A happy face was what was seen on the TV news after the release of further Newspoll results showing Rudd had gained an ‘easy’ lead over Abbott and the Coalition once more, twelve percentage points on two party preferred in fact. Abbott’s face was devoid of a smile. He had been accused by media outlets nationwide of spending too much time showing how fit he was, pollie pedalling his way from Melbourne to Sydney for nine days, after having entered an Iron Man Triathlon in Port Macquarie, the winner of which would find their way on a trip to Hawaii to compete further.
If he spent as much time fighting the government as he had spent showing off his health and fitness the Coalition may actually have a chance at the next election. This was the view of some. Perhaps those journalists most vocal were just envious that here was a man of a similar age or older than they were showing no signs of obesity, cramps, a sore back, or nicotine-induced emphysema.
Still, the truth was that the Premiers seemed to be doing a good enough job of criticising Rudd’s Health Plan without the need for comment from Abbott. John Brumby, Premier of Victoria, was even mentioned in the same sentence as Abbott by no other than Rudd himself, as an obstructionist distraction standing in the way of his grand vision for the future of health in this country.
There were other distractions at play as well. Julia Gillard, widely seen as the best performing member of the Government’s team, and a potential future Prime Minister, was under pressure to take ownership of the Building the Education Revolution (BER) program’s failures to deliver infrastructure to public schools at a reasonable price.
The Australian newspaper was running an ongoing campaign to discredit the program through practical examples of bureaucracy out of control. Building a new canteen for $600,000 without general amenities required for it to run efficiently seemed to be anything but ‘value for money.' In fact, it had become clear that, via The Australian and other news outlets' discoveries, the BER was potentially a greater problem for the Rudd Government than the insulation program had been.
Many companies involved in the BER employed builders on a ‘fly-in fly-out’ basis and consultation fees and other expenses led to an artificial inflation in costs. As a result, the BER had become known as the Builders’ Retirement Fund. So what was to be done? There was only one answer. Initiate an inquiry.
An inquiry appeared to be the answer to most problems faced by the Federal Government around this time. It served the purpose of moving the issue to the inside pages of newspapers and diverting television’s and radio’s attention to the news of the day. It also had the effect of making the Rudd Government’s ‘spin doctors’ part of the story.
Hawker Britton was the firm widely believed to be the main source of political advice for Rudd and his team. Bruce Hawker had been considered by many to be a vital cog in the wheel that turned the Rann Labor Government’s chances of success at the South Australian election around. The result? Rann was returned, and had since offered his support to Rudd for his National Health Plan, unlike other Labor Premiers who had yet to face the people.
But what did the health plan really represent? Another diversion? Another layer of bureaucracy? An ability to campaign across the country in local areas in order to obtain local media publicity? All of the above?
One thing was for sure. Rudd had sent John Faulkner, Minister for Defence, to Washington, to meet with US President Obama. A chance to show, once again, he was a global visionary, gone. A chance to finally part ways with his nickname ‘Kevin 747’ taken. But oh, those photo opportunities. Rudd would have been quietly seething that the need to stay home to campaign for a health program designed to divert the people’s attention from bureaucratic and service delivery failures in other areas had resulted in a lost opportunity to appear on the world stage.
President Obama appeared that week on the ABC’s 7.30 Report. Interviewed by Kerry O’Brien he had described Rudd as “humble.” This was about as believable as climate change being the greatest moral challenge of our generation. Such are the ways of the world.
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