Judith Ireland

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MundoOceanía,

It might be a hotly contested campaign in serious economic and environmental times, but Australia's federal election has never strayed far from the absurd.

In the red corner it's Labor leader and brand new prime minister, Julia Gillard – the flame-haired, childless, former lawyer and self-declared atheist. In the blue corner is coalition leader, Tony Abbott – the exercise-obsessed family man and former trainee priest.

Both leaders are far from political rookies and yet neither entered the campaign with the authority of incumbency. By her own admission, Gillard has struggled to find her feet and appear "real" on the hustings, while Abbott (who isn't called the Mad Monk for nothing) has been under 24-hour watch from his minders.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOceanía

Despite the surprise ditching of Kevin Rudd as Australia's 26th prime minister last month, a large proportion of Australians heaved a sigh of relief when he walked the plank. True, he once enjoyed record levels of public support, but people had become heartily fed up by the time he was "assassinated". Despite his tough talk about pulling Australia up by its bootstraps, there was a distinct lack of progress to show for it. Policy around issues such as climate change, asylum seekers and healthcare seemed confused and shambolic. Plus, Rudd proved to be a truly incomprehensible communicator.

So quite apart from the cheers that went up when Australia (belatedly) got its first female PM, there was a real sense of hope at Julia Gillard's self-appointment.…  Seguir leyendo »