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Howard’s End

The Australian people’s desire for a change in the orientation of the country’s foreign policy was only one factor behind the Labour party’s landslide victory in the November 24 parliamentary election. Its charismatic leader Kevin Rudd’s campaign promise to make course corrections in two key areas of foreign policy clearly resonated among the voters. Post-election, the former diplomat has followed through by pledging that Australia would recall all its combat troops from Iraq and ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. While the withdrawal of 550 soldiers out of a total of about 1000 will make only a fractional difference to the illegal occupation, it conveys the message that Canberra will no longer participate in myth-building about Iraq. With this the United States has lost the support of the last major country prepared to sustain the fiction that the occupation is being enforced by a “coalition of the willing.” The Antipodean turnaround on climate change could also leave Washington more isolated than it was during the stewardship of its loyal camp follower, John Howard. With the Labour leader jettisoning the ousted Liberal-National coalition’s opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, the U.S. remains the only major industrialised country that is unwilling to cap greenhouse gas emissions.

The Iraq war and climate change might not have been topmost in the list of issues of concern to the Australian voters. However, the Howard government’s approach to these issues demonstrated how out of touch it was with the public mood. There has been a strong and sustained opposition to the war right from the beginning. With all major cities facing a severe water shortage, the people have started paying attention to environmental changes. Mr. Howard apparently calculated that the electorate would set aside these concerns and focus instead on the way he had managed the economy. His achievements in this field during his 11-year tenure were by no means insignificant as sustained growth was accompanied by high employment and low inflation. Even in this area, the Liberal party leader missed some markers. The ousted government’s labour reforms enraged the working class while repeated increases in interest rates eroded support among the middle and wealthier classes. The Labour-National coalition calculated that it could overcome its shortcomings by resorting to a “fear and smear” campaign much as the Republican Party in the United States did in the past few electoral cycles. Mr. Howard had clearly overstayed at his post and the end of his political life demonstrated that Australians were fed up with negative politicking. That is the real good news from the Australian elections of 2007.

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