Rudd victory leaves Bush with few friends

The stunning victory for Kevin Rudd and the Australian Labor Party was one of the most comprehensive annihilations of a ruling party in recent Australian history. Not only did John Howard's Liberal Coalition lose power after Howard had spent 11 years as Australian Prime Minister but it looks as if Howard is to suffer the added humiliation of losing his own Parliamentary seat in Sydney to former journalist Maxine McKew.





Prime Minister elect Kevin Rudd



Labor achieved a swing of 6.3 %, the second largest since World War II, and look to gain a phenomenal 30 seats in Canberra's House of Representatives. The battle was effectively won on domestic issues, as elections usually are, Howard having presided over the scrapping of a lot of workplace agreements on holidays and overtime for example,a situation the Australian voters signalled very early on they were not prepared to accept.

Outside Australia, however, the new regime will be recognised for its clear foreign policy statements which reverse Howard's long standing claim to be President Bush's stoutest friend. Rudd has sworn to endorse the Kyoto treaty which Howard, in company with the Americans, refused to do and he has also pledged to bring all Australian troops home from Iraq.

President Bush was among the first to send a telegram of congratulations to the new Australian leader and Rudd was equally speedy in thanking the President and resssuring him that Australia remained a firm friend and loyal ally. But before the ink dried on his congratulatory letter, Bush must surely have suffered a slight shiver of loneliness with regard to his middle east policy which now has few if any international friends. Howard stood shoulder to shoulder with the American government on nearly everything but the wind of change has blown very strongly across the southern hemisphere today..and its a change that seems to make many Aussies, particularly those celebrating wildly in London this afternoon, very happy.

One delirious young lady who gave her name as Anne said "After more than a decade I feel proud of my country once more." It seems to be the prevailing mood and the new young Prime Minister has a lot to live up to but he seems to relish the task.

For President Bush, however, on the last leg of his journey as US President, he must be looking around desperately for friends he can turn to. The landscape now looks very bleak indeed!