Paul Howes: National Press Club Address

This is the text of Paul Howes’ Address to the National Press Club.

Howes is the National Secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union.

Paul HowesIt’s great to be back at the National Press Club, and I appreciate the invitation.

It feels as though in Australia today no-one is interested in talking about the big challenges.

No-one wants to roll up their sleeves up and get on with the job.

Fighting for what you believe in is no longer interesting in modern politics.

The national conversation has become dominated by vacuous drivel about particular phrases, styles and presentation.

It’s like an inane feedback loop that builds to a conspiracy of mediocrity between our political class and the commentariat – a crime that I am as guilty of as anyone.

In this current political environment, it’s easy to forget where you’ve come from, and to lose sight of where you’re going.

This navel-gazing suits the conservatives.

It makes it easier for them to chip away at the foundation stones of our egalitarian society.

It makes it easier for billionaires and mega corporations to plunder our public resources without giving anything back.

It makes it easier to defeat the ideals that the labour movement stands for.

The time to fight back is now. [Read more...]

Andrew Leigh: A Brief Economic History Of Australia

This is the text of a speech given by Andrew Leigh, ALP member for Fraser in the ACT, to the McKell Institute.

Leigh was elected to parliament in 2010. Previously, he was a professor of economics at the Australian National University.

The speech was originally published on Andrew Leigh’s blog.

What Do We Eat After the Low-Hanging Fruit?

A Brief Economic History of Australia, With Some Lessons for the Future

Andrew LeighIn the Pacific Ocean, off the west coast of South America, sit the Galapagos Islands. Although they straddle the equator, the pattern of ocean currents have a cooling effect, making them an ideal breeding ground for tortoises, iguanas, penguins, finches, albatrosses, gulls, and pelicans.

Because the islands are volcanic, what’s striking about animal life on the Galapagos Islands is that all of it came originally by flying or floating nearly 1000 kilometres from Ecuador. And yet for the species that survived, life on the Galapagos Islands was perfect. Migrating birds lucky enough to be blown off course found an environment with few natural predators. Tortoises that floated here found beaches perfectly suited to their breeding environments. Life flourished.

Looking back across Australian economic history, I am often struck by the extent to which luck has similarly played a part in our success. Politicians are sometimes reluctant to talk about luck – preferring to focus on the things we can control than those we can’t. It is true that ‘chance favours the prepared mind’. But I think it’s still worth talking about the role that luck has played, if only to help understand what preparations we should be making. If we don’t do that, we’re like the Galapagos tortoise, which must have thought itself the luckiest species on earth, until British sailors discovered the islands in the late-eighteenth century, and ate them in their thousands. [Read more...]

Kevin Rudd: Building An Asia-Literate Australia

Queensland Labor backbencher Kevin Rudd says Australia is failing to do enough to become China-literate and Asia-literate in the 21st century.

Kevin RuddLaunching a paper, “Finding a Place on the Asia Stage”, by Carillo Gantner and Allison Carol, at the University of Melbourne’s ASIALINK centre, Rudd said there has been a decline in the teaching of the four principal languages of Asia: Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian and Korean.

As “an outpost of the Occidental world”, Rudd said Australia needs to “do more work in understanding the minds..of Asia”. Despite a belief that English is now the universal language, Rudd said the truth is “the bulk of the intellectual discourse, political and policy debate as well as economic exchange within Asia occurs in languages other than English.”

Rudd posed the question: “How much is literally being ‘lost in translation’ in straightforward transactions between individuals, corporations and governments, not to mention the media, everyday around China, Asia and the world.” [Read more...]

Lionel Bowen, Former Whitlam Minister, Deputy PM To Hawke, Dies At 89

Lionel Bowen, a minister in the Whitlam government and Deputy Prime Minister under Bob Hawke, has died, aged 89.

Bowen was Deputy Prime Minister for the first three terms of the Hawke government from 1983 to 1990. He was Minister for Trade in 1983-84 and Attorney-General from 1984-90.

Lionel Bowen at the first meeting of the Hawke Cabinet in 1983

Bowen was one of the original Whitlam government ministers, serving as Postmaster-General between 1972-74. He was Special Minister of State and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister between 1973-75. [Read more...]

The Death Of Margaret Whitlam

Margaret Whitlam died, aged 92, on March 17, 2012.

Parliamentary tributes were delivered on March 19. A memorial service was held on March 23.

Margaret Whitlam Memorial Service

  • Mar 17: Prime Minister Julia Gillard comments on the death of Margaret Whitlam

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  • Mar 17: Remembering Margaret Whitlam
  • Mar 17: Margaret Whitlam Dies, 92
  • Mar 19-20: House of Representatives & Senate Condolence Motion Speeches:
    • Julia Gillard (ALP)

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    • Tony Abbott (Lib)

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    • Tanya Plibersek (ALP>

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    • Julie Bishop (Lib)

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    • Kevin Rudd (ALP)

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    • Malcolm Turnbull (Lib)

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    • Senator John Faulker (ALP)

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    • Senator Marise Payne (Lib)

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    • Senator Bob Brown (Greens)

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    • Josh Frydenberg (Lib)
    • Natasha Griggs (CLP)
  • Mar 23: Tony Whitlam’s eulogy for his mother

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  • Mar 23 Catherine Dovey’s eulogy for her mother

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Rudd Has No Labor Values, Says Swan

8.40pm – Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan has excoriated Kevin Rudd in a statement released just hours after the Foreign Minister’s resignation.

Wayne SwanSwan’s statement, issued on plain paper, says Rudd has never been a “loyal or selfless example” of the ALP’s “values and objectives”. Swan says Rudd “has been putting his own self-interest ahead of the interests of the broader labour movement and the country as a whole”.

According to Swan, Julia Gillard has “the overwhelming support of our colleagues”. He says Gillard has always known in her heart that “the Labor Party is not about a person, it’s about a purpose”, but that “Kevin Rudd has never understood”.

The statement is one of the most vicious attacks ever seen by a senior cabinet minister on a former prime minister and colleague. It signals that the Gillard camp is determined to cripple Rudd’s leadership prospects.

Text of statement released by Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan.

Prime Minister Gillard and I and the overwhelming majority of our colleagues have been applying our Labor values to the policy challenges in front of us and we’re succeeding despite tremendous political obstacles.

For the sake of the labour movement, the Government and the Australians which it represents, we have refrained from criticism to date. [Read more...]

What Happened At The ALP National Conference?

This is a graphic produced by the ALP, summarising the outcomes of the National Conference held on December 2-4, 2011.

ALP National Conference 2011 Outcomes

Removing Kevin Rudd: A Year Ago Tonight

It’s a year ago tonight that moves to topple Prime Minister Kevin Rudd began.

The first we knew of the challenge to Rudd’s 30-month prime ministership was this tweet from the ABC’s Chris Uhlmann at 7.00pm:

Chris Uhlmann's 7pm tweet on June 23, 2010

Simultaneously, ABC television broke the news on its 7pm bulletin.

Listen to the audio of the ABC bulletin:

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Sydney Institute Speech: Gillard Warns of Tight Budget

The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, says Australia is entering a period of “record fiscal consolidation”, and has warned of a tight budget next month.

Addressing The Sydney Institute, Gillard said “the time for government to step back is in this Budget.” She said the government “will be making hard decisions in this Budget to prevent greater pain in the long term.”

As she has in a number of recent speeches, Gillard talked at length about the dignity of work and foreshadowed a tightening of social welfare in the Budget.

Julia Gillard addresses The Sydney Institute

Listen to Gillard’s speech.

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This is the full text of Julia Gillard’s speech to The Sydney Institute.

The Dignity of Work

Thank you Joe for your kind introduction. Thank you Gerard and Anne and the Sydney Institute – for this unique Sydney opportunity at this unique Sydney venue.

I am delighted to be here tonight among so many of my Sydney friends.

And Luna Park is a very special place!

Now, I am just going to deal with this up front.

Yes, I came in through the front gate tonight.

Yes, I saw the teeth and the nose. [Read more...]

Kevin Rudd on QandA

Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd appeared on the ABC’s QandA tonight and commented on the politics surrounding his government’s decision last year to postpone introduction of the Emissions Trading Scheme.

Rudd said he made an “error of judgement” in pushing out the start date to 2013. He said others in the party wanted to abandon the ETS altogether, whilst others wanted to proceed straight ahead, even though the government lacked the numbers to pass the legislation in the Senate.

Rudd would not confirm whether Gillard and Swan were amongst those pushing for abandonment of the ETS, although his demeanour suggested they were.

Rudd also made some pointed remarks about the influence of factional leaders in the ALP and seemed to give endorsement to the reforms proposed by Faulkner, Carr and Bracks.

The comments ensure that Rudd and Gillard will be pursued by the media and the Opposition tomorrow.

  • Click the PLAY button to listen to the relevant portion of QandA (22m)

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