Without an election, or even much drama, we have a new prime minister today. Julia Gillard, who will be Australia’s first female prime minister, took over from Kevin Rudd in a “bloodless coup“. Not as exciting as it sounds – it was actually a planned leadership vote in the Labor party, and Rudd stood down quietly to allow Gillard to take power. Not exactly a Carribean coup d’état.
It’s probably a good thing, especially for a middle class socialist like myself. Rudd was plummeting in popularity – he was ineffective in getting the Labor message out there and pretty effective at being a dickhead. And it certainly won’t hurt blokey Australia to have a woman running things for a while.
But most of all, it is good news because Gillard may be the only hope to keep this guy from taking power after the next election:
This budgie smuggling buffoon is Tony Abbott, the bastard child of George W Bush and Sarah Palin. And the leader of the opposition Liberal Party.
“Laugh and think, this is Australia.”
It’s a shame about Rudd, but I have been impressed this week with Labour Environment Minister, and former Midnight Oil frontman, Peter Garrett. Want to know why? Check out my monthly post at The Greenists.
Images:
Pick up some of Peter Garrett’s greatest hits with Midnight Oil’s “20,000 Watts R.S.L.: Greatest Hits” available from 
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by Danielle
24 Jun 2010 at 19:54
Today the world is different! I don’t really know a thing about Julia, but this is the most exciting thing to happen in Australia in….. a while.
And thanks for re-posting that sexy imagine of Tony; I’m sure to have nightmares tonight.
Danielle´s last blog ..On Work
by Technobabe
24 Jun 2010 at 21:29
Congratulations to Julia Gillard. I hope things go well for her in her new job.
Technobabe´s last blog ..He Always Wanted To Be A Father
by suzer
24 Jun 2010 at 21:58
I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. You should warn folks that 2nd pic is coming;)
suzer´s last blog ..You Been a Good ‘Ole Wagon…
by Agnes
24 Jun 2010 at 22:02
MY EYES!!!!
Agnes´s last blog ..Coverage and a bend in the road
by admin
24 Jun 2010 at 22:11
Danielle – Certainly since I’ve been here.
Technobabe – She’ll be good.
Suzer – I like his little hat.
Agnes – Your PM if you’re not careful!
by Agnes
24 Jun 2010 at 22:11
Sorry, I had to write two comments – just to really make that first one stand out. Still shuddering.
Thought you might write about this today. Remarkable how quickly it all played out.
Very pleased to have a woman in the top job. Am not at all a fan of Julia’s work on the so-called ‘education revolution’ though. Am hoping that will somehow be scrapped/salvaged.
She appeared to be quite calm and strong in all her speeches today – let’s hope she can follow through on her promises. Besides, anybody’s gotta be better than Abbott.
Agnes´s last blog ..Coverage and a bend in the road
by admin
24 Jun 2010 at 22:17
Agnes – Actually, I wasn’t really of fan of Gillard’s due to the education policies. But I can’t fathom living in a country that’s run by Tony Abbott. I actually don’t mind the sort of Malcolm Turnbull Liberals. But Abbott’s a different kettle of fish entirely.
by Agnes
24 Jun 2010 at 22:23
Agree completely re her education policies. That’s my biggest problem with her. Lesser of two evils though – we can’t have him in power. Just can’t.
Herald Sun poll is currently showing Abbott as preferred Prime Minister. I know that’s not a reliable measurement by any stretch of the imagination…but it scares me just the same.
Agnes´s last blog ..Coverage and a bend in the road
by grumpy
24 Jun 2010 at 22:35
Hmm, I have been asked if Julai Gillard is my mum. Supposedly I look like her. But I also look like the NSW premier as well. And Jodie Foster. Go figure.
I agree with Danielle – most exciting thing to happen in Oz in a while.
grumpy´s last blog ..And a Manky Crow has Tried to Pull the Rubber off my Left Windscreen Wiper
by Jill/Twipply Skwood
25 Jun 2010 at 02:33
Oh my goodness gravies! Well, congrats on the Julia Gillard thing!
Jill/Twipply Skwood´s last blog ..I Don’t Really Have a Title. But They’re Wedding Photos. Or Pre-Wedding Photos. Or Engagement Pictures Even.
by rassles
25 Jun 2010 at 03:30
She looks like Jodie Foster.
rassles´s last blog ..In Which I am a Super Brat
by The Unbearable Banishment
25 Jun 2010 at 03:39
There was a big article about this in the New York Times. Pretty interesting stuff. It’s unthinkable here in the U.S. The Dems place another President in the white house because they don’t want to get hammered in the upcoming elections. Actually…I’ll be they wouldn’t mind doing just that.
That Garrett segued into politics is no surprise at all. Just listen to his music.
by courtney
25 Jun 2010 at 04:19
I was reading about the coup today and thought of you. Glad you seem to be optimistic about Gillard. (I was just trying to think of the female equivalent of “bloke.” Is there one?)
courtney´s last blog ..In Which I Use Every Euphemism for Girl Parts I Can Think Of
by blues
25 Jun 2010 at 04:58
that all sounds very civilized.
blues´s last blog ..I’m fine, really, I just needed to go for a jog and to say the fuck-word ten hundred times
by ellie
25 Jun 2010 at 06:18
Bush and Palin bred? *Shivers*
ellie´s last blog ..Arrivals
by Agnes
25 Jun 2010 at 08:23
Female equivalent of bloke = sheila
Agnes´s last blog ..Coverage and a bend in the road
by Jacob
25 Jun 2010 at 11:34
Honestly, if I could get my midsection to look like that, I’d probably walk around in Speedos too. I’d probably lose the cap, though.
And the Australians call their neoconservatives the Liberal Party? Is there an explanation for the name or do they hand out political party names at random in Oz?
Jacob´s last blog ..To Paraphrase W.C. Fields…
by courtney
26 Jun 2010 at 05:21
Sheila! Thanks, Agnes.
courtney´s last blog ..In Which I Use Every Euphemism for Girl Parts I Can Think Of
by admin
26 Jun 2010 at 14:06
Jacob – Liberal in the classical sense of the word. Stems from John Locke and the idea that rulers are subject to the consent of the governed. Classical liberals support the free market and civil liberties. So Liberals in Oz (and Britain for that matter) are more like your Libertarians than the whacky wingnuts that run the Republican party.
by Oscar Zed
26 Jun 2010 at 19:21
As I watched the tennis the other night. a blinding light struck me in the third eye, rendering me unconscious. When I woke up, I was still watching the same tennis match but it was two days later. Rudd and the Socceroos had been rolled out, but they kept playing.
by flutter
27 Jun 2010 at 13:58
that was the most polite coup EVER.
flutter´s last blog ..medulla oblongata
by Agnes
28 Jun 2010 at 20:11
See what Abbott said about the teaching of Christianity in schools?
“I think it would be impossible to have a good general education without at least some serious familiarity with the Bible and with the teachings of Christianity.”
My blood boils.
http://tinyurl.com/2e3d3pg
Agnes´s last blog ..Institut Polaire steal the show
by admin
28 Jun 2010 at 21:09
Agnes, you’re being unfair. Abbott only said that. Remember, we’re not supposed to believe what Tony says unless it is written down as the gospel truth: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/dont-believe-everything-i-say-tony-abbott/story-e6frf7l6-1225867979082
by Agnes
28 Jun 2010 at 22:18
Ha! Forgot about the classic cop-out clause.
If he keeps digging like this, Julia won’t even need to open her mouth during her election campaign. He’ll be buried so far down in a hole of his own making that we won’t be able to hear him any more.
I hope.
Agnes´s last blog ..Institut Polaire steal the show
by Oscar Zed
29 Jun 2010 at 00:36
I went to visit my Mom at her high care nursing home. She was dressed like a princess but in an invalide chair. “Mom, ” I told her, “Kevin Rudd is no longer Prime Minister.” She looked at me directly, and sighed. “It’s not your fault.”
by muskrat
29 Jun 2010 at 13:26
I would’ve voted for the dude in the red underbritches. But I tend to vote with my johnson, so….
muskrat´s last blog ..a farewell to balls
by arizaphale
29 Jun 2010 at 19:26
Weighing in late here.
I got so excited when I heard the vote was on its way! “The world’s gone mad”, I cackled at our FrenchFille with great delight,” 10 hour matches at Wimbledon, a female PM, we must be in the end times!!!!”
Putting her in has given the incumbents a fighting chance in the upcoming election. Retaining Rudd would have been political suicide. That being said, the thought of Abbott at the helm is laughable. My prediction is that Malcolm Turnbull will do a similar thing to Abbott once the election is called!
Oh and we loved Julia in Education. She gave the independent sector bucket loads of grants!!!!
arizaphale´s last blog ..KI Teaser
by mickey
30 Jun 2010 at 12:23
Is that a swimmer’s yarmulke?
mickey´s last blog ..Ned Beatty Was NOT Invited
by Oscar Zed
30 Jun 2010 at 16:22
I concluded a long time ago that the aphorism “Power corrupts…” has a corollary for talk-back radio.
If you call a talk-back radio station, you are a reactionary or silly.
If you get on air and they “pull” a further reactionary statement out of you, you are double damned.
But the most damned are the Radio Hosts who believe that what info they have received from their talk-back callers represents how most people believe.
On the 7pm Project (Australia), one of these Radio Hosts stated quite baldly that Australia’s new PM “does not believe in God”. And implied that “average Chistian voters will punish her”.
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by She wore red dresses and left the wounded behind | a free man
04 Jul 2010 at 22:52
[...] have time to write – it’s exam marking time – but I can’t stand seeing that beanie wearing, budgie smuggling, buffoon every time I open Safari anymore. So here’s a photo of Boy Z putting the moves on a cute [...]
by RubyTwoShoes
07 Jul 2010 at 19:27
Two killer lines in this post:
‘the budgie smuggling baffon is Tony Abott’ – true that.
‘laugh and think, this is Australia’ – perfectly used
Great stuff
by Oscar Zed
13 Jul 2010 at 22:59
As a former member of the Democratic Party in TX that threw out a “Good Ole Boy” Republican governor back in the early ’80’s, and as a former ALP member from the mid-80’s to mid-90’s, I can only ask, “why do we keep shooting ourselves in the foot?”
by Richard T
19 Jul 2010 at 23:54
I’ve just caught up with your posting. Isn’t Tony Abbott the spit of Welsh Labour MP Chris Bryant (he’s the one who was posing for Gaydar in his Y Fronts). Could they be by any chance related?
PS I’m hoping for a Labor landslide to bury the Coalition.