Last night, I went to a post election seminar with Cheryl Kernot et al. to learn why LJH lost the election. A lot of it was fascinating analysis with controversial predictions for what the years ahead hold.
The most interesting observation I made was how anti-Howard the set of young, trendy Australians were; every time his name was mentioned there was jeering and scoffing. Kevin Rudd wasn't revered, just tolerated because he defeated LJH - after all he's been described as 'a millionaire Jesus-boy whose policies place him further to the Right than any previous Labor leader'.
At one stage I leaned over to a diplomat friend there and asked, "do you think I'm the only conservative here", her response: "shhh".
Question time was gold, someone asked about the (non-existent) 'Religious Right' in Australia, twice people mentioned that under Howard they were political refugees here in London (showing that they had absolutely no comprehension or appreciation of what it meant to be a refugee). The pièce de résistance, I even wrote it down to preserve it accurately for my blog:
Young Australian lady: "I work in climate change and there is a lot of talk in my industry from Australians about returning home since our industry will start to boom - do you think that there will be a cultural renaissance in Australia and it will once again be seen as a policy leader as the brain drain under Howard ends and people (like us) return?"
To his credit, the chap on the panel put her back in her place by pointing out that a lot of bright people had moved to Australia because they liked LJH's reforms. They might now consider leaving so, sorry, no net gain.
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