Gillard about to be ousted, while her party faces electoral disaster

Alexander P. writes from Queensland, Australia:

After months of speculation taking up the front pages of Australian newspapers, it looks as if a leadership coup by former prime minister Kevin Rudd is now imminent, with members of the House of Representatives and senators publicly calling for Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s resignation (quite unprecedented in Australian history).

I advise you because you seem to have taken in Ms. Gillard of late.
The Gillard government has been the least popular government in Australian history, with opinion polling for the Labor Party dipping into the mid-twenties. This is an unmitigated disaster for Labor. Their perpetual infighting, leadership tensions, and broken promises regarding an extremely unpopular carbon tax which they proceeded to introduce, have deeply damaged them as a party and may have made them unelectable for decades, similar to the situation of the Liberals in Canada. This is evidenced by the unprecedented landslide election in the state of New South Wales, and the anticipated annihilation of the party in the upcoming Queensland state elections late next month. Judging even by the results of the last federal election, it looks as if the ALP is finished as a political force in the vital, populous state of Queensland.

Our longest serving PMs have both been from the centre-right Liberal Party, probably the overseas party most similar to the Republican Party in the U.S.: Robert Menzies (18 years) and John Howard (11 years from 1996-2007). It looks as if there will be no viable leftist opposition to the Liberal Party remaining after the election and this is sure to see a huge shift in the political landscape.

Might be something worth keeping an eye on in the upcoming months,

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 18, 2012 10:50 AM | Send