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Monday, November 26, 2007
Rich Galen :: Townhall.com Columnist
The Australian Election
by Rich Galen
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The big news over the weekend was that a guy named Kevin Rudd won the election to be the Prime Minister of Australia. Rudd is the leader of the Labor (Labour?) Party and beat the incumbent John Howard whose Conservative Party had been in power for nearly 12 years.

This was, of course, reported around the world as a defeat for … George Bush.

EVERYTHING is reported around the world as a defeat for … George Bush.

Rudd said he would do two things immediately:

1. Ratify the Kyoto Protocols on global warming; and,

2. Withdraw all of Australia's troops from Iraq.

Both were seen by some writers as "further isolating" … George Bush.

On the Kyoto front, let us remember that in 1997 the US Senate voted unanimously, 95-0, for a resolution introduced by Chuck Hagel (R-Neb) and Robert Byrd (D-WV) which stated that

"The United States should not be a signatory to [the Kyoto] protocol [because] the exemption for Developing Country Parties is inconsistent with the need for global action on climate change and is environmentally flawed …"

The "Developing Country Parties" in question were China and India which were specifically exempted from the requirements regarding pouring crap into the atmosphere.

If you've ever been to China or India and tried to breathe the air you would understand that neither country appears to be buying into the whole "Green is Great" marketing frenzy.

The treaty itself was never even submitted to the Senate for ratification by the President who, by the way was not … George Bush but was, in fact, Bill Clinton.

Regarding Rudd's pledge to end Australia's participation in Iraq, this from GulfNews.com on the plans of the new Prime Minister of Australia is concise and typical:

Kevin Rudd has pledged to withdraw Australia's combat troops from Iraq.

Know how many Aussies are in Iraq? Take a guess. Continued...
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About The Author

Rich Galen has been a press secretary to Dan Quayle and Newt Gingrich. Rich Galen currently works as a journalist and writes at Mullings.com

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(17 comments so Far)
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Reply # 1
Date: Nov 29, 2007 - 12:53 AM EST
Jimmy D
"I just hope that this new Leader of Australia will continue with the Conservative values that has made Australia a place to wish to live in..."

He's Labor Party, silly! The Conservative Party leader was Howard, who rightfully lost. Like Blair, he got his comeuppance for being Bush's "lap dog."

Mary C.
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Reply # 2
Date: Nov 27, 2007 - 6:08 PM EST
A nice History Lesson...
As someone in Australia, here's a very quick lesson on how labels and spin should not cover everything...

In the 1980s, Australia was in the grip of a massive economic recession due to high tariffs, unflexible labour market, and other controls on the economy that weren't shifting capital around fast enough to react properly.

So the government started deregulating all these things- the monetary policy, tariffs, making the labour market far more flexible by allowing enterprise bargaining (previously, you went to court to bash out your conditions with your employers- a uniquely Australian solution). After a restructuring recession, the economy boomed. And it's been like this for nearly 20 years.

Who did this? The conservatives, you say?

No. It was the Australian Labor Party under Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, the so called "Socialist" party. They repidiated the Socialism that came before and did it without forgetting that people need to eat as well.


Mr Rudd continues this great tradition, as did the conservatives who just lost the election. But I can tell you one thing- Mr Howard lost the election because under his government, he funded Saddam Hussein. The Australian Wheat Board- a government agency- paid bribes to Saddam Hussein so he would take Australian wheat. Howard, nor any politician involved in the scandal or possibly involved in the scandal, did not resign.

The logical conclusion to such low and dishonest dealings was duly meted out last saturday.
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