Forebodingly stated by Julia Gillard, “There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead.” These words were uttered in August 2010 and they would come back to haunt Gillard for the remainder of her political career. As one of Australia’s most contentious Prime Ministers, Julia Gillard fought a mix of personal and political battles. Public comments that she’d made, policy decisions which she brought to Parliament, her gendered position as the first female Prime Minister all brought their own unique struggles, yet she still persevered as one of Australia’s most effective political leaders. Like a phoenix rises from the ashes, Julia Gillard rose from the burning flames of the Australian Labor Party and emerged reborn as their leader in …show more content…
After the 2011 Federal election, Gillard obtained majority government only with the support of 12 cross benchers in the Senate, and one member of the House. This was the first federal hung parliament since 1940, and only the second in Australian history. Here we see Gillard’s most admirable and distinguishing political leadership skill shine; she was a master negotiator. Both major political parties at the time had the opportunity to negotiate support for their parties in this new political makeup, however Julia was able to succeed where her opposition could not. In hindsight one could argue that this was an early sign that when the Opposition did gain power at the following election, their Leader Tony Abbott, would not be able to effectively lead. Her negotiation skills are further exemplified through her policy decision in this new government. Although Gillard had entered the election stating that there would be no carbon tax, her hand was moved and she legislated for one to keep the support of the Australian Greens, a move that was retrospectively suicidal for her political career yet she persevered with her decision which reflects how effective she was in her leadership decisions. In a further move that is near incomprehensible when Parliamentary agreements were so fragile, her Government succeeded in passing a record number of legislation. This includes world first legislation; such as our countries plain cigarette packaging laws; which successive majority governments have not been able to successfully
They have juggled power between them and Australia has emerged a powerful and intelligent nation under their leadership.
Therefore, it is clear that a monarchy in Australia should remain. Even though he led the Republican Movement for the 1999 referendum at the time, it has been stated explicitly by the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull that a republican Australia will only occur if there is widespread public momentum for the change. Thus, there is today not enough interest in changing our system of government, so why bother with it if the people do not want it? Becoming a republic requires constitutional change, and thus means two-thirds of people in a majority of states must be supportive for a monarch to be replaced by a republic. Traditionally, senior citizens have not been in support of topics such as a republican movement; thus, those who emigrated from England and the United Kingdom would predominantly reject a republic. Hence, the younger generations in society are the citizens in which usually are more divisive or willing to all options. “Many young Australians just don’t see the point of conducting a referendum.” These young Australians also hold the belief that by becoming a republic, the financial detriment will prove to be far too much of a burden and are not in favour of the switch to an untried system from one in which functions effectively now. Moreover, since Australia has always been with the Commonwealth, and having been required
This is issue has recently come back into the spotlight due to an interview with the current Australian of the year, Simon McKeon. In the interview, he urged Australian’s to bring up the republican debate suggesting that now is the time to become a republic. This has sparked many people coming forward and debating the issue.
When Australia’s 21st Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, was swept into power in December 1972 there was huge anticipation for dramatic and swift change. Australia had been under the control of a conservative liberal government for 23 consecutive years, and Whitlam’s promises if social change were eagerly anticipated. Whitlam, despite his failings as a negotiator, managed to implement a huge array of reforms and changes, many of which shaped Australia into the country it is today. However is that enough to say he succeeded? Even Whitlam today admits that he regrets doing “too much too soon”, and perhaps Whitlam’s government was a government that was too socially progressive for its time, which could perchance have been a foreshadowing of things to come for the most recent labor government of Julia Gillard which has been labeled by some as the most incompetent government since Whitlam. Gough Whitlam has had the most books written and published about him than any other Australian Prime Minister to Date. This essay will argue that Whitlam was a successful leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), who had the ability and charisma to lead Australia in an era of prosperity; he did however succumbed to a few grave errors of judgment that ultimately led to his downfall, however his ultimate goal was to transform Australia which he achieved. Whitlam’s’ errors were seen as being due to his inability take advice from senior figures on how to turn his amateur government into a competent one and his inflexible approach to dealing with the hostile senate that the Australian public gave him, and often led to his government being labeled the worst in Australian history and as a failure.
The New Democratic Party promises to improve the environmental situation that we are currently living in. Our current environmental situation is very important to maintain, or even make better, because if we continue on this path of pollution and accumulating green house gases, then the Earth's atmosphere will no longer be sustainable and we risk losing our precious planet. The NDP says that they will attempt to get rid of coal-based electricity. "Coal emits more carbon per unit of energy than oil, and 80 percent more than natural gas." (Green Energy) It is a good thing that the NDP are taking steps to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that are omitted into the air to save the environment. The NDP promises to invest in the production of cars with low emission rates and develop mandatory vehicle emission standards that must be followed in Canada. This will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide omitted from cars, which is a big source of pollution in the world. If the vehicle emission standards are mandatory, people will be forced to follow the standards and will have no choice, therefore resulting in l...
The Green Party of Canada, also known as the GPC, is a minor Canadian federal political party that is known for preaching ecological wisdom. Founded in November of 1983 in Ottawa, GPC currently holds one seat in the House of Commons. GPC was highly motivated by observing the West German Green Party, which overcome great odds to win 27 parliamentary seats.2 Over the past several years, GPC has made remarkable strides to advance its political platform and gain a voice in the House of Commons. In 2000, GPC received only 0.8% of the votes and received zero seats in the House. However, GPC heavily improved in the 2004 federal election, winning 4.3% of the votes. After this “electoral breakthrough,” GPC earned a great deal of respect and garnered attention in the mass media.2 More importantly, by receiving 4.3% of the votes, GPC qualified for federal funding. By doing so, GPC received much-needed subsidies that would eventually play a huge role in its emergence in Canadian politics. Four years later in the 2008 federal election, GPC received 6.8% of the votes to ensure that green issues would be discussed in policy agendas of Canadian government.
The Conservative Party’s Weakness As a Consequence Of Weak Leadership After the resignation of Peel in 1846 the Conservative Party split into three main groupings. The Peelites: loyal supporters of Peel who were unsatisfied with the current Conservative Party, the Ultra Tories who were the immovable, reactionary classical Tories who regarded the party’s sole purpose as being the support and promotion of its backers; the landowners, and finally the Liberal Conservatives who argues that lately the party had lost support and that unless the Tories started to rule in a more liberal fashion they would lose power, the liberals believed that they must retain an aristocratic approach whilst appealing to all sectors of the population. Peel’s resignation meant that there was no real viable candidate to stand in his place as party leader. Bentinck was definitely not ideal, outspoken and often rude he was part of the rapidly disappearing breed of MPs who regarded politics as a hobby that they indulged in for fun, probably the most memorable moment of his career was probably his leading, with Disraeli, of the protectionist opposition to Peel’s repeal of the Corn Laws; compromise was utterly alien to Bentinck’s nature. To no great surprise Bentinck soon resigned (over the “Jewish question”) .The
If the parties in our governmental system would openly discuss about the difference in positions and in point of views within the groups in realizing these controversies will minimize the unnecessary troubles greatly. Another possibility of improvement would be following the great examples of other countries with the Westminster governance system. For example, in countries like Australia and New Zealand have already a well-established party discipline rules that are less strict than the ones in Canada and way more effective than the ones we have. In an article, it was said that” Australian parties are considerably more discipline than those in the UK an even those in Canada, although the degree of discipline in the latter has been the subject of much critical comment. Parliamentary votes in the UK are subject to varying degrees of party discipline, with the most rigid being the so-called” three-line whip’ votes. Neither Australia nor Canada has such gradations. In New Zealand party discipline has increased under its mixed Member proportional (MMP) electoral system and, unless party leaders have agreed to a conscience vote, standing orders require a party vote to be taken rather than individuals casting their votes in the chamber. “(Sawer, Abjorensen and Larkin
Juliet Margaret Cameron was a Pioneer Victorian photographer during the nineteenth century. She took up photography later in life at the age forty-eight when her daughter presented her with a camera. This simple gift sparked enthusiasm in Cameron and led her to become one of the most colorful personalities in photography.Cameron was born in Calcutta in 1815 to a well to do British Family. After being educated in Europe, she returned to the Cape of Good Hope in 1836. While she was there she met Charles Hay Cameron, whom she married in 1838.
The decision for Australia to adopt the Federal system was on the principle of which the State’s governments wanted to keep their power. For this reason there was the separation of powers between the newly formed Commonwealth government and the existing State governments. At a constitutional level, there are rulings in which the powers are separated, these rulings due to disputes have slightly changed since 1901. These changes all fell towards the one government, the Commonwealth (Federal) government. However this was not just a landslide event, the Constitution of Australia set up this imbalance of powers between the Commonwealth and State governments. We will explore this further in the points discussed later in this essay.
Climate change has the potential to devastate millions in Australia. Rising temperatures will impact the landscape of Australia by decreasing Australia's forests. Australia is going to have to spend billions of dollars to make sure their safety from climate change. The people in Australia will need to be strong and flexible to make it through this tough time they're going through, and Australia will have to find a way to fix this problem before it's too late. Climate change is something that will affect the entire world and it's not an issue to take lightly. Australia’s solutions are not simple at all and in order for them to work everyone will have to work together. Climate change in Australia will impact the environment, the economy, and the lives of Australians, an example of a solution is to cut down on carbon emissions.
One of the main factors that caused globalisation in Australia was a reduction in protection, the act of National trade barriers being removed. A reduction in protection of international trade is done by governments who work together to develop agreements with each other to reduce trade barriers and allow tariffs on imported goods to be reduced. Australian governments have been involved with countries such as Singapore and Malaysia in an effort to help reduce the tariffs and quotas on imported goods, resulting in free trade agreements between other countries. For example, when National trade barriers are removed, opportunities are opened up to Australian business to import goods at a cheaper price and then export other goods to new markets in other countries. Evidence of this was recently reported on the ABC news program, the reporter quoted that ‘our government should not sign any free trade agreements with Japan, until the tariffs on Australian beef and dairy products are reduced.’ This news report showed local Australian farmers who are trying to convince our Prime Minist...
In Mellon’s article, several aspects are mentioned supporting the belief that the prime minister is too powerful. One significant tool the prime minister possesses is “… the power to make a multitude of senior governmental and public service appointments both at home and abroad,” (Mellon 164). Mellon goes on to state the significance the prime minister has when allowed to appoint the government’s key member...
The reading assignment for this unit included reading several articles and one book in particular, The Female Advantage, by Sally Helgesen as an introduction into varying leadership styles. Leadership, as a honed craft is practiced continually in different ways and varying circumstances, no two individuals will have the same leadership style. Certain distinctive traits brought into the forum and on display for followers to observe. Some traits can be visible, clothing or skin color as examples, others, however, are not as visible such as upbringing or family situation. Each of these factors could play a role in the leadership style of a leader. One trait that the author of the book uses to distinguish leaders is gender. As much as men and women must be treated the fairly and equally, it cannot be denied that outside of the biological aspect, men and women are slightly different. Each gender brings a unique approach to leadership situations.
resigned as Prime Minister after holding the title for some twenty years. One of O’Neill’s strengths was described by Former BBC political Editor John Cole when he wrote that “he could take a situation” and “mould it to his convictions and principles.” (pg 22, At the Crossroads) Mr. Cole carried on to state that one major advantage O’Neill had that other politicians lacked was “an experience of the world outside