"Cometh the time, cometh the ranga." - Virginia Troli, ABC2 Breakfast.
Female, childfree, unwed, migrant, atheist, redhead, intelligent, pragmatic, left-wing, union-supported, effective communicator Prime Minister. It actually fucking happened, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic.
Julia Gillard, Prime Minister Designate, will soon be sworn in as Australia’s first female Prime Minister. By Australia’s first female Governor-General, no less. This blows my mind. In a totally awesome way.
(The #spill / #spillard on Twitter reminded me, once again, just how much I adore Twitter / people / the internet. And anything that gets Annabel Crabb extended airtime on my tv is alright by me. *swoons*)
The cynic in me is waiting for the shit to hit the fan; for something to come along and utterly destroy Gillard and/or the ALP. For her to make a comment about how much she hates gays / black people / the lower class, or to announce some other policy decision that will make me want to punch her in the mouth. For Abbott to emerge from this year’s election cycle as our new PM, reinstating the White Australian policy and WorkChoices and strutting around Canberra in those godawful budgie-smugglers. (I think I just threw up in my mouth.) But for today, I am utterly joyous. Suddenly, the ETS and asylum seekers are back on the table. The ALP now has a much better chance to defeat the LNP than they ever did under Rudd, and the 2010 election will now no longer be a battle for the lesser evil; the lesser of ‘who cares?’ Gillard is possibly the only person capable of winning back those left-wing and former Labor Party supporters who are the bulk of that enormous swing to the Greens and other minor parties / independents. She’s intelligent, personable, likeable, and above all - she doesn’t sound like a fucking robot all of the time.
For the first time in my (admittedly short) voting life, I’m considering preferencing Labor over the Greens.
(shock.)
A note on Rudd: Yes, he’s fucked up. Yes, he ran straight to the centre after campaigning on a distinctly left-wing platform. Yes, last week he revealed himself to be beholden to Christian interests to the exclusion of secular / non-Christian citizens. Yes, his press conference late last night was a fear-mongering disgrace. Yes, he sounds like a fucking robot all of the time.
But what he did today was classy and smart. He stepped down, avoiding the bloodletting of a caucus ballot. A last desperate grasp of self-preservation? Perhaps. But in not contesting, he ensured some dignity to remain in the proceedings, and took away the ability of Abbott & co to claim that the ALP can’t even govern themselves, let alone the nation.
Inspired by a post by Jess McGuire, I am thankful for some KRudd things.
I am thankful he apologised to the Stolen Generation, and resolved to try and close the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
I am thankful that he introduced the term ‘ratfucker’ to Australian political vernacular.
I am thankful he destroyed WorkChoices.
I am thankful he signed the Kyoto Protocol.
I am thankful that he got us through the Global Financial Crisis without resorting to nation-wide prostitution.
I am thankful for the thousands of brilliant FirstDogOnTheMoon comics he inspired.
I am thankful for “7:30 Reportland.”
But most of all, I am thankful that he led the ALP to somehow, miraculously, wonderfully defeat that arsewipe fuckface cuntrag venereal disease of a bastard Howard in the 2007 election.
Thanks, Kev.
Long live Queen Julia.
ETA: KRudd's speech was heartwrenching. Gillard's was hopeful. Abbott's was a giant clusterfuck of fail.
And when I look back on where I was on this historic moment in Australian politics, I can say with pride that I was sitting on my couch in old leggings and an oversized jumper, drinking coffee and Tweeting furiously while Ruby ate a carrot.
(Incidently, as a female ranga guinea pig, Ruby approves wholeheartedly of Julia's ascention to PM. Ruby celebrated this momenteous occasion by munching on the carrot and trying to attack the television screen when Abbott appeared.)