The big day
Finally.
Election day is here. Thank the lord.
Don't get me wrong, this has been the most exciting election campaign for Australia in almost 12 years, and I have been following it closely (not that I really had a choice living with Allen). The Howard governement, aka the Coalition, the Liberal Party that's been in power for 11 years is threatened by the new leadership of the Labour Party, Kevin Rudd.
Howard is getting old and said he would retire during his next term if elected, leaving his treasurer Peter Costello in charge. And well, nobody is really excited about that.
The Howard governement has changed lots of things during it's decade in office, like school fees, medicare and more recently, work choices and those changes were not for the best. People think it's time for him to go, that he's been in charge too long and therefore is complaisant and set in his ways. Oh, and he's a George Bush suck up.
Rudd, on the other hand, is like a breath of fresh air.
He seems more human and more approachable than Howard, and seems more in touch with the needs of Australians. He has great plans for the environment (he works closely with the Greens Party) education, a new reform for work choices, etc. He's ready to change things and take Australia in a new direction. And he's the first Labour party leader in more than a decade to actually have a fighting chance against the Coalition.
So all in all, it's been pretty exciting.
The only thing is, the real race for Prime Minister had begun months before the elections were announced. Since Rudd became the leader of the Labour Party in Febuary, it's been on. So after 10 months, you sort of get sick of hearing about it all. Especially because the campaign has been spiked with heated quarrels, below the belt hitting, fraud and mischief. It's really been a politically dirty last few months, and well, hopefully, the end of the day will bring new government.
Allen was very exciting about voting today. We were up as soon as the polls were open, and Chomsky and I waiting patiently while he cast his 45 votes. (Yes, 45, because in Australia, you can either vote once for the party you want in charge, OR, you can vote for EVERY party in order of preference. Of course, Allen opted for the second option.)
A bunch of Allen's friends are coming around for a BBQ tonight to watch the unravelling of the election. They are really into it. And I have to work.
So hopefully, when I come back home, Allen will be happy because Howard has bitten the dust.
Election day is here. Thank the lord.
Don't get me wrong, this has been the most exciting election campaign for Australia in almost 12 years, and I have been following it closely (not that I really had a choice living with Allen). The Howard governement, aka the Coalition, the Liberal Party that's been in power for 11 years is threatened by the new leadership of the Labour Party, Kevin Rudd.
Howard is getting old and said he would retire during his next term if elected, leaving his treasurer Peter Costello in charge. And well, nobody is really excited about that.
The Howard governement has changed lots of things during it's decade in office, like school fees, medicare and more recently, work choices and those changes were not for the best. People think it's time for him to go, that he's been in charge too long and therefore is complaisant and set in his ways. Oh, and he's a George Bush suck up.
Rudd, on the other hand, is like a breath of fresh air.
He seems more human and more approachable than Howard, and seems more in touch with the needs of Australians. He has great plans for the environment (he works closely with the Greens Party) education, a new reform for work choices, etc. He's ready to change things and take Australia in a new direction. And he's the first Labour party leader in more than a decade to actually have a fighting chance against the Coalition.
So all in all, it's been pretty exciting.
The only thing is, the real race for Prime Minister had begun months before the elections were announced. Since Rudd became the leader of the Labour Party in Febuary, it's been on. So after 10 months, you sort of get sick of hearing about it all. Especially because the campaign has been spiked with heated quarrels, below the belt hitting, fraud and mischief. It's really been a politically dirty last few months, and well, hopefully, the end of the day will bring new government.
Allen was very exciting about voting today. We were up as soon as the polls were open, and Chomsky and I waiting patiently while he cast his 45 votes. (Yes, 45, because in Australia, you can either vote once for the party you want in charge, OR, you can vote for EVERY party in order of preference. Of course, Allen opted for the second option.)
A bunch of Allen's friends are coming around for a BBQ tonight to watch the unravelling of the election. They are really into it. And I have to work.
So hopefully, when I come back home, Allen will be happy because Howard has bitten the dust.
posted by Mapie at 1:25 PM
1 Comments:
Today is a good day to be an Australian.
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