Prime Minister Kevin Rudd does not have Parliament’s support for a climate-change deal to take to Copenhagen but he does have his valet as support.
The Australian media are reporting that Australia’s contingent at the Copenhagen climate-change conference will be the nation’s biggest ever diplomatic delegation.
The Prime Minister’s staff alone will total twenty-four including advisers, media staff, translators, security and most importantly the valet. Why would the Prime Minister need a valet? Well there will be 15,000 delegates and 70 world leaders in attendance and Mr Rudd hopes to make visible impression on this world stage.
President Obama is taking his valet known in US jargon as the White House Chief of Stuff. French President Nicolas Sarkozy will also have one so why not Australia’s Prime Minister?
World leaders can be finicky. They are accustomed to having their demands met before they ask and their needs are individual.
President Obama’s preferred workout is basketball, so his valet prepares a small court with a single hoop for his use. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is about 5 feet 7 inches tall and often stands on boxes behind the podium so his valet ensures he has what he needs to compensate for his stature.
We know from media reports how the Prime Minister reacts when a special meal request is neglected so on a significant occasion such as this conference he cannot risk being bad tempered hence the need for his valet.
Valets save time and can add a real touch of class and a professional and stylish service for a busy national leader.
A nationwide survey commissioned by Galaxy took in the views of more than 1000 people. It revealed that many believed the Prime Minister to be among the 10 most stylish people in Australia. His frameless spectacles, colourful ties and neatly parted hair apparently caught the eye.
Valets help their national leaders with correspondence, invitations, travel arrangements and hold the BlackBerry, dial the numbers on the mobile phone, brief the chef on what their national leader would like for lunch and what he would like to drink.
Every time the leader leaves for a meeting, the valet hands over the suit jacket and dabs any spots on the tie with a stain removal pen.
Prime Minister Rudds valet is a public servant with a low public profile so as not to upstage his boss. President Obama holds no fear of being upstaged and chose a valet who is a well known 6ft 5in, 18-stone, shaven-headed, muscle-packed, former American football player.
There can be a downside to being a valet as they are expected to be available 24/7. The Prime Minister’s valet is reported to lay out his clothes in the early morning and to deliver his private diary to the Lodge late each evening.
Prime Minister Rudd believes that public recognition is often linked to how one dresses. Jackie Frank, editor of Marie Claire, said she was not surprised by the Prime Minister’s dress poll result. “He is a good-looking man and, in terms of style, it’s very simple,’’ she said.
Prime Minister Rudd is hoping for more public recognition on the world stage and puts his trust in the valet’s dress creed - a good man dresses well but a great man dresses to be remembered.
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