Tikun Olam-תקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

John Howard celebrating his pre-historic Viking roots (Fairfax archive)

I don’t usually write about Australian politics here. But in the course of writing this blog and other online posting I’ve become friends with Sol Salbe, a Melbourne Israeli-Australian peace activist and Violet Crumble, my partner in Israel Palestine Forum. I’ve also had a long-running distaste for another Australian-Israeli blogger with the mysterious name of Aussie Dave (Dave L.).

So it gives me great pleasure to announce that the Australian Liberal (conservative) Party has taken a drubbing and lost power after eleven years to the Labor Party. Not only this, for the first time since 1929 a sitting PM has lost his own seat. Howard is not only out of power he’s out of parliament. What a loss! Doubtless one of his moneyed friends will step forward to find something useful (or useless depending on your point of view) for him to do.

This means that Australia will join the Kyoto Protocol (leaving one less supporter of the U.S. rejectionist position) and withdraw from Iraq. George Bush’s most slavish supporter in the Pacific Rim is now gone into forced retirement. I would also hope that John Howard’s harsh anti-immigrant position might be at least slightly modified by the new government. By 2008, Prime Minister Rudd should have a new Democratic partner in the White House.

Sol and Violet–savor the victory. Aussie Dave, Liberal Party sycophant, you must be crying in your Foster’s over this one. We’ll really savor triumph for you. Better luck next time. Oh and Dave, at this rate if you write as fawningly about the U.S. Republicans as you have about the Libs you’ll prove the kiss of death to them as well in 2008. Not that they really need your help to lose. Your buddy George Bush is doing that for them.