A fork in the road and a bridge too far

Will the Australian Labour Party ever gets it right? They have been trying ever so hard! In the last 10 years they had four leaders, five if you include the two different stints of Kim Beazley. The latest call for change came from the streets, the grassroots of the Labour Party.

Mr Beazley, the Rhodes scholar, had an aura of fundamental decency and morality. The son of a former Whitlam government minister, he was always destined to lead the Labour Party. But, with all his decency, he was never going to make it to The Lodge, in Canberra. One of his closest associates described him as the emperor without clothes. People spoke fondly of him and did not dislike him but they saw him as indecisive, conservative and having no cut-through. He also lost two elections, in 1998 and in 2001, to the incumbent Prime Minister.

With another election looming in 12 months' time, the Labour Party gambled on a quick change. They wanted a winner, a fresh approach, someone who will fight the present Conservatives' aggregation of personal greed.

In comes Kevin Rudd, with the biggest political handicap - lack of experience. He won convincingly in a Caucus ballot with 49 to 39 votes. Born in Queensland 49 years ago, a committed Christian, son of a poor dairy farmer, Mr Rudd graduated with first class honours in Chinese language and history at the Australian National University.

He came on the scene as the new leader talking about a fork in the road and a bridge too far. The new leader says that the fork in the road has emerged because John Howard has taken a bridge too far - a bridge too far on industrial relations, a bridge too far when it comes to Iraq, and a bridge too far on climate change by not going far enough.

Mr Rudd is a former diplomat who speaks Mandarin fluently. In 1998, he won the federal seat of Griffith in Queensland and in 2001 was appointed opposition spokesman on foreign affairs.

The Australian newspaper described him as having a strong background in diplomacy and the business of government and this should set him well for the challenge, despite his relative youth.

"In many ways," The Australian writes, "Kevin Rudd is a lot like John Howard. He has a nerdy appearance (looks like Harry Potter) and is studious and intensely focused. He has old-fashioned conservative values on family, religion and work that will play well in the middle-Australian electorate. He is free of the ideological class-worrier rhetoric that makes Labour sound old-fashioned."

Julia Gillard, born in Wales 45 years ago and raised in Adelaide, is the new deputy leader. She is an unmarried lawyer said to have her sight set on being the first female Prime Minister of Australia.

They are calling the new leadership of the ALP as the dream team, the combination that will bring forward bucket loads of energy and a fresh vision to the task ahead.

Winning the next election when Australia is economically sound and unemployment low is not going to be an easy task.

Then there is Prime Minister Howard, a formidable opponent. He came to office by defeating Paul Keating on March 2, 1996 in a landslide. During his reign of 10 years he saw the demise of five leaders of the opposition. Apart from Mr Keating, he recorded electoral victories against Mr Beazley twice and against Mark Latham. Simon Crean, the other Labour leader (2001-2003), never made it to an election.

Mr Howard is no doubt the most formidable conservative politician of his generation. Mr Beazley warned Mr Rudd: "John Howard is not going to be an easy man to beat. He'll not be beaten by a rabble, he'll only be beaten by an absolutely united team".

First signs indicate that the Liberal/National parties are clearly wary of the new boy on the block. However, during a time of economic prosperity, Labour cannot expect to win office by default. To be successful, the dream team of Mr Rudd and Dr Gillard must develop a reform agenda that captures the heart and mind of the new centre of Australian politics.