Australian policy reorientation, Rudd's way

Dewi Anggraeni ,  Melbourne, Australia   |  Sat, 06/14/2008 11:07 AM  |  Opinion

While winning power in November 2007, Kevin Rudd's Labor team only began governing in earnest in February this year. For nearly six months the new prime minister has maintained his popularity -- the polls showing consistently around 70 percent approval ratings, while his political counterpart from the Coalition, Brendan Nelson, is struggling to push above 10 percent.

Obviously Rudd charms the majority of the Australian population not by his signature grin alone.

Within a relatively short time the new PM has changed the look of Australia's political horizon. His government's measures have taken even the skeptics by surprise.

Last February, the parliament opened its first session with a historic gesture: A formal apology from the PM and from parliament to the Aborigines for the "stolen generations" policy of past governments. It was a gesture long awaited by the Aborigines and their non-Aboriginal supporters.

It was met with such widespread and resounding approval throughout the country that voices from detractors were only heard as if in whispers and largely ignored. Interestingly, cynical comments came from some Aborigines who were not convinced the gesture would be followed by concrete measures.

Rudd made good on his promise to the environmental lobbyists. His government ratified the Kyoto Protocol. A more wholesome environmental policy is yet to come up, but at least the first step has been taken.

A policy of the past government which was an embarrassment to Australians who took human rights issues seriously, was that of the treatment meted out to refugees and asylum seekers. Under the previous Coalition government, those who succeeded in obtaining asylum were only given temporary protection visas, with no certainty for their future.

The Rudd government abolished the temporary protection visa and replaced it with a permanent visa, pleasing not only the refugees and those granted asylum but also people who believed in the notion of a fair go.

The issue of Australia becoming a republic also reared its head, once again. Former PM John Howard creatively eliminated the republican movement by forcing only one model on a referendum. Those who rejected that model were automatically regarded as opting for the status quo. It appears that the movement has been merely lying dormant, thus can be revived given the chance.

Is the Rudd government leaning too much to the left? Not quite. In reality, after the Howard government, it is much safer to move to the left, as inching to the right is too dangerous; one careless roll and you fall off the edge.

One may argue that the federal budget delivered on May 13 does have some leftist slant. The targets of the tax cuts are more focused, aimed at middle and lower-income families. Various family benefits, previously given globally to everyone from those earning millions of dollars to those virtually on subsistence incomes, were streamlined and packaged for the middle and lower-income earners only.

However, Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan are no modern Robin Hood and his merry men, robbing the rich to give to the poor. The underlying concept may be similar, but the key here is the definition of "rich" and "poor". Those who miss out on family benefits are those who earn more than US$150,000 annually.

More importantly, the largest segment of society representing Labor supporters -- many intellectuals and those who profess to have social justice awareness and regard themselves as adherents of human rights principles -- eluded the axe.

And what about this government's international and foreign affairs policy? Last April it held a giant talkfest known as the "2020 Summit", inviting social, economic and political experts as well as community leaders and activists.

Numerous inputs were made regarding a desired future for the country. Some experts voiced their concern that Australia should nurture better and closer ties with Asian countries.

And senior academics like George Quinn and David Hill emphasized the urgency of reviving a subject which had been languishing from lack of funds: Indonesian language and Indonesian studies in schools and tertiary institutions. There has been optimism that this suggestion was taken seriously.

Still uncertain, nonetheless, is how closely this government will look at Southeast Asia.

It is clear that they have turned their gaze to China. PM Rudd is well-known as a sinologist and a fluent speaker of Mandarin who can seamlessly assume a body language highly desirable in Chinese culture, and was indeed a hit in his recent visit to China.

However he has not shown any indication that he was half as interested in Southeast Asia. In his first overseas trip earlier this year he took a "toll way" to China, while the countries he bypassed barely had time to ask, "Hey, what's the hurry, mate?"

In the next trip, however, the PM is to drop in on Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia.

The writer is a journalist.

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