Rudd's Way

Writing a political book - particularly one about contempoary politics - can end up being a particularly challenging experience. The most difficult aspect of all is that the author doesn't have the luxury of knowing how the book will end and, although I didn't realise it at the time, this was to become a major problem with the book "Rudd's Way".
I wrote a piece explaining some of the difficulties I had as I attempted to come to grips with Rudd's story, for the ABC's Drum. It can be found at:
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2962354.htm

From the Hustings . . .

Although there's no proof he's the source of the damaging series of leaks, Kevin Rudd continues to provide a continuing distraction to Julia Gillard. This post considers why.

On the Hustings . . .

I've been writing a daily campaign journal for the Canberra Times, called (perhaps unoriginally) 'From the Hustings . . . '

I'll try to put the pieces up each day in future.

Where are the Policies?

I've been too busy writing for the old media to post stories for a while: I'm attempting to catch up quickly now.

This op-ed appeared yesterday in the Canberra Times. It bemoans the absence of real political debate in the 2010 election campaign . . .

Faulkner Departs

A week ago John Faulkner suddenly decided he needed to announce that he would not be a candidate for a berth in the ministry if Labor is returned at the next election. Although making this statement was honourable, it was also extremely unusual. Exactly why did he feel the need to clear the air about this issue?

I reckon he's committed to achieving the objectives that he entered politics for, and he's decided he can't do this in the ministry, although it's important to note that Faulkner - an honourable person who doesn't apparently lie - denies this is why he's announced his intention to leave.

On the Saturday before he announced his intention I wrote, perhaps harshly . . .

Executing Kevin

I received a nice e-mail from Western Australia that was complimentary of this long piece, so I'm posting it up here.

It looks at some of the similarities between the rise and fall of Kevin Rudd . . .

Dealing with the Region

It sometimes seems that the nost significant differences between people - even those who've committed their lives to politics - often seem to revolve around the way individuals percieve the world. Lindsay Tanner has always appeared to have a very good handle on the way the world works. His departure from parliament will be a significant loss . . .

Afghanistan Issues

Every now and then something finally clicks into place.

It's taken me a long time - nearly a decade - to make up my mind on the utility of Australia's (military) commitment to the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, but finally I'm there. There was no single event that changed my mind, not even the continuing stream of dead bodies and wounded soldiers that we are now seeing returning home. However I now believe it is impossible to argue the case for our current deployment - the strategy is simply not working.

These two columns from the Canberra Times might help explain why . . .