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Commentary By Roger Cathcart Governments in Trouble Several governments around the world appear to be in trouble with their own citizens, and this is not even counting rogue nations like Muammar Gaddafi's Libya. Even U.S. President Barack Obama is having great difficulty with his Congress. Our own Prime Minister Stephen Harper was, before the recent election call, in a constant struggle with the opposition, even the hapless Ignatieff-led Liberals. In Australia, all Labour governments are in trouble with the voters, as the federal party continues to make bad decisions and implement unacceptable policies. They have been in office too long, and as we know, being in power too long leads to more enemies, and to parties taking the voters for granted. Or as one ex-MLA told me: "Sometimes they just get tired of seeing your face." In Australia there seems to be a penchant for getting rid of unpopular leaders. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was disposed of by his caucus with the help of big labour and his deputy, Julia Guillard, who replaced him with no better results. Recent polls show that people still prefer the former PM Rudd to his replacement. Unlike in Canada and the United States, where the party leaders are chosen by party members, Australian party caucuses choose and can change the leader even if he/she is Prime Minister Ð a system we got rid of decades ago. This does create a problem in our country, however, when a party like the Liberals, with many members who would dearly love to get rid of Ignatieff, would have great difficulty in doing so. In New South Wales, the Labour Party dropped to 23 per cent in the polls before the disaster of March 25, their lowest level since 1984. At this writing, federal Labour's vote has been polled at 30 per cent, the lowest primary vote in survey history, which is really due to weak and ineffective leadership and unpopular policies. Even Guillard's comment on the Japanese earthquake disaster was weak and upstaged by her foreign minister Ð none other than Kevin Rudd. Guillard had just returned from the U.S. after her highly publicized meeting with Obama and her pledged support for her ally. But what had happened in her absence was continued public hostility toward her unpopular carbon tax pledge and the perceived dominance of the Green party in her coalition government. 'Game-changer' Critical writers have called the carbon tax a "political game-changer" and are even speculating that Guillard may be replaced as leader well before the next election, as voter dissatisfaction with her has risen to 51 per cent while satisfaction with her has dropped to 39 per cent. Foreign affairs writers are also extremely critical of Guillard, saying she has a "staggering incompetence and unfamiliarity in foreign affairs, publicly confusing China with Russia, and with a huge failure in dealing with the issue of the boat people." Then there's the proposed refugee centre in East Timor, which has not been approved by the East Timor and Malasian governments. Another premier and long-time Labour leader, Mike Rann of South Australia, had a disastrous poll recently. Support for his government fell to 29 per cent only a year after being re-elected. This poll and the others noted show a lot of damage done to Labour across the Land Down Under. Rann is now the least popular premier in the country. After leading the party for 16 years Ð and with a dissatisfaction rate of 59 per cent Ð he likely will not survive until the 2014 election. Spillovers are not uncommon in politics, as the unpopularity of the federal Labour party has spilled over into the states. But the vice-versa can also be true, as we have seen in countries including Canada. The best Canadian example was the huge popularity of the Diefenbaker government in the late 1950s spilling over into Manitoba. Dief's popularity aided new Progressive Conservative leader Duff Roblin, who defeated the once-popular Liberal government of Douglas Campbell. This occurred even though Campbell had done a lot for Manitoba. Campbell brought electricity to rural Manitoba, but he was done for, especially in the 1959 campaign. In Australia, it looks like all Labour governments are in serious trouble, but in fairness, most have been in power too long and are dominated by labour union politics. More to come. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.4/25/2011
