Compassion is not a dirty word

Sad as I was to see the end of the Beazley-era, the future beckons. It was nice to hear a defence of core values like compassion in Mr Rudd's parliamentary speech. Nice too to hear a committment to ideas as a driver of policy. The coming weeks promise to be interesting.

Last weekend, the FT splashed Australia's 'culture wars' on the magazine cover( http://www.ft.com/cms/s/760e6c24-81aa-11db-864e-0000779e2340.html). The article ends on a worthy note. In identifying indigenous australia as central to the culture wars, and citing Noel Pearson's interventions in the welfare debate, the FT suggests that "once more, Australia might be a pioneer in democratic innovation - in pointing a way for other societies to find a route to common citizenship." This is an interesting and hopeful conclusion to draw from a relatively damning analysis. I'd like to hope Australia can serve that purpose. Our recent difficulties have changed the way the world sees us - we fly a different flag (beacon on immigration control rather than multiculturalism). But as management consultatants might suggest, we should see in the crisis a golden opportunity. The early 90's pushed the bounds of identity change. A counter-swing was inevitable. In challenging the counter-swing a new consensus will emerge. The time is ripe for new ideas.

And just an aside - in recent months the ALP was dubbed RUDDerless by the media pack. Was the putsch engineered (not in a JFK way, but in a what-will-we-write-about-today-fellow-correspondants way)? Did people lose faith in Beazley because they were reminded incessantly of his shortcomings? Was he only boring to those that filter the news? In a world of new shiny things, was he in the game too long - like a walkman trying to pass himself off as an iPod Nano? I dunno, but its worth thinking about the power of the media to shape politics - after all how many aussies watch question time live and undiluted on the web?