Australia certain to get Pommie Prime Minister!
As an Australian citizen I’m legally obliged to vote in the General Election on August 21st. That’s OK – I was here for the last election so I know my presence will be required on the big day but what I wasn’t expecting was a compulsory choice of which Brit to vote for!
The battle is between incumbent Labour Prime Minister, Julia Gillard (born in Vale of Glamorgan, Wales) and Liberal opposition leader, Tony Abbott (born in London, England). Both of them moved to Australia as children (Gillard aged 5, Abbott aged 2) but Abbott can probably shade it in the “Pom” stakes as he had another go at it by moving back to UK for a while to study at Oxford in the 1980′s.
The Australian political system of preferences means that whatever party you choose, eventually those votes will end up going to either Labour or the Liberals. Or in other words, to the Taff or the Cockney!
This, I did not expect.
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Themocracy
Now thats a hard choice…choosing between two foreign born candidates. I personally think that, like America, you should be born in Australia to be Prime Minister (no i’m not racist, I am married to a Brit myself).
Gillard started off to appear to have more of a chance of winning this election. I think a lot of people like the idea of Australia having a first female Prime Minister; even though (unlike Abbott) she is an atheist, unmarried, and has no kids. Maybe this country needs a woman’s touch to inject a little gentleness, fairness, and compassion into the macho world of politics to get through these times.
However now it seems that her latest objections to paid parental leave and pension rises (she supposedly said that elderly Australians did not vote Labor) might have lost her some votes. How is she going to ‘move forward’ from this one.
I still have not decided which one to vote for…
Hi Lol,
Like you I haven’t made up my mind who to vote for and, to be honest, neither of them make much appeal!
I think that Gillard will pick up some support on gender lines but you are right that her personal life is a bit unconventional and this might cost her votes in some quarters. Tony Abbott is a bit of a strange character as well! Not often you get a candidate for PM who once trained to become a priest…
One thing is for sure, whoever wins they are definitely going to break the stereotype of the boozy,blokey Aussie!
Gareth