Is He Serious?

In describing the federal opposition, Kevin Rudd has said publicly that they are “untested”, “ill prepared” and they can’t be allowed to “slide into government”. Yet he is proving that these terms more accurately describe his own ascent into government.

He was untested, a newcomer that managed to capture the imagination of the public with his plastic outer shell and personality of a doorknob. Mainly due to a regular fixture on Channel 7’s Sunrise program.

He was ill prepared, as his recent frank admission confirms. He has stated that he had underestimated the size of the task. As if hearing that Australia runs a $1 trillion economy wouldn’t jolt you into a sudden realisation. The man has brought out two budgets. If he doesn’t know the size of the job then he is incompetent.

He slid into government. For some reason the Australian public has a massive case of tall poppy syndrome. John Howard had been in for too long and had to go. Why? Well he’d been in too long. Therefore voting in someone not cut out for the task, as it has now been proven.

Tell me a work place where an individual in a top job could make an admission like that and still have his top job. A demotion surely would occur at the very least. Not for Australian politics though, it has worked for Queensland premier, Peter Beattie for a couple of elections, and our Prime Minister is a Queenslander after all.

It is as if he thought the hard part of the job was over after winning well in the 2007 election. It had only begun, and it will only get harder if he intends to stay there.