Mark Latham, the new Australian opposition leader

From http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/11/30/1070127268663.html :

If Latham takes the Labor leadership tomorrow the ALP will gradually abandon interest in Aboriginal reconciliation. It will demonstrate a growing contempt for what Latham calls the left-wing "rights agenda". It will seek to match or outbid the Coalition on questions like the threat of terrorism, "illegal immigration" and the war on crime. Just as Tony Blair transformed the British Labour Party by incorporating Margaret Thatcher's economic ideas, if Latham succeeds in winning the ALP leadership he will attempt to incorporate into Labor Howard's brand of populist, cultural conservatism. After Blair, Britons could say "we are all Thatcherites now". If Latham wins the Labor leadership Australians may soon be able to remark: "We are all Howardites now."

I dont really know what to think anymore, except I realise how uneducated about politics I actually am.

Hearing shit about Latham tho like that he's vigourously anti-immigration is a bit of a worry (if its true, I dont like going on peoples word but the people complaining are pretty politically educated so... meh).

He defended his remark but has promised to tone down his plain speaking, saying "no more crudity."

Pity, about time there was some honest feeling in the political arena....even at the risk of future disagreement

This assumes the "social entrepreneurs" have actual possessions to offer as collateral. Curious. How does he decide which "outsiders" are worthy? A 10- or 20-point questionnaire? I sense further discontent among the masses.

Also: at the end of the day isn't Latham just Paul Keating without the watches and clocks and classical music?

Some of Mark Latham's better quotes:

On Prime Minister John Howard:

"Howard is an 'arse-licker'," he told (The Bulletin). "He went over there, kissed some bums, and got patted on the head."

"Mr Howard and his Government are just yes-men to the
United States. There they are, a conga line of suckholes on the conservative side of Australian politics.
The backbench sucks up to the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister sucks up to George W. That is how it works for the little Tories, and they have the hide to call themselves Australians."

On US President George W. Bush

"Bush himself is the most incompetent and dangerous president in living memory" he told the House. "It is a bit rich for him to be preaching democratic values when he himself failed to win a democratic majority in the 2000 presidential election. His war with Iraq is more about revenging his father's mistakes."

On Federal Treasurer Peter Costello

"There you have it. He dogged a fight, he would not stand up and fight for himself."
"He was lying on his back like a mangy dog, saying, `Red, Red, stop hitting me'.
"It was the stuff of legend at Monash, and it is now the stuff of a disappointing Budget in this House of Representatives."

On Health Minister Tony Abbott

"Tony Abbott salivates at the mere mention of Work for the Dole. Yet he supports a royal family that wouldn't work in an iron lung."

On former immigration minister Philip Ruddock

"Hand in your badge, Adolf."

On the Howard Government

"Of the 25 Liberal members of the Howard Ministry, 17 are corporate lawyers. The best way to get Liberal preselection is to own a wig."

On politics

"I'm a hater. Part of the tribalness of politics is to really dislike the other side with intensity. And the more I see of them the more I hate them. I hate their negativity. I hate their narrowness.
"I hate the way, for instance, John Howard tries to appeal to suburban values when I know that he hasn't got any real answers to the problems and challenges we face. I hate the phoniness of that."

from http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/04/1070351722965.html

Mr Latham, who spoke after his meeting in front of the American flag, did not apologise for describing President Bush as incompetent and dangerous, but said he was looking to the future.

"As an individual member I made a contribution that was based on some party political considerations but that's in the past," he said.

"The reality today and for the future is that I am the leader of the alternative government of this country and my starting point in these particular matters is very much the importance of the relationship and the importance of the alliance."

Mr Latham also backed away from his description of the US war on terror as a "march of folly", saying that before being elected leader he did not have the information available to make "a considered judgement in the national interest".

Translation: I have been told to suck arse by ASIO (probably).

Stupid politics.

on a practical level, the green preference spillage (even if its only 10% of their vote, as it has been historically) could lose the election for labor. so electing someone to the right of tony blair, only rhetorically vehement, is the worst possible outcome for a useless party.