What's theirs is his, too
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday September 21, 2009
What's theirs is his, tooKEVIN RUDD'S choice of his political opponent Brendan Nelson as ambassador to the European Union and NATO, as well as Kim Beazley as ambassador to Washington, has been hailed as putting an end to jobs for the boys. In fact, Rudd did that some time ago as far as Labor is concerned with his choice of the former leader of the National Party, Tim Fischer, as ambassador to the Holy See. Since then, he has appointed a series of senior Coalition figures to government posts. The Howard government appointed no Labor figures to government jobs.Both the appointments announced on Thursday were good choices. Beazley's interest and expertise in American politics are well known. Nelson's experience in the Defence portfolio will serve him well in a post where the mission in Afghanistan will be a major concern.But there is more to Rudd's bipartisanship than idealistic concern to tap the nation's best talent. It is clever politics. Appointing former opponents to senior posts reinforces his claim to represent the centre ground. As Peter Hartcher suggested in the Herald on Friday, it may also be easier for Rudd to choose former opponents for top posts, because he has less animus against them than he has against those from his own party. It may have been harder for him to send Beazley as ambassador to Washington because of the troubled relationship between the two from when Rudd was challenging Beazley for the Labor leadership.The willingness of a Labor leader to appoint political opponents to government jobs emphasises what has been apparent for some time, that in Australian politics there is no longer any great ideological difference between the main parties. Politics has returned to the condition it was in before the arrival of the Labor Party in the late 19th century refined a new class-based political dividing line. Differences remain between the outlooks of the two sides, but they have been attenuated and narrowed by the collapse of the left-wing agenda, and the gradual transformation of politics to a glorified tribalism tinged with a faint afterglow of rival ideologies.It remains to be seen whether Rudd has broken the stranglehold of party loyalty which has afflicted politics, and reduced it over the decades to sterile trench warfare. We will not know if he has until the next Coalition government €“ whenever that may come to power €“ makes appointments of its own. But he certainly deserves credit for making a start.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald