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After a year as Prime Minister, Julia Gillard has failed to establish any sort of positive relationship with the Australian people, according to the Labor Party's own research.
Gillard is seen as cold and untrustworthy, still haunted by the way she took the job by deposing the man to whom she had endlessly pledged loyalty, Kevin Rudd.
By overthrowing Rudd, she created an emotional starting point for public assessment. This was compounded by her broken promise - "there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead" - to entrench a dominant image of dishonesty.
And this has cancelled out the initial goodwill she won as Australia's first female prime minister.
Women voters generally welcome the fact the country has a female leader, but then qualify this by saying they wish it had not happened the way it did, or by wishing for a different woman.
Focus groups commissioned by the Labor Party had the opinion that Gillard had been put in place by factions or unions, while Kevin Rudd had been elected by the people.
These findings help explain why the government has pushed Gillard's partner, Tim Mathieson, into the spotlight with a series of recent media appearances. It was an effort to create a warmer and more intimate image for the Prime Minister.
A year of frustration for Gillard as voters refuse to forgive and forget
- By John Richardson at 23 Jun 2011 - 11:11am
- John Richardson's blog
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we're all aussies. sharing...
Gus: yes, yes but in the meantime, "real" Julia, whomever she is, is settling the NBN's progress for Australia's benefit, has won a flood levy to help many Australians through a difficult time that could not be underwritten by insurance alone and is now approaching an agreement on a necessary carbon tax. The so-called "disasters" of home insulation (successful at more than 99 per cent) and of school building (successful at more than 80 per cent, derided by some conservative schools and most of the media for a few problems) are not disasters despite what Tony the little shit and his tap dancers would like you to believe.
Same, her Malaysian solution for refugees is at present the most efficient to stop the boats and take refugees to Australia, despite appearing heartless nonetheless. There is a quiet determination in the "real" Julia's achievements that she can sail through the shit that the opposition, the nasty brickbats from members of her own party and the media scorn throw at her... Even if she is a one term PM, she would have achieved more progress for Australia in the proper direction than two decades of diddle-faddle from previous Australian governments.
within a year, quietly, the mining tax will come and help siphon some of the "real" Australian wealth back to Australia — not just lining individual's private pockets who don't care much about global warming, all without impinging on this industry...
May be her smiling face should adorn the plain packaging of cigarettes.... That could stop many people from smoking themselves to death...