KEVIN RUDD, on Qanda

KEVIN RUDD, on Qanda: “[if you look at what] the Australian Party stands for, for the last 120 years, the values are pretty good. The policy platform, not bad. The membership – people who actually get out there and are passionate about the mission statement of a fair go for all, both at home and abroad, and about encouraging people to take responsibility for their lives as well, that’s pretty good. Where we fail fundamentally is the organisation of the show and the organisation is one where still we have factional leaders who intimidate a lot of the rest of the party from getting on with the business of being an effective political force in the country. When the Labor Party is at its best, it’s putting the nation first and the party last. The Labor Party at its best is putting its members first, as opposed to factional thugsters first. And so if you ask me what the reform agenda is, it’s we should have the courage to allow our members, the tens of thousands of them across the country, to elect their own president, to have confidence to preselect those candidates who they support and for the reasons they put forward and, thirdly, to allow the individual members of parliament to have their say without fear of factional retribution. That I believe is where we must go.
We need to be able to have, for example, votes and ballots within our parliamentary party, where people don’t fear that someone is looking over their left shoulder and saying: if you do this, we’ll come after your pre-selection later on and kick you out of parliament or we’ll do something else to you. That is what has got to change at all levels of the Australian Labor Party because the values are good, the policy platform is pretty good. The membership are terrific and we’re letting them down.”
www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda

This entry was posted in Misc. Bookmark the permalink.

1 Response to KEVIN RUDD, on Qanda

kevin boyd says:

6 April, 2011 at 10:53 am

Q&A provided another revelation.

The insight was yet another example of the explicit lack of talent and conviction within the party at ministerial level. The pervasive insidious clutches of the terrigal mob and the executive with their advisors, poll and focus groups creating fear and paranoia within those, who, through circumstance of preselection and nomination are not in control of their portfolios or engaged with the departments and the broader society and citizenry of this country.

People like arbib bitar thistlewaite the nsw mafia howes and the list goes on in order to cover up their own miserable inadequacies and short comings; use threats and fear on lesser individuals to conform and bend to their self serving bias.

The attacks on the greens by gillard the carbon tax backflip and clear examples of a cabinet in distress and not in control of what they can say and what they can do. though in the timor refugee debacle and the selling of the common wealth of this country its people and future to the miners and foreign nationals and government for pepercorn rents is diabolical definately not consistent with the ideal of labor and not in the long term interest of the people. but obeid has plenty of million dollar mansion in which to sit and right his memoirs.

In fact the whole parliament is filled incompetence with abbotts posse of red necks even worse. You must feel for Rudd and Turnbull and rue the losses of the people like Lindsay Tanner when all we have left is the B reserve side to run out.

The criticisms of Rudd micro managing and placing high demands in this light is not only acceptable but desirable now the lunatics are running the asylum. There seems to be no plan; no strategy; or ultimate goal outside the daily news cycle and a preception that this will maintain power how neo liberal of them. it would appear the ALP is having a Charlie Sheen moment. The inability to announce policy with a semblance of structure is truly bizaar and you must feel for Greg Combet having to deal with unelected middle managers from sussex st, advisors like Lampe, bitar, even dastyari, hawker briton, and so on with their drone like disciples from young labor who have taken responsibilities way above their experience and abilities.

The rank and file must demand change and they must demand a hearing into preselection and policy developmetn throgh conference. We must also insist in voting for the appointments of all executive positions like president and state and national secretaries as well as upper house nominations. these people must campaign and earn our respect and vote and then be responsible and beholden to the membership and the party. Lets face to date they have not endeared themselves and proven themselves worthy of the role and privilege bestowed on them.

If we cannot get a talented group of people to topple waht is a disgrace of an opposition with such a divisive and nasty leader in abbott and his hit men of the apocalypse in pine, brandis robb, and abetz then we truly do have a serious problem.
Kevin Boyd
Secretary Bellinger River.