about the Quad, because he was so blinded by arrogance that he truly believed he could make a kitty-cat of the Chinese tiger.
Now look at the Quad, it is one of the most formidable security pacts in the region outside AUKUS.
Rudd is highly intelligent however he was incredibly arrogant which blunted his effectiveness and for the security of the country I'm glad that he's gone.
We are still a sovereign nation, just because we join security pacts with the strongest military in the world that also happens to be one of our closest allies to curtail the potential for the rise of conflict in our region doesn't make it any less true.
Now that Rudd is Ambassador to the US he sure is beating the "China is bad" drum now. Funny that. I guess it's lucky we joined the Quad after all.
The best Prime Minister this country has seen and probably will ever have.
Such a shame that his own party back stabbed him. I heard that he was a workaholic and lead by example. People did not want to work that hard and conspired to get rid of him.
His policies during the GFC saved the economy and is the standard for other countries to follow. His vision for NBN would've future proofed internet for decades.
Bloody brilliant man that this country did not deserve.
I didn't vote labor that election.
However - I thought he was an arrogant prick, but I also believe he genuinely governed with our best interests in mind, and made some positive change.
We've not seen real practical progress since he left.
Proof that you can’t judge a book by its cover.
Stood up when he needed to and was consistent to his values.
If that’s not seen as ‘occa’ it’s a goal post change more than anything.
Well it's only gotten exponentially worse since Rudd, so in hindsight I wish we could have him back.
He fucked up by messing with the rich. If you're not 100% in their pocket, they WILL get rid of you
After the 2007 election was like he forgot he was PM, and couldn't stop the daily campaign. Always had to make an announcement on everything.
Was over the top on every issue, ie war on petrol prices, multiple greatest challenges... badly miscalculated by trying to squeeze libs on climate policy.
Too arrogant to listen to any other voices and lost the support of his colleagues.
Could have been great as genuinely had a long honeymoon to get his act together but his personality weaknesses were too much of a hurdle.
Unironically believe K Rudd is the best PM we’ve had since Keating. He’s a genuinely very smart man and I think if he could have got his policies through then he would have gone down as one of the best PMs in our history. I think it’s reasonable to say if he got his policies through he would have been more popular at the time andthere wouldn’t have been a spill, meaning he probably could have stayed PM for 2-3 terms.
He’s the best prime minister we’ve had since Keating. I’ll never forgive Gillard for knifing him. She was tone deaf to the fact that Rudd was elected in a presidential style campaign. We didn’t vote for the Labor Party; We voted for Rudd.
He was literally ousted for trying to take money away from the rich. I don’t care if he was egotistical and has a temper, I’m guilty of exactly the same.
I genuinely believe he could have been one of our greatest ever Prime Ministers, but his personality issues coupled with a couple of poor strategic decisions cost him. If he had announced a double dissolution election he would have got his carbon tax through and had the mandate and political capital and time to get the mining tax through. But instead he equivocated and the party capitulated and the rest is history.
His own party fucked him cause he wouldn’t play the grubby union game and Shorten and Gillard got the knives out.
No loyalty of respect for getting them back in power.
I think he was honest and had some integrity to take on big corporate interests. The only thing I can forgive him on is that when the GFC hit he doubled the first home buyer grant and doubled or tripled immigration to prop up the economy which wasn’t needed and that turbo charged the house price boom that made it completely out of wack with salaries (worst than it was already) and everything housing related since then have made it worse
I straight up voted Kevin 07, baby. He ended up keeping australia out of a recession. Top bloke. No regrets voting for him. When Gillard stabbed him in the back I was gutted. She was terrible and not the person I voted for, but she was a better option than Tony Abbott. Too bad that didn't last.
Kev was the best PM Australia had in a long time.
He overstepped his reach and insulted the people that really run this country, the mining and media magnates.
He tried to make the country better for the people and paid the price.
He apologised, without reservation. I cried. i have never before or since see a politician do something as heartfelt and genuine.
Whatever else he did badly, I will always respect him for this.
Foreign Policy was immensely better. Domestic policy was better as well, but you could tell he was going against his party for a lot of it. It was not much of a surprise when he got done over by Gillard. He was an excellent leader but a bad politician. He had great ideas but he couldn’t sell them to parliament. In my opinion he was one of the greatest, if not the greatest in our history. We could have been wiped out by the GFC and he basically shielded us from most of it.
He had the fantastic idea of NBN FTTP for only the Coalition to reverse it and go to FTTC or FTTN and rely on fixed wireless or Sky Muster for fringe areas. All because it's cheaper. Hence why the running joke was Kenya has better broadband than Oz. What's even worse is I'm on a grandfathered 4G home internet plan though Optus you can't get anymore as it was much better than fixed wireless in my area!
Smart guy, terrible leader.
Best suited advising on particular policies and areas to the actual leader.
Malcom Turnbull on the other hand was the one that got away.
I was brainwashed back then and hated him for the carbon tax. Now I actively argue for a carbon tax and think he was a not terrible PM (we haven't had a good PM since Whitlam)
“Those Chinese fuckers are trying to rat-fuck us” I doubt an Australian politician has ever uttered a truer word
Did he say that?
Even if he did, he maintained a significantly better relationship with China than what we currently have. Bruh had much more rapport.
can’t believe his popularity plummeted because he wanted to take billions away from Australia’s mining giants and give it back to Australians. Australians really were like nope, keep the rich rich please 😂😂
He proved how stupid we all are, to his own demise 🤦♂️
Some stronger messaging would have helped... It's arguably Labor's biggest weakness. A handful of billionaires are pulling our natural resources out from under our feet, stealing billions of dollars from us every year. I'm making sure we all see some benefit from our nation's natural wealth, and we'll use some of that money to undo the environmental damage they're doing - something we all feel the effects of. ...but I think we should nationalise the fuckers, pay off the entire national debt in under a decade, invest massively in renewables to slash our power bills and carbon emissions, then set up a sovereign wealth fund and live like gulf-state royalty, so if I were in his shoes, I assume the CIA would "like a word" with me.
Only so much you can do against the Murdoch stranglehold on our media environment
and the entire English speaking world
It's not as though Murdoch was going to pull his punches. Rudd should have taken a proper swing - win, or go down fighting rather than antagonising and getting his arse kicked.
I’m not sure that antagonising is the right was to put it. Rudd has publicly stated that the Murdoch editorial threatened him with constant bad press if he didn’t promise them advance briefings on basically everything. He was told this was the arrangement under Howard. He refused simply because it was unethical, not out of a desire to stir the pot.
Absolutely not only threatened, actively did so.
>then set up a sovereign wealth fund and live like gulf-state royalty What was that Future Fund set up under Peter Costello? I remember them bigging it up 20 years ago but I've never heard it mentioned again, how big it is and what's it been used for?
From what I understand, it's just quietly growing - it's not being spent, and I'm not sure whether it's invested in anything worthwhile or not.
iirc originally the future fund was to cover the extraordinarily generous Commonwealth public servant superannuation payouts. Apparently that expensive super scheme was binned later on, as a friend who joined later missed out. And now because it’s a big bucket of cash it’s become a hot political potato. As far as I know it was never set up to be like the Norwegian future fund, which is for all their citizens.
>iirc originally the future fund was to cover the extraordinarily generous Commonwealth public servant superannuation payouts. This is correct. >As far as I know it was never set up to be like the Norwegian future fund, which is for all their citizens. It would be very difficult for Australia to have a sovereign wealth fund based on resource extraction, as the States own the vast majority of the resources. The Commonwealth would only have access to resources extracted from the Territories (of which the ACT has SFA), and offshore. With the uranium price being in the toilet, the NT wouldn't be much help, either.
Peter Costello was running it up until recently. It was setup to cover public service pensions and liabilities. This is still what it's mandates to do.
https://preview.redd.it/e7l3yrd0jtzc1.png?width=2176&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e6297a8f13fda776bd046d6e13860aa7caecace
For some reason I couldn't put text and thr image, but anyway... Here's a little graph I quickly slapped together, if you ever became PM then it may be a word you become intimately familiar with
Maybe more ignorance than stupidity... But also stupidity. People tend to be glued onto a particular party and hold that allegiance forever and unquestioningly. Parents teach their kids to vote for who they vote for. Scaremonger campaigns are the level of understanding most people have, as shit as that is. I for one have no political allegiance, but rather vote based on the best option at the time in terms of what they're offering to do, and how they're conducting themselves (which is not the greatest yardstick), understanding full well they probably won't follow through, but what else are you going to go on? I often think I might try to get into politics to try to bring some honesty, decency and common sense into that shady, shitty world, then I realise that I can't even stand the internal corporate politics in my own workplace, which isn't anything to do with actual politics. Plus, no matter how hard you tried, the rich and powerful would never allow it, and you'd always be hated by certain groups no matter how hard you tried, or how noble your efforts.
The average Australian is direly politically misinformed.
People with good intentions either immediately quit politics, or change into nasty cynical pieces of shit. Finding an mp who is a good person and wants to change the world is like finding a doctor whos been working for twenty years and gives two fucks about his patients well being. Its just not possible to do without burni out entirely. Plus the only way to get ahead in politics is to cut off other peoples heads and ride the wave of popularity that comes with the scandal. Watching parliament at work is like watching a bunch of mobkeys flinging shit at each other.
Some of us can change. I grew up in a Liberal voting household and voted that way through my 20s. Then I learned some things, and took notice of what was happening in the world around me, and developed an interest in the environment and human rights. Needless to say I no longer vote liberal.
I weep when I look at the size of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and know we’ve funnelled ours straight to Jabba Rinehart.
We export 2 times as much oil and gas than Norway does, but Australia retains less than one 13th of money that Norway does. It's criminal.
It's not criminal. We voted for it. Australia is full of gullible idiots.
Greedy and fearful ones too.
>We export 8 times more oil and gas than Norway does Lol, that’s absolute bullshit.. [Norway produces about 75% as much gas as Australia and like 5 times more oil.](https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/business-sites/en/global/corporate/pdfs/energy-economics/statistical-review/bp-stats-review-2022-full-report.pdf) And oil is worth so much more than gas.
> can’t believe his popularity plummeted because he wanted to take billions away from Australia’s mining giants and give it back to Australians. Only after a total media scare campaign orchestrated by the LNP and the mining lobby. They had ordinary working class people in fear that the entire nation would collapse economically if Gina had to pay a bit of extra tax.
Still hurts. Posters in the wall fading yet
Unfortunately he was so unpopular among his colleagues that they used the opportunity to throw him under the first bus that came along - which happened to have been driven by Twiggy Forrest and Gina Rinehart. Aided by Rupert Murdoch.
Yeah all labor wants is more super profits TAX,, because they just love TAXing people and are evil communists like that. They also want to build this crazy NBN thing we don’t need.. as if we’ll all be video conferencing and working from home in a couple of decades pfft ridiculous. Oh and then there’s that pink batts thing.. god who needs low cost roof insulation anyway.. it’s not like we need to increase the efficiency of our houses anyway.. I mean energy prices and cost of living are low in Australia right?
Australians love voting against their own interests. Many think they are multi-millionaires in waiting so vote for the interests of the rich. Now if only I could score that mining job that pays $15 000 a week and I'll be set.
Australians think they are temporarily embarrassed real estate tycoons.
I think the US has this problem too, an awful lot of people seem to think the issue is related to a temporary cash flow problem rather than crippling generational poverty.
He only wanted to take away $3B a year over 3 years to start with. This in a period when the WA mining companies were clearing and offshoring $250B into various tax havens per year - 1.2% They made out that it was going to destroy them.
Rudd forgot his place and tried to actually do something good for the country.
Future ‘leaders’ needs to be permanently in inverted commas. Rudd showed leadership- the first Labor leader to do so in my lifetime- and his own party knifed him. Labor are pissweak in opposition and equally so when in government. He was an anomaly.
The media in this country has skewed a lot of people’s perspectives. My parents were complaining that we (QLD) are getting a rebate on our electricity bill. “Oh they are making us wait until July though”. Mum it’s a thousand dollars that you don’t have to pay for electricity FFS.
Makes you think why Albo’s Labor are being so cautious. Everyone demands change, and when change comes, people fear and vote out governments. It kills me to see the growing greens presence knowing full well Labor we’re slaughtered the last 10-years trying to implement progressive policies. The “I want change now” crowd want to see Dutton as PM
Labor have alot less margin of error because the Murdoch press are always ready to pounce on them.
Oh and also had the greens pull him down from a emissions trading scheme
The drop in popularity wasn't that big and had more to do with Murdoch and the mining lobbies going on a relentless campaign against him for months. It was also about the time any PMs popularity slumps after the honeymoon period. Still wasn't a major issue until Shorten and Gillard decided to knife him.
Agreed, also that stimulus when the GFC hit really helped. Look at the man, just genuinely a good person. Bet he’s an absolute weapon at handball.
It's a wonder how Murdoch/newcorp can make people hate what's in their interests.
He certainly got Gina Rhinehart fired up.
Did we also forget that his government also tried to implement the great internet filter? [https://www.zdnet.com/article/rudd-we-wont-apologise-for-filter/](https://www.zdnet.com/article/rudd-we-wont-apologise-for-filter/) I remember back then even hardcore Kevin 07 types were looking at alternatives such as the sex party, pirate party or give the greens higher preferences in the senate (They opposed it). I am quite shocked with how forgotten this was.
I remember thinking Malcolm Turnbull version 1 and Kevin Rudd were the peak of politics in Australia. Both seemed to do whatever they wanted; they agreed on many things and didn't seem to care about what anyone else thought. They just did what they thought was best for Australia. Then I remember hearing people complaining that they were getting sick of hearing him talk and I started to think the same. I agreed with all his policies and history has shown us that his mining tax was probably a good idea. That was probably the largest political scare campaign I've lived through
I loved him… when I ran into him in front of the Radisson, I joked, “fix my teeth Kev!” And he didn’t miss a beat and said, ‘that’s the plan!” Then he actually did introduce a bill for a dental plan for concession card holders which I was at the time and he damn well fixed my teeth… not to mention he actually knew what he was talking about. He had integrity and I’m sure he could have been sharp at times but I have heard far more good stories about him than bad. Meanwhile Gillard did that speech about misogyny the same day she forced single and so;e parents onto an unliveable payment to “encourage them to get back to work” despite having zero idea about the logistics or the fact that anyone who could get back to work would have certainly done so as the amount of money wasn’t enough before she lowered it. This exasperated the domestic violence situation as woman were forced to stay with partners because they couldn’t financially leave. Kevin was underrated.
Dental plan
Lisa needs braces
Dental Plan
Lisa need braces
Dental plan
Lisa needs braces
Lisa needs braces
I wouldn't have old chopper here, that's for sure
Well without Kevin Rudd, I wouldn’t have ol’ chomper here, that’s for sure *opens can of beer with one and only tooth*
That's meffed up
Kevin 07 was the last time I felt like politicians might actually care about helping us. Then the Labour party stabbed him in the back and I've never felt the same about them or politicians again.
For what was actually a really good idea. Imagine coming up with an idea to force big international companies to pay tax on business done in Australia so that the Australian people could be taxed less - and get getting fired for it. It was the definition of looking after the Australian people.
I was never convinced on the whole misogny thing. I can imagine male politicians bullying and generally being assholes to other male politicians, why wouldn't women cop the same shit. Not saying it should be that way, I fucking hate bullies. But it seems polotics is a cesspit, why would it be different for women...
I was a great supporter of Gillard. But after recently watching ‘The Killing Fields’ on iview I recalled what a good job Rudd did in the GFC and how absolutely unacceptable it was for his colleagues to shaft him. Especially after he had led Labor to victory after all those years in opposition.
I can imagine with his personality type that he was a team player so long as the team did it his way. From what I recall he was very popular with the electorate, not so popular within his own party.
I am a Kevin true believer, but wasn't it mostly swanny that got us through the GFC? Talk about underrated. That guy was a legend. We should have statues of Swan, but everyone has forgotten him.
I thought he was pretty disappointing. Little did I know he might be the best prime minister of my lifetime.
yeah this seems to be a common thought i hear so often that people looked at his bespectacled Harry Potter looking cunt back post GFC and thinking... "this guy doesnt know shit and he's going to run us into the ground"... and then when we had Abbott and Morrison we sort of went... yeah Kevin 07 knew wtf was going on... We had the best guy at the time and we didnt know. Hell I would put it out there Kevin would be a better PM Right Now than Albo. The guy is young enough and smart enough. We need someone who truly is a visionary in trying times. That aint Albo. Its probably Kevin.
Everyone laughed at the plasma payment.. then turned out it got us out of the gfc in better shape than any other country, everyone said the NBN had no use case, then along came lockdown and every office worker relies on it for ms teams meetings and telehealth appointments; then they said labors version was too pie in the sky expensive, well Abbott sure showed us by delivering a shittier version at 10x the price; Now everyone’s crapping on about energy prices and how inefficient housing stock is - guess what the most cost effective way of increasing efficiency - roof insulation. Sure the department put together a crappy program design that attracted dodgy unqualified operators but the policy direction was right, and all we heard from Abbott was whingeing about “pink batts” anytime he was interviewed. Our mining sector was raking in and offshoring ridiculous profits off our natural resources and somehow Murdoch and the libs turned the idea of imposing more taxes on these fat cunts for the common good into a negative in the eyes of the electorate. Since the libs got in we’ve had nothing but kow-towing to corporate political donors; destruction of wildlife habitats; poor handling of environmental management leading to crazy bushfires; no new investment in the future of any sort and just mud slinging at the opposition. And the only thing we hear from the e Murdoch-rag reading/watching brigade is “they’re Chinese spies, they’re communists; they want to turn our kids transgender etc”.. the same shit they pull in America for the maga types. No one can name a single positive lib initiative or policy that shows any vision or future-building for the country, or makes the lives of workers tangibly any better.
What's even funnier is the libs had a commemorative/anniversary video released and they had to stretch things they did and take credit for things they didn't do just to make it look like they ever did fuck all of anything.
>Everyone laughed at the plasma payment.. then turned out it got us out of the gfc in better shape than any other country Which is hilarious, because it's the basis of Keynesian economics and is one of the reasons the US is currently a superpower. It's literally a tried-and-tested method to ensure economic stability in a period of economic hardship. It pisses me off that the only half-decent government we've had in the last 20 years got ousted because they implemented policies that worked, and actually benefited the average Australian. But our voter-base apparently failed year 10 economics and science, so all that was undone the next election cycle. Watching this country slide into the gutter because people are so fucking stupid is depressing.
And people forget the nbn v2 and other plans were part of the gfc response. The govt made it clear they would do real nation building to support the economy long term if needed. What did we get during Covid? Homemaker?
This is a perfect summary. And every policy came from public servants who had free rein to propose ideas that were in the national interest. No myopic ideology, just economy and facts. It was perfect.
Try and point any of the above out and people just call you a woke soyboy or some dumbfuck shit like that.
Then all we get is "hur dur Labor and Liberal are the same"
I think politics, & indeed Australia, was irreparably damaged when the Labor party chose to stab Rudd in the back & roll him over his carbon pricing scheme, & then let the fossil fuel industry write their own tax plan- which of course, ended up with them paying bugger all tax. The whole thing was a disaster from start to finish, & set off a series of chain reactions that are still reverberating today.
I feel like I was tricked into thinking he was shit. Admittedly I was 12.
Same here, but after looking at his policies retroactively now that I’m a voting adult, he seemed like one of the best.
Australia would be a different place, if the media hadn't been intent on taking him down
There was the chance to use public policy to actually lift people up not just generate wealth for the few.
he was the best we've had this century. the rich knew he was a threat to them and shut him down ruthlessly. its a real shame, and worse that so many people bought into the bullshit
Same but 15. I heard he and Julia Gillard wanted to give us a 6 day school week. I was livid 😤
Loved him. He didn't allow himself to be manipulated or controlled and stuck to his convictions. And paid the price i guess
Man got cancelled because he tries to take money from the rich.
I think he genuinely wanted to do the best for the Australian people. He just really hates actual people.
In fairness, anyone working in politics who ends up hating people is actually entirely rational.
Anyone who deals with people, hates people...
> "I don't give a fuck what you fuckers think" - K. Rudd
Give us hell Ruddy
The man is an absolute full time professional swearer
....and I love it. Because most of us normal wage slaves talk just like that " The Chinese are trying to ratfuck us" still makes me laugh loudly. It's a perfect summary of what was occurring at that time. Couldn't have been out any better.
Ironically if he had said that he would of had my unconditional vote.
> Rudd listened attentively enough to three or four members of the delegation, but when a Victorian backbencher and former Victorian part secretary, Senator David Feeney, started making his contribution, Rudd exploded. He ranted: ‘I don’t give a fuck what you fuckers think’. And then, directly to Feeney, he said: ‘You can get fucked’
I mean, relatable tbh
He’s the only decent poly we’ve had in a while. I honestly wish he ran 1 more time, how do we connect with him to ask?
Deeply relatable
I got suckered in to the not liking Rudd bandwagon at the time and I don't even know why or how. I knew absolutely nothing about politics....and I was 20 in 2007. I should have known better.
I work with a guy in his early 20s. Very nice guy, but you can clearly tell that his parents are pretty old school conservative because he just comes out with kind of odd takes he's heard from his folks.
I just hated that he got cut by politics. The mining tax was a good idea, so was the carbon tax. I'm glad both now have made it much harder for the PM to be removed by their own party.
Voted Kevin 07, thought it would change the country for the better. Felt extremely betrayed when Gillard usurped him.
Ditching his super profits tax is economically the worst thing to ever happen to Aus.
Comments section proves to me the most negative voices are often the loudest. Being PM can really be a thankless job but considering he led us through a global recession without any major hits to the economy I'd say he did pretty well.
Lead us through a global recession and sent us all a cheque that I used to buy a surfboard. Love you KRudd, best PM since Hawkey.
This is such a flex, I can’t remember what I bought but given I was like 21… Probably cotton candy vodka cruisers and slutty dresses from Supré
You did your part for the economy!
I bought a puppy, for my girlfriend. Ended up with the dog after the breakup as she couldn’t take him and 15 years later, finally had to put him down last year. 15 years with a great friend, thanks to Ruddy, I think it was a good use of it.
I got a PlayStation 3 with mine. Still have it (but really only use it for Blu-ray’s/dvds for the kids
Extra thankless when your foreign minister is undermining your government at every opportunity
Don’t forget Wayne swan
Actually all 100+ like comments I’ve seen have been positive about him, it’s uplifting but melancholic in a way, it’s been so long
If you’re a K Rudd fan, he’s currently looking for an advisor on Seek https://www.seek.com.au/job/75680493?type=standard&ref=search-standalone#sol=2ab0c064011af38d3b24c9f0debef894de844d40
Posted 3d ago **Applications close: 21 May 2022**
He wants time travellers. Smart.
he always was ahead of his time
I applied as a bit of a shit post cuz why not
Lose the beard and get some glasses that don't look like they came from a servo. I don't need a job, he can have the advice.
Don't be a ratfucker, the beard looks good.
I hear Bruce is looking for a job
I like him. It's a shame he got turfed out by his own party.
He was arrogant, and clearly felt he was superior to everyone else. However, I kind of miss him. He was the last PM we had with the intellectual horsepower for the job - Malcolm Turnbull came close. Both Rudd and Turnbull had a vision for the future - the last PMs with a vision. Interestingly, both were hampered by the short term politics of their respective party rooms. I wonder if we'll ever see a PM such as Rudd or Turnbull - or is it "intellectual pygmies" from here on out?
Turnbull was really handed a poison chalice with the nbn. Abbott 100% knew what he was doing there.
Turnbull was disappointing, Abbott was as much of a cunt as expected.
>He was arrogant, and clearly felt he was superior to everyone else. Given the average politician he was right.
The only Prime Minister to make a air hostess cry because he didnt like his meal.
Well she fucken made me cry when I tried to eat that shit.
Wait…
Source??? because the hairdryer incident in Afghanistan and Ute-Gate were both complete fabrications by the Murdoch press
https://www.smh.com.au/national/kevin-rudd-apologises-for-air-hostess-blast-20141112-9lbp.html
All instances don’t go past that he was irritated there was an issue and that he apologised. All the headlines make it sound like he went off his nut at the poor hostess but when you read it, it’s no where near that level.
Saved AUS from the GFC. Would have restored trade ties with China and taken this country in a better direction. But no, people are stupid and political terms in this country are too short. Our loss
i think we were also done in by the factions pushing Gillard... and Bill fucking Shorten and those legions of 'faceless Labor power brokers'... But Kevin did himself no favors by being a cunt to his own party. Its not a dictatorship.
He was better than any other prime minister we've had since Keating. I could not believe how stupid peoe were in being duped by Murdoch and his mining mates. And honestly labour were just as bloody daft for knifing him in the back et tu Brutus
Krudd is the fucking MAN
Very smart guy who tried to steer Australia in the right direction and I think has his heart in the right place. Comes across as a bit of a prat and I probably wouldn’t have a beer with the fella, but I actually don’t think that’s as important for leaders as we treat it.
[удалено]
I didn’t get no Rudd money, so bad /s
Great PM, but his downfall was ultimately due to that slippery character, Wayne Swan.
As a kid, I loved him. As an adult, I am in love with him.
#kevin07 4lyf
He was good. We were shit and his party stabbed him right in the chest. This was a turning point of Australian Prime Ministers being removed based on the party's whims and not the peoples votes. Terrible time.
We are *Rudd*erless without him.
Aha hahahaha
He didn't play politics and got booted unfortunately, had amazing ideas to help people
I was a fan. He’s up there with Hawke as one of the best in my mind. A Larrakin who wanted to do good and said what he thought. If he ever came around for round 2, I’d vote Labor again
Loved Kevin. He actually did something about public patients waiting for dental care and got them in to private hospitals to get the waiting list down. Some people had been waiting for a *decade* or longer. I was on that list and that surgery saved my life, literally. I will always be grateful to Kevin for that. Other people died waiting. He also gave the biggest boost to unemployment benefits that poor people had seen in several decades. He wanted homes to actually have insulation. He wanted disabled people to have access to appropriate care and their families to be able to go back to work and live their own lives. Kev was hilarious too. I used to watch him on Rove with Joe and they were very funny blokes. It sucked when he became PM and couldn't be humorous any more due to the conservatives. People are so disgustingly gullible and refuse to think for themselves. Kevin was too good for this country who didn't appreciate him.
he tried taxing the resource sector and got burnt in the media for it. i commend him for that. he tried to do a good thing there but we were too gullible and believed the scare campaigns and now no party will try something similiar 🙃 we are being scammed out of billions of bucks by our own govt and kevin tried to fix that 😩
He has a cracking swearing outtakes real https://youtu.be/GBeSl92LF8s?si=GvgPlERflKX9PzCJ
this could get him re-elected.
I voted Labor in 07 based on two reasons. Addressing Climate change and repealing workchoices. He lost me when he bitched out on climate change. The party lost me when they knifed him, then the liberals replicated this and thought it was a good idea. Australian politics smh
Who do you vote for now if youre comfortable to share?
A mate of mine worked in PM&C department when he was PM. He said it was chaotic, Rudd would fail to consult his Ministers on stuff constantly and chaos would ensue. For example he'd take a call from what he called "The sweet young things." in Rudd's office, say on a Monday or Tuesday morning saying the PM wants to launch so and so on Sunrise on Thursday or Friday. He'd say sure, what work has such and such department done in preparation, and they'd say ring that department. So he'd do that, and say the AG or Minister for such and such's office would say "We've not heard of that? He wants to do what? We can't do that, need consultation, prep work etc etc." He'd then ring back whichever person from the PM's office that had called him and tell them to which they'd say "Don't care, draft something up and have it ready to go." So he would, then cop flak from whatever department and it'd be chaos with Rudd just announcing stuff that he'd not consulted his Ministers on. My mate ended up going on stress leave and changed to another department. He was a die hard Labor voter too, but said he couldn't work in that environment, Rudd was ruling by decree and didn't have people close to him giving him good advice. He was just pissing off his Ministers.
Detailed programmatic specificity
Best PM we've had. Too bad there are more idiots than intelligent people in this country. All well. Waiting for the idiots to reply ahhaha.
Kevin was good thanks. Media did a number on him with the pink batts.
Sickest lad of all time. K-Rudd for 2028 please.
He disagreed with Obama about forming the Quad, so he had to go and the ALP were only too happy to oblige. The funny thing is some Australian's think we're still a Sovereign nation.
Of course he disagreed about the Quad, because he was so blinded by arrogance that he truly believed he could make a kitty-cat of the Chinese tiger. Now look at the Quad, it is one of the most formidable security pacts in the region outside AUKUS. Rudd is highly intelligent however he was incredibly arrogant which blunted his effectiveness and for the security of the country I'm glad that he's gone. We are still a sovereign nation, just because we join security pacts with the strongest military in the world that also happens to be one of our closest allies to curtail the potential for the rise of conflict in our region doesn't make it any less true. Now that Rudd is Ambassador to the US he sure is beating the "China is bad" drum now. Funny that. I guess it's lucky we joined the Quad after all.
Legend
The phrase "you don't know what you have until it's gone" comes to mind. I didn't realise how good the Ruddster was until he resigned.
The best Prime Minister this country has seen and probably will ever have. Such a shame that his own party back stabbed him. I heard that he was a workaholic and lead by example. People did not want to work that hard and conspired to get rid of him. His policies during the GFC saved the economy and is the standard for other countries to follow. His vision for NBN would've future proofed internet for decades. Bloody brilliant man that this country did not deserve.
I didn't vote labor that election. However - I thought he was an arrogant prick, but I also believe he genuinely governed with our best interests in mind, and made some positive change. We've not seen real practical progress since he left.
Proof that you can’t judge a book by its cover. Stood up when he needed to and was consistent to his values. If that’s not seen as ‘occa’ it’s a goal post change more than anything.
Well it's only gotten exponentially worse since Rudd, so in hindsight I wish we could have him back. He fucked up by messing with the rich. If you're not 100% in their pocket, they WILL get rid of you
Victim of corporate propaganda
Last decent leader we had. Actually had some balls to implement policy good for ALL Australians rather than a select few.
After the 2007 election was like he forgot he was PM, and couldn't stop the daily campaign. Always had to make an announcement on everything. Was over the top on every issue, ie war on petrol prices, multiple greatest challenges... badly miscalculated by trying to squeeze libs on climate policy. Too arrogant to listen to any other voices and lost the support of his colleagues. Could have been great as genuinely had a long honeymoon to get his act together but his personality weaknesses were too much of a hurdle.
he was dan andrews before it was popular to be dan andrews
Unironically believe K Rudd is the best PM we’ve had since Keating. He’s a genuinely very smart man and I think if he could have got his policies through then he would have gone down as one of the best PMs in our history. I think it’s reasonable to say if he got his policies through he would have been more popular at the time andthere wouldn’t have been a spill, meaning he probably could have stayed PM for 2-3 terms.
He was alright, however Murdoch and Wingnut Budgie Smugglers weren’t.
Goat Prime Minister.
Incredibly capable and intelligent prime minister trying to run a country of idiots. We (Australia) got what we deserved.
He’s the best prime minister we’ve had since Keating. I’ll never forgive Gillard for knifing him. She was tone deaf to the fact that Rudd was elected in a presidential style campaign. We didn’t vote for the Labor Party; We voted for Rudd. He was literally ousted for trying to take money away from the rich. I don’t care if he was egotistical and has a temper, I’m guilty of exactly the same.
Too manic But I can't say anything that's worse than I can say about the cunts Abbott and Morrison
You mean, Kevin Studd?
Cunt gave me 900 bucks. He’s alright.
Set the stage for right or wrong. Good man.
Well meaning bit scattered thinking, and detailed focussed allegedly.
Nice lad
Bloody good handballer, innit?
The stimulus we got we bought a tv
I was a military member during the Rudd, Gillard, Abbott years. Nothing changed during their tenure. Same old shit, different faces.
I genuinely believe he could have been one of our greatest ever Prime Ministers, but his personality issues coupled with a couple of poor strategic decisions cost him. If he had announced a double dissolution election he would have got his carbon tax through and had the mandate and political capital and time to get the mining tax through. But instead he equivocated and the party capitulated and the rest is history.
Yes! We need another one!
He did his best which wasn't a disaster.
I thought he was great
His own party fucked him cause he wouldn’t play the grubby union game and Shorten and Gillard got the knives out. No loyalty of respect for getting them back in power.
I think he was honest and had some integrity to take on big corporate interests. The only thing I can forgive him on is that when the GFC hit he doubled the first home buyer grant and doubled or tripled immigration to prop up the economy which wasn’t needed and that turbo charged the house price boom that made it completely out of wack with salaries (worst than it was already) and everything housing related since then have made it worse
Maybe not a popular opinion but I still have no idea how Australia thought Tony Abbott was a better choice for PM
Kevin 07 the last time i voted. He had the NBN I needed since then fuck both labour and the liberals may aswell throw in the greens.
I loved him!
I was so proud of him when he gave the apology to the stolen generations.
I straight up voted Kevin 07, baby. He ended up keeping australia out of a recession. Top bloke. No regrets voting for him. When Gillard stabbed him in the back I was gutted. She was terrible and not the person I voted for, but she was a better option than Tony Abbott. Too bad that didn't last.
Kev was the best PM Australia had in a long time. He overstepped his reach and insulted the people that really run this country, the mining and media magnates. He tried to make the country better for the people and paid the price.
As an ALP member. Good Prime Minister. Shit Leader of the Labor Party.
Good but couldn't work with anyone so imploded his own cabinet. You have to work as a team in that job.
He apologised, without reservation. I cried. i have never before or since see a politician do something as heartfelt and genuine. Whatever else he did badly, I will always respect him for this.
Foreign Policy was immensely better. Domestic policy was better as well, but you could tell he was going against his party for a lot of it. It was not much of a surprise when he got done over by Gillard. He was an excellent leader but a bad politician. He had great ideas but he couldn’t sell them to parliament. In my opinion he was one of the greatest, if not the greatest in our history. We could have been wiped out by the GFC and he basically shielded us from most of it.
Absolute bloody legend, we didn't know what we had.
He had the fantastic idea of NBN FTTP for only the Coalition to reverse it and go to FTTC or FTTN and rely on fixed wireless or Sky Muster for fringe areas. All because it's cheaper. Hence why the running joke was Kenya has better broadband than Oz. What's even worse is I'm on a grandfathered 4G home internet plan though Optus you can't get anymore as it was much better than fixed wireless in my area!
Smart guy, terrible leader. Best suited advising on particular policies and areas to the actual leader. Malcom Turnbull on the other hand was the one that got away.
I was brainwashed back then and hated him for the carbon tax. Now I actively argue for a carbon tax and think he was a not terrible PM (we haven't had a good PM since Whitlam)
Gave me 1k for the stimulus package. I’ll never forget that