farmdoc's blog post number 33

In December 2003, at age 42, Mark Latham became the youngest leader of the federal Australian Labor Party in over a century. He remained opposition leader for 13 months, losing the October 2004 election, and then in January 2005 resigning his parliamentary seat and so his leadership, ending the shortest tenure as Labor leader since 1916. Much published, as a parliamentarian he was intellectually gifted – perceptive, creative – and honest. But it was, I think, his fearless criticism of the machinations of his party, and his directness toward and impatience with the media, that brought about his political downfall and robbed our nation of a potentially great prime minister. Australia’s complex problems require creative policy and legislative responses which Latham could have provided. But look who we have now: Kevin Rudd – an ex-diplomat for goodness sake; a hard-working politician yes, but bland and workmanlike with nowhere near Latham’s perceptiveness, independence and forthrightness. The cliché is that we get the politicians we deserve. But the truth is that we get the politicians the media decide we deserve – because the media, who are not objective and disinterested in this, are pivotal in creating public opinion. Last Tuesday an Age/Nielsen poll put Mr Rudd’s public approval at 69% making him the most popular prime minister since Bob Hawke in 1984. I despair.