Mea Culpa

Rudd had gained a sense of ‘the need to apologise,' not just for the 'stuff-up' that was the insulation program, but for pretty much anything and everything he may have done wrong since day one. This soon became known as Rudd’s ‘Mea Culpa.' Suddenly, the man who never made a mistake was responsible for and admitting all errors. Was this Rudd’s ‘confessional?' Did he think saying three Hail Mary’s would solve all his problems? He wasn’t even Catholic!

Newspoll, March 2, 2010. The Coalition was ahead of the Rudd Government on primary votes and four percentage points behind on a two-party preferred basis. What Abbott had achieved in only three months was to reconstruct an Opposition from a rabble to a true alternative government. He had also achieved what he had told the electorate was his intention, that being to hold the government to account. Rudd’s ‘Mea Culpa’ would not have occurred if Abbott had not been successful in this regard.

Abbott declared that “the choice will be clear-cut” in an article published in The Australian on March 1st. He mentioned key policies such as “stronger border protection... ending... parochialism over the Murray-Darling basin...ensure that all...NSW and Queensland public hospitals are run by local boards...take the Unfair Dismissal monkey off the back of small business and...allow...individual employment agreements...”

As this was being published, Kevin Rudd was appearing (or should I say ‘being heard’) on talkback radio across the country. Yes, that’s right, talkback radio. To this point his favourite form of radio communication with the people had been through the softer FM variety. Now he was in some trouble, he turned to those he knew had ‘pull’ with the more mature members of the electorate whose support he knew he needed to maintain (or gain) to perform well at the next election.

Rudd’s ‘word of the week’ was “whacking." That was the word he used to describe what he forecast the government would receive in the polls that week.

Here was a politician who used words such as “mate," “ain’t” and “bullshit," amongst others, in media interviews, to appear like ‘one of the guys’ in the belief this would add to his electoral appeal. Only problem was, it was so obviously false, he just couldn't hide the smirk.

Smirk. A quick search via Google and I found a number of definitions. The website, thefreedictionary.com defined 'smirk' as "to smile in an affected, often self-satisfied manner," "a smile expressing scorn, smugness, etc., rather than pleasure," to "smile affectedly or derisively." It brought back memories of Nick Greiner and Peter Costello.

Nick Greiner, former Premier of New South Wales, was a very likeable guy. His only problem was that he always seemed to have a smirk on his face, which came across visually as a sense of self-satisfaction. The electorate, consciously or otherwise, can easily perceive public figures in a negative light based upon their facial image. The age of television and the 30 second sound-bite personifies public figures. This has led to the electorate having a sense of ‘knowing’ public figures in a way that was not possible before the visualisation television brought with it. Peter Costello had this same problem throughout his career.

In no way is this reaction rational, but it is real. A perfect stranger may stand five centimetres away from you in a lift and say “hello, how are you?" Your instinct may well be to take a step away and look upon them as a threat. They have not only invaded your personal space but have also entered the realms of familiarity without your consent.

Rudd had recently appeared bedside with a patient in hospital, the patient’s wife looking on. It was a great photo opportunity to use in launching his Health Program, but how must the patient have felt? Well outside of his ‘comfort zone,' one would think. He could well have seen Rudd’s approach as a ‘threat.' Perhaps Rudd was assured of his vote. After all, Rudd's spin doctors would have advised him there is no point in showing empathy for the sick unless they are going to vote for you.

The launch of Rudd’s national health program was sure to see resistance. It had been launched prior to COAG, prior to the Premier’s ‘round table’ with the Prime Minister. People in general appreciate consultation, especially those that have risen to the top in their field. Even if their opinion is not taken up as policy, the fact they have been consulted in advance of a policy launch will make them feel more engaged when next approached. It is simply human nature.

The Premiers were unlikely to be quite so accepting, however. Here was a case where conciliation and compromise was a necessity. Was Rudd simply not aware of this? Or did he not care?

Self-satisfaction, arrogance, detachment. It was little wonder Rudd’s ‘Mea Culpa’ was so widely seen as an artificial apology. How can one apologise when they see themselves as never having made a mistake?

His way of moving on was to release big policy pronouncements, such as the National Health Program and the National Education Curriculum. Policies which were based on service delivery and federal involvement in improving industries which were failing to meet the electorate’s expectations were bound to play out in the media as Rudd being pro-active and being seen to ‘do something’ where doing something was well and truly required.

Only thing was, it didn’t play out that way. The insulation program and The Department of Environment’s service delivery had failed completely. It was little wonder there was concern about the Health Department’s ability to deliver a much larger program successfully.

And so it was that Rudd was criticised by one scribe as a Prime Minister who “doesn’t know that he doesn’t know," an insult if ever there was one. Even the Labor states were asking for the detail, probably concerned at the loss of one third of their GST revenue so the federal government could take a sixty percent share in funding the health system. ‘Another layer of bureaucracy,' was another criticism.

Rudd’s best bet was to hope that those voters turned off by his self-congratulation would be evened out by those voters turned on by his Mea Culpa. There seemed little chance of that just now.

Maybe Rudd was on a winner if only he’d use Botox to hide the smirk and change it to a smile. Everyone loves a happy face.