The expected election in Australia hasn’t been mentioned yet and there seems to be lacks of politics going on here so here’s my quick brief to the Australian election should it come.
There are three main parties in Australia, the Liberal party led by nasty ultra conservative Howard, and Labour led by photogenic new leader Rudd. The Liberals are supported in coalition by the National Party, so despite a choice of three parties at a national level it is a choice between Howard or Rudd.
That said the Greens, Family First and Australian Democrats may manage to hold the balance of power, the Parliament compared to our own is a tad small so it’s conceivable it might be done. The Labour party need only 16 more seats to form a government out of the 150 available. The formation of a Labour government looks highly likely with Rudd a safely established 10% lead in the polls.
The perceived cause of the rise of Rudd support is the WorkChoice legislation bought in by Howard and its anti employee reforms (Redwood comes to mind) some half a million people are estimated to of protested against the Bill on a the organised protest day. The safety of universal and government provided health care has also been flagged up as a concern. Education also a concern, given the recent drought I imagine the environment will be to. On both health and education Rudd leads the polls as the most capable, if the environment is an issue the fact that Howard hasn’t implemented the Kyoto Protocol will also presumably help Rudd.
If you haven’t heard of Howard then he is a notoriously right – wing, leader as neoconservative as many of those who occupy the White House, one Liberal Candidate I would not back.