Leadership
For you shall have no second chance
As the winds of change were blowing around Canberra, Australian Labor Party antics provoked the nation. Parliamentarians, party tacticians and union officials aired dirty laundry throughout the leadership contest. Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd was not destined to be re-elected party leader and vitriolic accusations and cabinet confessions played to the Opposition’s advantage.
In the end Julia Gillard prevailed but neither politician won voters’ hearts and minds as the grim machinations were reported in endless detail. There was time for a cabinet reshuffle: disloyal ministers and a weakened Kevin Rudd were moved to the backbench, Senator Mark Arbib resigned and former NSW premier Bob Carr was chosen to fill the casual vacancy. Senator Carr quickly braced himself for Foreign Affairs while pledging to defend the interests of this “sweet, funny and brave country.”
$%#@?!
Christopher Downes, The Mercury,
Rudd Pimple
David Rowe, The Australian Financial Review,
What the Media Wants
Fiona Katauskas, Eureka Street,
Soap Opera
Peter MacMullin, Sunday Mail,
ALP Leadership Debate
Bruce Petty, The Age,
Front Bench
Greg 'Smithy' Smith, The Sunday Times,
Bob to the Rescue
David Follett, The Week,
Rudd Coffin
David Rowe, The Australian Financial Review,
Bogans Go Home
Matt Adams, The Canberra Times,
Hangdog
Michael Leunig, The Age,