3 years since we found out a good government had lost its way. Hard to imagine how it could have been worse!
Monday, 24 June 2013
So it was all done to get the government focussed, to get the government back on track! Clear?
And bet my Howes seems to have changed his tune over the 3 years too, great piece in today's The Australian by Dennis Shanahan again!
THREE years and one day ago, Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes went on the ABC to explain the sudden removal of Kevin Rudd, a first-term prime minister.
Howes, one of the "faceless men" of the union movement and factions who helped knife Rudd, said he was being removed because polling showed that Labor would lose the election and Tony Abbott would become prime minister.
When asked on the ABC's Lateline program why he had opted for Gillard, Howes replied: "Well, you can see Newspoll, you can see AC Nielsen, you can see Essential Research and you can see some internal research and research that the unions have done that clearly says at the moment if we had an election today, it's more likely than not that Tony Abbott would become the next prime minister. It's not with any particular happiness that our union changed our position because we want to ensure that Labor continues to govern in the interests of all Australians and that working people get a fair go, and we can only do that if Labor's re-elected at the next election.
"Tonight's events are about ensuring that Labor gets its message through, that we're able to talk about the accomplishments of this government, (about why) an Abbott prime ministership would be bad for the environment, would be bad for health, would be bad," he said. "Unfortunately that message has been lost over the last couple of months as the ongoing instability about the Prime Minister's leadership has clouded out all the issues that Labor needs to talk about in this election."
But last week, after polling showing Labor headed for disaster and mounting speculation about the Labor leadership, Howes had changed his tune.
"Who cares what Newspoll comes out with?" he said on Sky News.
The reason for Howes' volte face is that what Newspoll has "come out with" has been diabolically worse for Labor ever since June 23, 2010.
Three weeks ago, the last Newspoll had Labor's primary vote at 30 per cent, satisfaction with the Prime Minister at 28 per cent and Gillard trailing the Liberal leader as preferred prime minister 35 to 43 per cent.
ACTU-commissioned polling revealed in The Australian last week showed a number of previously safe Labor seats on double-digit margins would be lost.