Jeff Byrne

    CHINA’S Vice President Xi Jinping last week returned from a highly successful diplomatic and trade mission to the United States, Ireland and Turkey. Xi’s mission was so successful because he presented a new face of diplomacy by connecting with the common people. He visited a family he stayed with on a previous visit to the U.S., attended a game of basketball as well as making quite an impression as a diplomat.

    Also last week there was another diplomatic mission of some note, by Australia’s Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, a deposed prime minister. The difference is, Rudd spectacularly abandoned his mission by resigning midstream — without telling his prime minister, Julia Gillard. He had a job to do and tossed it aside, abandoning his responsibilities to the nation. He wants to take on Prime Minister Gillard for a tilt at the top job, which, wrongly, he believes is rightfully his. Gillard has accommodated him and, by this afternoon Beijing time, one or other will have been relegated to the parliamentary back benches after Rudd’s challenge was put to a vote in the caucus scheduled for 10 a.m. (1 p.m. Beijing time).

    Prime Minster Gillard replaced Rudd as prime minister 20 months ago in a stealth move by an Australian Labor Party (ALP) backroom faction which highly respected former ALP Hawke Government minister and National ALP president, Barry Jones, described as “not just political technicians, but moral pygmies and political clowns.”

    Rudd was not, and is not, without his faults — aggressive toward his subordinates, making unilateral decisions ignoring caucus, and overloading his staff with long hours of work with little or no thanks — but many political observers believe that this was enough to depose him.

    He has consistently declared that he would never undermine the prime minister by stealth. But, that is exactly what he and his camp have been trying to do for months, according to political insiders.

    There is a distinct stench of self-interest on both sides of the divide.

    Gillard claims that Rudd was dysfunctional, but she “gets the job done.” Indeed, her record of passing legislation over the past 20 months, admittedly in a minority government, has been impressive. But so was Rudd’s record, pulling Australia through the global financial crisis.

    Underlying hypocrisy is breathtaking. As prime minister, Rudd was in favor of an Emissions Trading Scheme (EMTS). Gillard was not. Neither was she in favor a carbon tax, which she subsequently introduced after declaring before the most recent election that “a carbon tax will never be introduced under a government I lead.” It has not been lost on the electorate because it is the common people who will ultimately pay the tax with higher energy prices when the tax becomes effective on July 1 this year. Evidence of this was shown when the European Union introduced a carbon tax on airlines. China led a revolt because it would mean an increase in airline fares.

    People are beginning to wake up to the carbon tax farce because it will not reduce carbon (dioxide) emissions.

    Gillard’s popularity has taken a dive well below Rudd’s when he was deposed. Indeed Rudd’s popularity in voter land, depending on the various polls, is now between 53 and 58 percent while Gillard is languishing at 34 percent or lower. Rudd has been appealing to the electorate to support him in his challenge. This is nonsensical because the people have no say. Only the party caucus is entitled to vote and Rudd — at the time of writing — did not appear to have the numbers despite a senior minister changing sides to support him.    

    This is not democracy. It is party politics at its worst. The sad impression is that self interest has resulted in total disrespect by opposing factions within the ALP. Gillard is widely thought to emerge the victor. But whoever emerges on top, the party is in danger of becoming irrelevant. It is being demolished, piece by piece, by those who claim to be its loyal members.

    Rudd and Gillard are both playing victims. Rudd says he was overthrown by stealth and has lacked Prime Minister Gillard’s support while Gillard claims Rudd has been disloyal.

    However, the real victims are the voters of Australia who watch from the sidelines as this farce is played out by political aspirants whose only interest is self-interest.

    And, whoever wins this childish grab for power, the ALP is destined to be exiled to the opposition benches for a very long time, regardless of which leader takes the party to the next federal elections.

    Out of all this emerges the frightening prospect of Opposition Liberal-National Coalition leader, Tony Abbott, becoming prime minister. That should be a sobering thought for all, internationally and domestically.

    (The author is a former Shenzhen Daily senior copy editor and writer.)