IT may have been more advertising genius than substance but Kevin 07 was a political juggernaut and it rolled right over John Howard’s competent, if tired administration. In so doing, it re-wrote the rules showing voters will bench governments when the economic indicators are favourable if they are bored enough. Back then, Kev-0-Sev had the magic and no matter what Mr Howard did, nothing worked, from backflipping on IR, to embracing the first Australians, to going green with a cap and trade scheme.
Voters had simply had enough. Kevin Rudd was future boy. A Mandarin speaking former mandarin. A square peg who had suddenly found a square hole. As the anti-Howard he was “same same but different’‘. What ever it was, it worked in spades - and they were used to bury the Howard decade.
Yet now, less than a term later, that magic has faded. A pallid looking Rudd is struggling to connect, his 07 mojo ebbing just when he needs it to flow. Is it the emergence of “Straight-talking Tony’’ or is it that having the Opposition back in the game has exposed structural weaknesses previously unnoticed?
Let’s be clear. Kevin Rudd PM, is still popular and at this stage, probably eight months out from the poll, remains the firm favourite. But a string of polls and a wealth of less empirical evidence, suggest the situation is again fluid, that uncommitted voters may be open to move back. Kevin Rudd is worried.
So here are 10 things he can do immediately, to get it back.
1) GET more sleep. It seems odd but it is, to use one of the PM’s most over-used words, ``fundamental’‘. Everything flows from this. Therese Rein revealed her husband relies on no more than three or four hours sleep per night. Frankly this is absurd. The PM is perennially tired. ``He’s exhausted,’’ as one insider conceded.You can see it in his face and you can hear it in his slow and searching speech patterns. Take more time off too because 2010 is going to be a bruising year. Putting some extra zeds in the bank, every night, would pay big dividends and make him more focused in his communication style.
2) LEARN to delegate and do it fast. Ministers admit privately that there are huge log-jams in the Rudd in-tray. Reports and reviews are piled up. Mr Rudd’s pre-occupation with control and micro-management is a major impediment to better performance. And his constant state of being on the cusp of taking action on several fronts at once is tiring those around him - colleagues, staff, and public servants. All would benefit from more order and more down time.
3) SPEND less time talking publicly to allow more time for thinking privately. Barack Obama advocates ``big chunks of time each day’’ for thinking. Kevin Rudd by contrast, too often has nothing new to say yet speaks anyway. Voters are waking up to this. It’s time to get the words-to-meaning ratio back into balance. More time spent reflecting and less time waffling on about ``concrete plans’’ and ``practical action plans’’ would return purchasing power to the devalued currency of prime ministerial utterances.
4) ENCOURAGE senior ministers to be bolder and speak more freely. They should be given room to fail in order that they have the scope also to succeed. The concentration on discipline and narrow message management is stultifying and is strangling the creativity of some very senior people. It is also boring and leaves policy vacuums into which a renewed Opposition will try to move - witness the hospitals announcement recently. Nick Minchin and even Tony Abbott himself used to float ideas publicly when in government. The Hawke/Keating governments also had heavy-weights like John Button and others who would do likewise. While these thought bubbles can be difficult in a day-to-day management sense, they can enliven the culture of the government and uncover fresh opportunities.
5) STOP talking about your opponent. Voters are turned off by this kind of thing particularly from their Prime Minister. The PM must behave like a statesman and must be seen to be totally occupied by the serous business of governing. Besides, it is merely lifting the new Opposition Leader’s profile.
6) RESHUFFLE your frontbench. Peter Garrett is an experiment that has not worked. As he is clearly not being sacked over the disastrous management of the insulation program, he should at least be moved out of Cabinet. Use the opportunity to make other changes. Penny Wong is a very competent minister but has probably done what she can with climate change. A new face and a significant change of policy direction is needed if the climate issue is to be rescued for the Government. Also elevate some new talent such as SA’s Mark Butler.
7) DELIVER on hospitals reform this year - make the announcement this week. The mid-2009 deadline was a long time ago. Voters believed the Kevin 07 message about fixing the problem. Now they want a decision, which by the way, is not the same as a detailed concrete action plan. The much vaunted GP super clinics are also overdue - why more of the stimulus money wasn’t used to get this happening seems puzzling in hindsight.
8) TOUGHEN up on the states. State governments, especially the unpopular Labor outfits in Queensland and NSW, represent a key weakness in brand Labor. State governments are too often associated with policy failures and broken promises on infrastructure, health, public transport, and roads. Their intransigence on key national problems like water reform is frustrating for voters.
9) PROMOTE one really big, economy changing idea to seize back the initiative. Taxation policy probably represents the biggest opportunity arising from the Henry tax review which should be released ASAP.
10) SWALLOW your pride and adjust the stimulus in view of the rapidly improving economy. If the extraordinary expenditure was correct for what was shaping as a major downturn with 8.5 per cent jobless and so on, it cannot also be perfectly tailored for the much better situation we now see. And tough action to reduce debt quicker would undercut a looming Opposition attack.
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