And we're off! Prime Minister John Howard has set the date for the Australian Federal election as November 24th, meaning we're up for a long six-week campaign. With Kevin Rudd leading the PM by between 16 to 18 points (depending on who you read) in recent opinion polls, this election seems the most likely to provide a change of Government since Howard was first elected 11 years ago. Antony Green's usual excellent election guide is up and running here, along with an excellent calculator which shows which seats are up for grabs dependent on a 2 party preferred swing. You might also want to check out the Vote-O-Matic, a fun but entirely disposable quiz which aims to help you decide who you'll vote for. [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000 on Oct 13, 2007 - 603 comments

While the Democrats seem a spent force in the United States, fighting to hold its political relevance in a political system dominated by the Right, here in Australia, our own Centre Left party is facing a similar battle. The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is being attacked not by Prime Minister John Howard but by one of their own, former leader Mark Latham. In his new book The Latham Diaries, released today, Latham ferociously attacks the party that paid his way through University and gave him his first job. His major claim is that current leader of the ALP, Kim Beazley, waged a six year smear campaign against him and that this disloyalty, as well as an antagnostic press, resulted in the devestating defeat of the ALP at the 1996 general election.

To say that this book, which seems to be based on one man's vitriol rather than solid, well researched facts, has created a storm in a teacup would be to understate the media circus that has erupted since News Limited, Rupert Murdoch's publishing empire, began to publish exerpts from the book a week before it's launch. In this media circus, we have seen court battles, internal media-institution bickering, and article after article after article. Meanwhile, the ALP has closed ranks and rallied around it's embattled leader, though some Labor MPs have suggested that Latham's claims may hold more water than many would give him credit for. Others, such as Beazley's own daughters, have simply dismissed the claims as "bitter and hateful rantings" at their webblog.

But what is the real effect of the Diaries? What was Latham's intent in releasing them? Was it merely to make money? Are they simply the ramblings of a bitter loser? Or in his own, twisted (and probably ill-concieved) way, was he aiming to achieve the change of culture in the ALP he believes needs to occur? And, perhaps sweetest of all things to ponder over, has Latham used the media he hated so much to acheive all of this?
posted by Effigy2000 on Sep 20, 2005 - 17 comments