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According to readers Gillard is still in virgin territory

Marcus Kuczynski

by Marcus Kuczynski

28 Jun 05:35am

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Filed under: Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Media, Polls, Websites

26 comments

Labor and Julia Gillard would have been buoyed by the first rush of positive opinion polls over the weekend, just two days after she took over as Prime Minister.

But before the Government is tempted to call a snap election in this suggested honeymoon period, it might want to read the views of people submitting online comments to news sites, providing a finger-on-the-pulse gauge to public opinion.

Official opinion polling is closely followed by both political sides, but it is not always totally effective in exposing the mood of the nation. Late last year, I started noticing a rising tsunami of anger in comments to online news sites against Kevin Rudd over the proposed emissions trading scheme and a perceived failure by the Government to connect with the Australian people.

But it was not until April that the official polls finally began to reflect the collapse in Rudd’s popularity that had been indicated in cyberspace and around the home barbecue for months.

In the latest polling on Gillard’s rise to power, questions such as “Would you rather have a beer with Julia Gillard or Opposition Leader Tony Abbott?” are as indicative of public opinion as asking boozy pub patrons whether they would vote for anyone who shouted them an ale.

As Matt of Toowoomba said in a comment to The Courier-Mail: “Who thinks up these stupid polls? What does it prove? Who cares who people would like to have a beer with? There are plenty of people I would like to have a beer with. And guess what, I wouldn’t vote for any of them!”

Overall, there is still a raw feeling of animosity towards Gillard in online news forums over the way Rudd was deposed in order for her to become Prime Minister.

A comment to ABC Online by Peter is typical of some of the vitriol: “Now the colour of Gillard’s hair matches the colour of the blood on her hands.
What sort of democracy do we live in when a small band of union leaders can get rid of the leader of the country?”


Vanessa NR of Keysborough added in The Herald Sun: “Julia Gillard should be ashamed! What she did was stab K Rudd in the back, which is un-Australian and something our country doesn’t stand for.”

David voiced a rebuke and a warning to Gillard in a comment to The Canberra Times: “People voted for Kevin Rudd, not you Gillard. Step aside. You are definitely not PM material. What goes around comes around and you will find out at the next election.”

But as Lara, another Canberra Times reader, pointed out: “There have been many people lamenting that the people voted Rudd into the position of Prime Minister, not Gillard, therefore he should not have been removed. Technically not correct. The only people who voted for Rudd in any capacity are the people who were registered to vote in Rudd’s Queensland electorate. However, practically speaking, a lot of people around the country probably voted Labor because Rudd was the leader. Or was it in fact an anti-Howard vote and it wouldn’t have mattered who was the leader of the Labor Party?”

It has not been all brickbats for Gillard. However, many hoped to see some policy substance behind the new leadership style.

In a comment to The Age, Liz of Sydney wrote: “Good on you Julia! Remember Julia, just because you are backed by unions doesn’t make you a better PM or favour you in people’s eyes. It is what you do that makes a difference between a good PM and a bad PM.”

The media’s obsession with Gillard being the first woman PM of Australia has not been a big selling point in online news forums. However, her marital and no-children status and how this affects her ability to relate to families has come in for some comment.

QBZ of Sydney questioned Gillard’s knowledge of family issues in a comment on News.com.au: “How can our PM understand the average working family of our country if she isn’t part of it? It’s like a doctor who has never treated a patient.”

Same But Not of Melbourne summed up in The Herald Sun some of these and other personal and policy sticking points Gillard will have to face: “Hmm, not born in Australia, not married, no kids. Her policies are/were Kevin’s policies, her portfolio was the education revolution which provided numerous white elephants to schools left wondering. Let’s see what her actual achievements and policies will be.”

The Labor Party may be rejoicing and dancing at the wedding reception stage of their newly-forged bond with Gillard following the weekend’s opinion poll results, but the relationship has yet to be consummated with the people of Australia at the forthcoming election.

Gillard is still in virgin territory as Prime Minister and how she handles the unfinished business hanging over Labor’s head in the coming weeks or months - not the fact she is the nation’s first woman PM - will determine how voters will warm or respond to her in the only poll that counts.

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26 comments

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    • With eyes wide open... says:

      05:44am | 28/06/10

      That is something I haven’t been able to understand myself Marcus. It was only a few months back that main stream media were still calling a Krudd won election. You could even see it on this site (though most of my comments are never printed)...the mood was shifting and I don’t think it has shifted much back the other way. People will loath her in a very short space of time…..the smart ones already do…

      Reply

    • T.Chong says:

      07:17am | 28/06/10

      To see the mad Abbott on 7:30 report last week , was to truly see a man desparate panic - the hands were waving, he was bug eyed, and tripping over his words trying to to diss Gillard, while seeming to have a blackout as to how he actually got the top job on the Opposition benches.
      The LNP, and Abbott especially,  are now in full panic mode.
      The sideshow of speedos and lycra hasnt worked for Tony, and he knows how easy it is for leaders to be deposed, hes had a hand in such actions himself.

      Reply

    • OldGirl says:

      08:22am | 28/06/10

      Spot on T.Chong, I think if anything the lycra was a dead turn off, it was a very silly move. Its funny because if anyone aided and abetted Rudd’s down fall it was Abbott, now he has to live with the consequences and I don’t think hes real happy at the moment. I noticed he was stuttering again over words, probably a sign of his fluster

    • Wayne Fehlhaber says:

      08:41am | 28/06/10

      T. Chong :  The only people panicking and bug eyed were Labor supporters after the Political assassination of Kevin Rudd by the Unions
      who pulled at the strings of their Labor M.P. puppets.
      Rest assured ,  Chong , there is no panic in the Coalition , they know that the anger is still out in the electorate , they will harness that emotion and re-focus it on to the new clown leading the Labor circus.
      Honeymoons last a short time only , reality is about to fall on Gillard like a proverbial brick.

    • T.Chong says:

      09:53am | 28/06/10

      Wayne, old chum - yur correct about honeymoons. Abbotts ended very quickly, and his reaction on the 730 report was very telling. I’m sure you saw it. flustering, telling people Gillard is all populist etc - funny stuff from Abbott, who knows alot about populism, and its fickle nature.
      As for Rudd- wasnt last week a demonstration that Rudd was not bigger than the party?
      This is the very reason Abbott is scared. He knows the writings now on the wall for any leader who doent perform well, much like Turnbulls fate at Abbotts hands.
      That 700k loan will take some repaying. Maybe a job in one of his policy directors mines?

    • Wayne Fehlhaber says:

      12:39pm | 28/06/10

      T. Chong :  Heh heh heh , your concern for the tenancy of leaders is rather misplaced , don’t you think. ?
      It’s not the Labor M.P. ‘s surrounding Julia , it’s the faceless men in Sussex St. pulling their strings.
      Last weeks demonstration was a political assassination of a democratically elected leader by Australian Unions and i don’t see those voters , whose wishes have been denied , forgetting in a hurry.
      Oh i know i’m correct about political honeymoons , in fact , if you are completely honest , you will recall that Abbott did not have one at all.
      All the problems are still there - R.S.P.T. - E.T.S. - B.E.R. , should make for really interesting times ahead.

    • Randal says:

      01:52pm | 28/06/10

      No panic here T.Chong, why would there be or have you already forgotten that Abbott, as opposition leader, has achieved what no other has, the demise of the Prime Minister before his first term was even complete. A Prime Minister mind you with never before seen popularity now languishing in a state of depression on the back bench, desperately hoping the new leader will throw him a bone.

      That is the caliber of the man Abbott is, he is a brilliant politician who has already taken one ALP leader down and his next target is Joolia, and what Ms Gillard will realise is that she is just a culpable as Rudd for the errors, mistakes and back flips of this government and there is no clean slate, and with a strong opposition leader like Abbott, she will be held to account for her failings by the Australian people and as far as I am concerned the sooner she calls the election the better as they will mean less days that the most inept government in this nation’s history has to cause any further damage.

    • Julie Coker-Godson says:

      01:09am | 29/06/10

      Really T. Chong?  What version of the 7.30 Report were you watching.  Were you in 7.30 Reportland?

    • Russell says:

      07:56am | 28/06/10

      My Inner West of Sydney local newspaper did a snap poll (4 people) and declared the Inner West “thrilled” by Julia PM.

      That’s an area where the Greens are so strong they can pick up Albanese’s seat… And apparently these progressive-minded voters are “thrilled” that the mining billionaires “won”... “Thrilled” by an ambitions, ruthless ex-socialist left apparatchik was elevated to the top position in the country by the right wing of her own party…

      “Thrilled” that her first public policy announcement yesterday was a dog-whistle reference to reducing immigration…

      Makes you wonder about “progressives.”

      Reply

    • Brian Taylor says:

      08:28am | 28/06/10

      The MSM allways seen to have it wrong in the polls they’re reporting. As the writer has said, the comemts online seem to be a better polling result than the ones that the MSM are putting out. I read a lot of newspapers online, no newspapers offline and in nearly everyone, people seem to know that Gillard is just as much to blame for the bad position Labor found itself in, yet here comes a poll showing Gillard will win the next election. I say to Gillard, bring on the election lady, only that vote will be honest, not written by labour supporters but voted upon by the Aust public. Maybe the MSM don’t like Abbott but I’m damn sure the bigger % of voters don’t like Gillard even more

      Reply

    • Andy says:

      08:30am | 28/06/10

      Gillard is not PM material, what a joke this is. Just being female is not going to make her a credible PM. She is going to be an embarrassment and she is in way over her head. I hope she doesn’t call an election until we see first if she has the goods. I personally am horrified at the thought of her trying to lead Australia. What credentials does she have? A law degree and female? Hello!

      Reply

    • T.Chong says:

      08:53am | 28/06/10

      Andy- Gillards not qualified ?  What experience, other than neglecting the health system, did Abbott bring to his curent job?

    • Luke4 says:

      09:11am | 28/06/10

      T. Chong - like him or hate him, he has brains, Gillard on the other hand, not too sure about that. She doesn’t even have Tanner to back her up now. She appears to have common sense, but don’t mistake that for brains.

    • Seano says:

      01:18pm | 28/06/10

      Abbott has brains? The same bloke who has so often opened his merely to change feet?

      The same bloke who has made himself unlelectable with large segments of the voting public? The same bloke who routinely gets thumped in question time now that he doesn’t have the speaker in his pocket? The same bloke who looked completely panicked the other day at the elevation of Gillard , perhaps realising that he wasn’t going to be able to pinch the next election by sitting on his hands and waiting for Rudd to self destruct? Brains?

      You must be watching a different game. And as Gillard said to poor panicked Tony “Game on”. I can’t see Tony’s supposed big brain saving him from Gillard let alone his demonstrated big mouth.

    • John Jones says:

      08:35am | 28/06/10

      The ousting of Rudd wasn’t an overnight thing it was a premeditated coup in the making for a while. Gillard and Swan were part of all the decisions made by Rudd and their swift turnaround after the coup indicates that for some time they were leading Rudd down the garden path to be set up for a fall.  Ministers and the caucus are supposed to advise the PM to keep them on the right track, they failed to do so with Rudd, putting him into the position to win the last election and supporting him until he became unpopular. As soon as that popularity disappeared the powers replaced him with someone who may be able to win the next election.  If this is how the Federal Labor Party works then we will see a change of PMs before every election or whenever they fall out of favour with the electorate.

      Reply

    • J Howard says:

      09:26am | 28/06/10

      Is anyone seriously swayed by oneline comments - such as this one?
      I would suggest there was a hot-desking team of young Libs all hunched over their Sony laptops late last week!
      The vast majority of sites have no bar to clear (such as a gmail account even) so you can happily send ‘em on in all day long.
      And by the way you can’t always belive the names and addresses either in case you were wondering…...

      Reply

    • T. (JR Nicholls) Chong says:

      09:38am | 28/06/10

      You had me going there for a minute Johnny..
      Political hacks blogging? Couldnt happen here.
      All us Punchers are completely above board, pure as driven snow, never use misleading monickers.

    • Brian Taylor says:

      11:07am | 28/06/10

      Is anyone seriously swayed by oneline comments ? No they’re not, but what they are swayed by is their own feeling about a person and most people that coment here don’t like Gillard and because of the internet, finally, they too can voice their dis-pleasure as I say, bring on the election and you’ll see for yourself that people will vioce their opinion, not some left leaning writers opinion

    • All says:

      12:32pm | 28/06/10

      Dear me, all these anti Labor comments are from young Libs? How ignorant are you? Here on Punch you have regular hollow man teams out of ALP offices with their fingers on inside documents to mount detailed cases for or against the view of the moment. You need look no further than “Persephone” as a prime example. Where as poll results are heavily determined by the polling organizer and their desired result at least here you have the forum for the great unwashed to air our opinions.  Followed of by hollowman diatribes to refute and ridicule the views of the general public.

    • BobM says:

      02:10pm | 28/06/10

      @Brian Taylor - True Brian, if it wasn’t for people being able to voice their opinions on blogging pages, you would be forgiven for thinking that Julia Gillard had already won the election. From my reading of the comments on SMH, DT, the Aust and Punch, the Coalition is way out in front and Julia will be battling to win a chook raffle.

    • Luke4 says:

      09:58am | 28/06/10

      Voters can be fickle, remember we got sick of Howard and would have voted for Micky Mouse and so we voted for Rudd instead of Howard. Now look at what we got from him. Now the polls showed we were all sick of Rudd, so chuck him out and get all excited over Gillard. Personalities don’t make good Prime Ministers, policies do. Think carefully before rush to welcome Ms Gillard folks.

      Reply

    • Rod Hagen says:

      07:34pm | 28/06/10

      Mmm,

      Abbott is an old style, “oppose everything” , throw-back from the carping, “we’ll all be ruined” , school, trading on xenophobia and other forms of misery.  He has about as much idea of what Australia really needs these days as Atilla the Hun.  Slash and burn might be easier to do than building a nation, but the electorate are way too well educated for such things these days, despite the efforts of the Libs in the Howard years to return things to square one.

      Gillard not only has the ability, and pragmatic good sense, to take Australia on a far more positive journey than the Mad Monk.  She has the political nous, personality, and human skills, unlike her predecessor, to turn such things into a reality.

      Turnbull would have been a greater threat to Gillard, because he didn’t play continually to stupidity in the same way that Abbott does, though one doubts that he could have ever attracted the necessary unity needed to win from the Libs.  If the Libs had stuck with him, or Labor had stuck with Rudd,  this election might be close. Rudd simply couldn’t sell a message, making it easy for an old style political wrecker like Abbott. But, of course, Turnbull had far better intellectual capability than political acceptability.

      Gillard, with both political skills and real intellectual competence, will spit Abbott out before breakfast. She would have found Turnbull more challenging, but he would never have really found the support from inside his own party necessary to win a sustained campaign.

      Abbott versus Gillard is no contest.  I’ll be very surprised if the Government aren’t returned with an increased majority if he stays on as Opposition leader.  The trouble is that having burnt their bridges with Turnbull they have precious little real talent to turn to at this very late stage of the election cycle.

      Reply

    • kc says:

      09:58am | 29/06/10

      I am appalled at the focus on whether this will help the Labor party “win” the election, and the distinct lack of focus, and indeed critique, on whether this will in any way better our country. Recent reports from the G20 (e.g. http://www.smh.com.au/national/swan-praises-rudd-in-toronto-20100627-zbey.html) demonstrate the loss of credibility to Australia that this has resulted in, and the regret that other leaders have that our PM has been disposed. I think most Australian’s want a PM that is well liked overseas; that most Australian’s want a PM that will not embarrass them; that most Australias want a PM of their choosing. Also, I don’t think Australian’s have any issues whatsoever with a female PM, but I think Australian’s now feel cheated that they have been robbed of a moment in history to celebrate - i.e. electing their first female PM - and in fact it will forever be remembered as a sad day in our history. Finally, the Labor party have today brushed off the opposition to this move in QLD as “sticking up for our own”. I think you will find that maybe this just demonstrates an inherent compassion from Queenslanders and a distinct rejection of the underhanded, dirty, undemocratic, embarrasing, regrettable, hopefully political system changing events of last week. I would love to see less emphasis on whether Labor are now in a position to win (truly a self fulfilling prophecy), and more emphasis on the shock that this has been met with overseas, and truly ask the question “was this done for the good of our country”.

      Reply

    • kc says:

      09:58am | 29/06/10

      Who cares whether they might “win the election”. I think that the Prime Minister should only be able to able to be changed for reasons that are genuinely in the best interest of the nation, not for cheap political gain – which I feel is one of the lowest acts that could occur in this country. Frankly I find this whole thing abhorrently disgusting.

      Reply

    • John A Neve says:

      01:24pm | 29/06/10

      Ke,
      It seems you are out of touch with democracy!! As a fellow blogger Wayne, said in a previous post on another thread. This is the “Australian way”. It’s been done before by both the major parties and it will be done again.

      Democracy in this country is just a word. There are many forms of democracy and ours would have to be the lowest.

    • Rod Hagen says:

      11:21am | 30/06/10

      It is simply a manifestation of the manner in which the “Westminster System” works, not just in Australia, but in Britain and other former British dominions etc.

      The Prime Minister is determined by the representatives of the dominant party (or coalition of parties) in power at the time, not by direct election by the public/  There are plenty of examples of other Prime Ministers in Westminster systems such as Australia’s and Britain’s , often initially very popular ones, who have lost their role mid-term without an election - Menzies, in the course of his first term, Maggie Thatcher, Bob Hawke, John Gorton, Anthony Eden,  Neville Chamberlain to name a few.

 
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