Back to Work

Well, since the memorable 100^th post a fortnight ago, it’s been all quiet on the posting front. At that time, John Howard was still Prime Minister – and still a member of parliament. I had spent the election campaign oscillating between hope for change and fear that the nightmare would continue. It seemed a logical (forgone) conclusion that Howard’s time would end, but the closer the election got, the more I was afraid that he’d slide across the line one more time.

On election night, I gathered a few close friends around the White Unit and tried to act natural while the votes started to tumble in. During the day I’d managed to find a couple of Liberal die-hards (who were climate change deniers to boot) while I was out and about – and their confidence further undermined my own. It was an unbelievable relief then, come 10pm or so, when the Libs conceded and Kevin ’07 became a reality. Champagne corks popped, high fives were exchanged and laps of honour were taken.

In the following days though, as the hangover wore off, and the afterglow faded, I couldn’t help but wonder what the day-to-day changes would actually be. 11 long years in the wilderness and finally, the time had come for Labor to put out. To his credit, Kevin has so far not disappointed me. Kyoto is ratified and we’re back in the climate change mix. The troops are still slated to come home from Iraq. Julia is in charge of education (a sign at least that it will be finally given its due) and Workchoices is dead in the water. Even Republicanism is being whispered about again. Clearly, there’s a whole lot of heavy lifting to be done, but so far, I like where we’re headed. For the record, I’m expecting more of Kevin than I did of Johnny – so he had better keep coming up with the goods.

The only sour notes from the election were predictable ones: Alex Hawke and Peter Costello. My nemesis, Mr. Hawke was named the new member for Mitchell (overwhelmingly) despite being right-er than a Hanson family reunion. It’s criminal that he should be the member for anywhere, but I’ll keep my eye on him, I assure you. We also got to see Mr. Costello’s true colours: he dropped his bundle and sulked away like a toddler with a scraped knee. He wanted to be handed to reins of the greatest Democracy in the world, but shied away from doing the hard yards that Opposition requires. We dodged a massive bullet by thwarting his run for the Lodge and for that I will always be thankful.