Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

What we have seen in the last 24 hours are two approaches to national leadership—one which says that we should put aside our party political differences, put aside the differences between federal and state governments and work together in the national interest. That is what has been at work since nine o’clock this morning over there at the meeting of the Council of Australian Governments—governments, federal and state, governments, Labor and Liberal, agreeing on a course of action to deal with the impact on Australia of a global economic recession, which Australians are not responsible for. That is one model of national leadership. The other model of non-leadership is what we have seen from the Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Party, who have, instead, decided to stand to one side and simply consign all Australians to have to deal with the impact of this global economic recession on their lives, their jobs, their businesses without any protection from government. That is what those opposite have decided to do.

Why have they decided to do that? Because the political interests of the Leader of the Liberal Party have been put first and the national interest has been put last. The political interests of the Leader of the Liberal Party are along these lines. He really does hope that the global economic recession—a recession which he has already hauled up the white flag on—worsens so that in a year’s time he can turn around and say, ‘Well, you couldn’t fix that.’ That is what this political opportunism is all about. It is not national leadership; it is simply an exercise in political tactics. If it were just electoral political tactics that would be one thing, but what is worse about it is that it is also internal party politics, directed at the impending challenge from the member for Higgins for the leadership of the Liberal Party. Not wishing to expose himself to an attack from the right of his party, what does the Leader of the Liberal Party do?

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