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Ryan Garn
Forum Member
Picture of Ryan Garn
Posted
quote:
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Conservative Prime Minister John Howard, one of the Bush administration's staunchest allies, suffered a humiliating election defeat Saturday at the hands of an opposition leader who has vowed to pull troops out of Iraq.

Labor leader Kevin Rudd, a Chinese-speaking former diplomat, has also promised to sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, leaving the U.S. as the only industrialized country not to have joined it.

Howard, who reshaped his country's image abroad with unwavering support for the war in Iraq, dominated Australian politics for more than a decade but failed to read the signs that voters had grown tired of his rule.

Adding to the sting of his party's decisive defeat, official results showed Howard was likely to lose his parliamentary seat altogether. Only one other sitting prime minister has lost his district in the 106-year history of Australia's federal government.


The rest of the story...

It seems that the USA is not the only country that is seeing political defeats of sitting governments directly attributed to it's involvement in Iraq (Spain was the first if I'm remembering correctly). I'm curious whether or not we have any Australian Brethren here who can fill us in of the situation from a more personal perspective?


Ryan Garn
SMC
Arizona
 
Posts: 73 | Location: Green Valley, Arizona | Registered: Thu April 10, 2003Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
Dodgy
Forum Member
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Hi Brothers!

It is true! Mr Rudd defeated Mr Howard in a complete whitewash. It's been a fantastic result for most Australians.

While Mr Rudd does not support the 'war' in Iraq, and is committed to bringing our boys home, this was really not the focus of this election campaign.

If one was to give a specific reason for the Liberal Party defeat, it would, without a doubt, be the Liberal Party Workchoices program. A new set of Industrial Relations rules, effectively removing most of the workers rights that have been won over the last 20 - 30 years. Voters turned away from the LP in droves - including in the Leader's own seat.

The war may be a hot issue, but certainly was not the issue battled out during this election.

Aaron Holloway
IPSMC Chev
DeMolay Queensland
Australia
 
Posts: 54 | Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Fri March 03, 2000Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
Keystone
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As former House of Representative Tip O'Neil said, "All politics are local."

Every elected official and candidate wants to bring the troops home as quickly as possible.

The underlining issues is when?

Before Iraq can stand on its own two feet or prematurely thus condemming the people of Iraq to years of civil war, death and destruction akin to what we see in Darfor?

By the way, The same vocal people that want our troops out of Iraq knowing this will lead to a civil war, also happen to want to send our troops to Darfor into that civil war. Go figure.
 
Posts: 72 | Location: Philadelphia, PA USA | Registered: Fri December 05, 2003Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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